Church leads stand for life
The “show of force” against a culture of violence may have been attended by hundreds of thousands or 10,000 people but the number is not important to the Catholic prelates who participated in yesterday’s “Walk for Life” prayer rally that started at dawn at the Quirino Grandstand Manila.
“What is material here is the quality not quantity. What is the reason why they came here? If they came here to stand up for life, that is the qual-
ity of participation that we are after,” Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in an interview.
The prayer rally was organized by the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas to oppose the re-imposition of the death penalty, the extrajudicial killings in the country, abortion and other measures that threatens the sacredness of human life.
“This, as I said, is a walk for God. This is standing up for the godly tradition that is truly Filipino because a true Filipino is pro-God, pro-life,” added Villegas.
The Catholic Church leaders urged the thousands of faithful at the prayer rally to continue their advocacy for life and oppose the culture of death even after the event.
Police estimate placed the crowd at about 10,000 while a Catholic bishop who was interviewed did not give a number. ‘Spreading culture of violence’ More than 6,000 people have died since President Duterte took office seven months ago and ordered an unprecedented crime war that has drawn global criticism for alleged human rights abuses, but is popular with many in the mainly Catholic country.
Members of one of the nation’s oldest and most powerful institutions chanted prayers and sang hymns as they marched to condemn a “spreading culture of violence.”
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, who joined the walk, appealed to the crowd to be vigilant to counter the culture of violence.
Unexpected turnout Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, head of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Laity, was also happy with the turnout because he was not expecting that many people will join the event based from his observation.
“It was unexpected. We were hoping that many people will join, but we didn’t expect that many will indeed participate. That’s why we are very thankful to them,” he said.
Pabillo believes it was already a “show of force” considering the unexpected number of people that participated in a gathering which started at 4:30 a.m.
“It means this is a need that they would want to express themselves. The people here today were not forced to attend. They chose to attend even if they have to travel far and the activity is being held very early in the morning,” he said.
When asked if they already have a figure as to how many attended, he said none.
Counter culture of violence Speaking to the crowd, Cardinal Tagle said: “We appeal to you to walk for life everyday and not just today.”
“Do not stop walking for life. Make walking for life a daily thing... nothing will happen if we won’t walk everyday for life,” Tagle said.
He said there is a need to counter the culture of violence with active nonviolence.
“It is obvious that there is a spreading culture of violence. It is saddening to see, sometimes it drives me to tears how violent words seem so natural and ordinary,” he said.
“In your surroundings, in your neighborhood, there are so many lives that must be saved. They will not be saved by mere discussion,” he said.
Non-violence
“Non-violence doesn’t mean passive. But we believe that we cannot stop violence also by violence. If the response to violence is also violence, we double the violence. We shouldn’t be doubling or propagating violence. We should match it with non-violence,” said Tagle.
Share in Facebook
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo also issued the same call to the faithful.
One way to do this, Pabillo said is by sharing the message and pictures of what happened in their Facebook (FB) account.
“Let’s spread it in Facebook. Let’s bring the good news about the Walk for Life... All of you post this in your FB because the message is not only for us here. Even your banners place them in your homes to show your (pro-life) position,” he said.
‘Oppose death penalty’
Bontoc-Lagawe Bishop Valentin Dimoc also urged the faithful to continue to voice out their opposition to the culture of death in the country.
“When we hear of legislators who wanted to discipline our nation with death penalty, let us continue to voice out our opposition to the culture of death,” he said.
Environment and peace talks
Caloocan Bishop Pablo David said his call for the protection of life also includes the issue on environment and the peace talks.
“When we destroy nature that is also anti-life. That’s why we are also against environmental abuse. We also call for the resumption of the peace talks because war is anti-life. We are so tired of war in Mindanao,” David said.
‘Why dawn?’
“Why dawn? It’s because it is during these hours that we find bodies on the streets or near trash cans. Dawn, which is supposed to be the hour of a new start, is becoming an hour of tears and fears,” Villegas told the crowd of the reason for the early morning rally.
Villegas this month issued the Church’s strongest statement against the drug war, warning against a “reign of terror” in poor communities.
Senator De Lima
Among those who attended Saturday’s event was Senator Leila de Lima, a former human rights commissioner and one of Duterte’s most vocal opponents.
“For as long as I can, I will continue to fight. They cannot silence me,” De Lima, who is expecting to be arrested in the coming days, told AFP.
Prayer rally
Participants, mostly wearing white shirts, composed of members of the clergy, from the parishes, schools, religious congregations and lay organizations walked around Quirino Grandstand while reciting the Holy Rosary.
Some carried them placards and banners with messages such as “No to death penalty”, “Mahalaga ang buhay hindi sagot ang pagpatay (Life is important, death is not the answer)”, “Ang buhay ng bawat tao ay mula sa Diyos (Every human life comes from God)” among others.
Aside from Villegas and Pabillo, other bishops who joined the “Walk for Life” were Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias, Kalookan Bishop Pablo David and Bontoc-Lagawe Bishop Valentin Dimoc. (With a report from AFP)