Church bells protest over Philippine drug killings

A Roman Catholic Archbishop in the Philippines has ordered churches in his district to ring their bells every night for three months to raise concerns over a sharp increase in police killing drug suspects.

The move adds to a growing outcry over president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas said church bells would toll for 15 minutes nightly across his northern district in Pangasinan province from tomorrow to November 27 to rouse citizens who have “become cowards in expressing anger against evil”.

The start and end of the protest mark days of Catholic veneration.

More than 80 drug and crime suspects were gunned down by police in metropolitan Manila and nearby Bulacan province in three days last week, the bloodiest 72 hours since Mr Duterte’s clampdown began in July last year.

“The sounding of the bells is a call to stop approval of the killings,” Archbishop Villegas said yesterday. “The country is in chaos. The officer who kills is rewarded and the slain get the blame.

“The corpses could no longer defend themselves from accusations that they fought back.

“Why are we no longer horrified by the sound of the gun and blood flowing on the sidewalks? Why is nobody raging against drugs that were brought in from China?”.

He was referring to a huge drugs shipment that passed through Manila’s ports under the watch of Customs officials appointed by Mr Duterte.

Without naming the president, the archbishop criticised Mr Duterte’s praise for police killings of 32 drug suspects in a night of raids across Bulacan province last week.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle offered to host talks on the drug problem among government and police officials, along with families of victims, non-government groups and medical experts.

The corpses can no longer defend themselves from accusations that they fought back

Protests have focused on the killing last week of 17-yearold Kian Lloyd delos Santos. Police say he was a drug dealer who fired a pistol during a raid, prompting officers to shoot him.

The family of the student said he was shot by police while pleading for his life.

Police said delos Santos tried to escape during a raid that sparked a chase on Wednesday night in suburban Caloocan city, in Manila metropolis.

The student’s parents and some neighbours denied the police claim, pointing to security camera footage that showed a man, who they said was delos Santos, being restrained and dragged away from his home before he was shot near by.

Vice president Leni Robredo condemned the killing and visited the wake of the student yesterday, accompanied by a lawyer who she said might be able to help the victim’s family to receive justice.

She said the country had a drug problem, but the solution should not victimise the innocent.

Amid the outcry, police officials removed three officers involved in the killing of delos Santos, and their commander, and ordered an investigation.

Senators allied with Mr Duterte scheduled a meeting yesterday to discuss an investigation into the most recent killings.

“Legitimate police operations are OK, but summary executions have no place in our society because they’re barbaric acts,” said senator Joseph Victor Ejercito. “They should not go overboard.”

More than 3,200 drug suspects have been killed by police since Mr Duterte launched his campaign. More than 2,000 others have died in drug-related killings, including attacks by masked gunmen on motorcycles, who human rights groups say are police in disguise, or their civilian hitmen.

Human rights groups have said the death tolls are higher.

Mr Duterte has said his initial estimate that the drug menace could be ended in six months was mistaken. He now says it will be difficult to have the problem under control during his six-year term.

The crackdown will not stop under his watch, he said.