'PROMOTE LIFE.' Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle denounces all forms of murder, from extrajudicial killings and abortion, as he promotes 'integral life.' File photo by Noli Yamsuan

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle condemned all forms of murder, from slaying drug suspects to aborting babies, as he broke his silence on the recent spate of killings in the Philippines.

Tagle also denounced the illegal drug trade – a way of "murdering" the youth's dreams – in one of his first public messages on the recent extrajudicial killings.

In a conference and interview quoted by Church-run Radyo Veritas on Sunday, August 28, Tagle pushed for the protection of all lives – "buhay ng kahit sino, hindi lamang buhay na gusto nating protektahan" (the lives of anyone, not only the lives we want to protect).

"Basta taong may buhay, kahit sino pa siya, ang buhay na 'yun ay sagrado. Alam ko na ngayon na ang malaking usapin ay ang nagiging mga pagpatay – sabi pati raw sa mga hindi guilty, sa mga inosente – pero kahit nga guilty man o hindi guilty, ang buhay ay dapat alagaan at igalang. At kung guilty, bigyan ng bagong buhay – pagkakataong makabangon mula sa lumang buhay," Tagle said.

(As long as one is alive, whoever he or she is, that life is sacred. I know that the big issue nowadays is the recent spate of killings – which, they say, afflicts even those not guilty, the innocent – but whether a person is guilty or not, life should be cared for and respected. And if a person is guilty, give him new life – the opportunity to rise from his old life.)

Tagle's statement comes as more than 750 people have been killed by police in anti-drug operations while more than a thousand have been slain by shadowy figures. (READ: Duterte offers P2-M bounty for cops into drug trade)

Cardinal hits abortion, too

Tagle told Radyo Veritas, "Ang Diyos ay Diyos ng buhay kaya dapat alagaan ang buhay. Pero marami worried sa extrajudicial killings. At dapat lang."

(God is a God of life so we need to protect life. But many are worried about extrajudicial killings. And rightfully so.)

The cardinal continued: "Sana naman worried din tayo sa abortion. Bakit kaunti ang nagsasalita against abortion? Pagpatay din 'yan. Unfair labor practices – isang uri rin 'yan ng pagpatay ng dangal ng manggagawa."

(I hope we're also worried about abortion. Why are only a few people speaking out against abortion? That's also murder. Unfair labor practices – that's also a form of murder against the dignity of laborers.)

He added, "'Yung tapon tayo ng tapon ng pagkain, kailangan munang nasa basura bago pupulutin ng iba at ipapakain sa pamilya nila, pagpatay din 'yan sa mga batang walang makain."

(Those wasting food, those putting food in the garbage can before others pick it up and feed it to their families, that is also a form of murder against children with nothing to eat.)

Tagle said: "Bantayan natin ang abortion; ang mga batang hindi pa naisisilang ay walang kalaban-laban. Ang pagtitinda ng bawal na gamot, ang pagtulak sa mga kabataan sa bisyo – 'yan ay isang uri din ng pagpatay ng kanilang pangarap, kaisipan, pagpatay ng kanilang magagandang pakikisama sa pamilya."

(Let's guard against abortion; children who haven't been born are helpless. Selling illegal drugs, pushing the youth to go into vices – that's also a form of murder against their dreams, their minds, their good relationships with their families.)

Tagle: Promote 'integral life'

"Be consistent to promote whole or integral life. Let us not be selective," he said.

Tagle, in the past, had been active in other issues involving life. These issues include the Catholic Church's fight against the Reproductive Health Law, a measure that legislates state funding for contraceptives.

Tagle now joins a growing number of religious groups and individuals that have criticized the recent killings in the Philippines:

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, as a whole, has not issued any statement on the killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30.

The last statement on this from the CBCP was against "vigilantism," issued less than two weeks before Duterte began his term. – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com </s> Roman Catholic Archbishop Socrates Villegas, center, of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, leads thousands of Roman Catholics in a “Walk for Life” march around Manila’s Rizal Park to oppose the revival of the death penalty by the Philippine Congress as well as the killings of drug users and drug pushers in the so-called war on drugs by President Rodrigo Duterte at dawn Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017 in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo) Roman Catholic Archbishop Socrates Villegas, center, of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, leads thousands of Roman Catholics in a “Walk for Life” march around Manila’s Rizal Park to oppose the revival of the death penalty by the Philippine Congress as well as the killings of drug users and drug pushers in the so-called war on drugs by President Rodrigo Duterte at dawn Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017 in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo)

Thousands of Roman Catholics marched through the Philippines capital Manila on Saturday in the biggest gathering denouncing extra-judicial killings and a government plan to reimpose the death penalty for criminals. Dubbed a “Walk for Life” prayer rally and endorsed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the gathering came just days after the church launched its strongest attack against President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

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Organisers claimed as many as 50,000 people took part in the march toward Manila’s Rizal Park, while about 10,000 based on police estimates stayed to hear speeches. More than 7,600 people have been killed since Duterte launched his anti-drugs campaign seven months ago. More than 2,500 died in shootouts during raids and sting operations, according to the police. Both the government and police have denied that extrajudicial killings have taken place. But human rights groups believe many deaths that police had attributed to vigilantes were carried out by assassins likely colluding with police.

“We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing those who kill. It also increases the number of killers,” CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in a statement.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, who also joined the rally, called for strengthening and promoting the culture of non-violent movements. In its most strongly worded attack on the crackdown on drug pushers and users, a CBCP pastoral letter read out at services across the country early this month said killing people was not the answer to trafficking of illegal drugs.

Nearly 80 per cent of the Philippines’ 100 million people are Catholic and until recently the church had been hesitant to criticise Duterte’s war on drugs. Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte’s war on drugs now facing three drug-related charges, also joined the rally. She said the charges were meant to silence her. “There’s no other reason because I’m innocent and not at all involved in the drug trade,” she said. “I’m here with the people because of our shared thoughts and opinion, and shared views, and shared convictions.”

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for reaction about Saturday’s rally. </s> The head of the Catholic Church in the Philippines has harshly criticized a government campaign of alleged extrajudicial killings of drug suspects that has claimed thousands of lives, calling it a "humanitarian concern" that cannot be ignored.

Police have killed an estimated 3,200 people in the past 14 months in encounters they claim involved suspects who put up armed resistance. Another 2,000 have died in drug-related killings – in many cases carried out by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen who human rights groups say are either police in disguise or their hired hit men. In a single day last week, police in the Philippines killed a record 32 people in drug raids, according to Reuters.

"We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces, to stop wasting human lives," Manila Cardinal Luis Tagle said. "The illegal drug problem should not be reduced to a political or criminal issue. It is a humanitarian concern that affects all of us."

Tagle was supported by Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who said Sunday that church bells would ring every night for the next three months to spark greater awareness of President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown.

"The sounding of the bells is a call to stop approval of the killings," Villegas said in a statement read Sunday in churches in his district in Pangasinan province, according to The Associated Press. "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.'"

The Church was initially silent about the anti-drug campaign, but has in recent months stepped up calls for its end.

Duterte's campaign, which has drawn international criticism, has gotten high marks from President Trump, who in a leaked transcript of a phone call praised the Philippine leader for an "unbelievable job on the drug problem."

Duterte has compared his crackdown in the Philippines to the Holocaust, saying he'd like to deal with drug addicts the way that Nazi Germany dealt with the Jews. </s> Manila Cardinal Luis Tagle challenges dozens of killings by police last week saying 'stop wasting human lives'.

The head of the Philippines' powerful Catholic Church called for an end to the "waste of human lives" following a brutal week in President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war in which a 17-year-old boy was among dozens killed.



Police raids described as "one-time, big-time" saw at least 76 people shot dead, authorities said, as rights groups and legislators condemned the operation as an alarming "killing spree" in Duterte's flagship campaign.



On Sunday, the highest-ranking church official in the predominantly Catholic nation expressed concern about the increase in the number of deaths.



"We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces with bonnets, to stop wasting human lives," Manila Cardinal Luis Tagle said in a statement read in Sunday masses in the capital.



"The illegal drug problem should not be reduced to a political or criminal issue. It is a humanitarian concern that affects all of us."

Another church leader has ordered bells to be tolled every night for three months in a northern region to raise alarm over the police crackdown.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of the Roman Catholic Church says church bells will be rung for 15 minutes across his northern religious district starting Tuesday to rouse a citizenry "which has become a coward in expressing anger against evil."

Duterte, 72, launched an unprecedented crackdown on illegal narcotics after winning the presidency last year on a promise to kill tens of thousands of criminals.

The church, one of the nation's oldest and most powerful institutions, had been among the few voices denouncing the deaths as polls showed Duterte continuing to enjoy widespread popularity.

During the 14 months Duterte has been in power, police have confirmed killing more than 3,500 people - insisting they acted in self-defence.

More than 2,000 others have been killed in drug-related crime and thousands more murdered in unexplained circumstances, according to police data.



The numbers saw a sudden spike last week with Duterte praising officers who shot dead 32 people in a single province and calling for more.



Following Duterte's call, at least 51 people were killed in various cities including a 17-year-old boy whose death on Thursday sparked a national furore.



Relatives of Kian Delos Santos released CCTV footage of the boy being dragged away by two officers as they questioned a police report that he shot at them first.

READ MORE: Police kill Reynaldo Parojinog and wife in drug raid

In Sunday's statement, Tagle called for nine days of prayer for people who have died in the drug war.

"Those with sorrowful hearts and awakened consciences may come to your pastors to tell your stories and we will document them for the wider society," he said.



Duterte has launched a broadside against priests and bishops in response to the church campaign to stop the killings. </s> A criminal case was filed against President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands for his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings when he was still mayor of Davao City, and now as President of the Philippines.

In the 77-page communication submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC, Jude Sabio, lawyer of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato, accused Duterte of violating the Articles of the Rome Statute through mass murder or extrajudicial executions, which, he claimed, constituted crimes against humanity.

Duterte allegedly committed the crimes during his tenure as mayor of Davao City, through his personal involvement in the so-called Davao Death Squad, and now as President of the Philippines through his war on drugs.

The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the ICC, the first permanent international court that is capable of trying perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression—the statute’s four core international crimes.

The Philippines is a state party to the Rome Statute, together with other 123 state parties, after ratifying it in August 2011.

Apart from Duterte, 11 of his allies including two senators were also charged for violating provisions of the Rome Statute.

Others facing charges at the ICC are Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Richard Gordon, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd, Police National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald de la Rosa, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, former Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno, Supt. Edilberto Leonardo, Senior Police Officer 4 Sanson “Sonny” Buenaventura, Supt. Royina Garma, National Bureau of Investigation Director Dante Gierran, and Solicitor General Jose Calida.

Sabio said Gordon, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights and sponsor of Senate Committee Report No. 18196 on the spate of summary execution of suspected drug trader, is liable for “ultimately concluding that killings are not state-sponsored.”

He added that Cayetano aided and abetted the killings “through his speeches and public pronouncements.”

 Sabio cited in his complaint the similarities in the killings in Davao City and in the drug war.

“The basic material hallmarks or elements in the extrajudicial executions by the Davao Death Squad in Davao City and in the continued extrajudicial executions after President Duterte became the President are too numerous and too obvious to escape scant attention,” he said.

He noted the presence police participation and command; the element of a hitman or an unknown armed assailant; the establishment of a reward system for every killing; the existence of a kill watch list; collaboration between barangay (village) and police officials; cardboard signs and faces or bodies wrapped in packing tape; the use of motorcycle-riding assailants; and planting of guns and drugs.

Sabio said Duterte had completely ignored the appeals of local and international human rights groups and other international bodies to stop the killings.

Also, Duterte’s officials and allies have become instruments in covering up the issue in the media and congressional investigations.

“It is for these reasons that I have referred this case to the ICC to make President Duterte accountable for his crimes in the name of international criminal justice, and to once and for all end this dark, obscene, murderous and evil era in the Philippines,” Sabio said.

After filing the case, the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, will determine whether it falls within the jurisdiction of the ICC and if it is proper to file criminal charges against the accused, before investigating the case and issuing a warrant of arrest against the President and other respondents.

Malacañang on Monday dismissed as “baseless” the complaint filed against President Duterte before the ICC in The Hague.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella suspected that the filing of the case was “meant to create negative news” amid the Philippines’ hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

“It cannot prosper. International Criminal Court rules provide that the ICC, as a court of last resort, will only exercise jurisdiction over a case once legal remedies in the Philippines have been exhausted. Atty. Sabio or his client, Mr. Edgardo Matobato, did not avail/exhaust all domestic remedies allowed under the Philippine Constitution,” Abella said.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said such complaint would not flourish because there was no basis to allege that Duterte had ordered the extrajudicial killings.

Panelo noted that under the international treaty, murder should have been committed against a class of people, which was not the case in Sabio’s complaint.

“It is not a state-sponsored war in respect to the extrajudicial killings. The [extrajudicial killings]come up because of members of the syndicates who are killing each other, they’re spilling the beans against their own comrades. Those in danger of being prosecuted and arrested would necessarily silence those who are pointing fingers at them,” he told reporters.

“Even assuming that there is police participation in these killings, the police records would show that those who have abused their authority were charged in court. That will negate the claim that it is state-initiated. Otherwise they would have not been charged,” he added.

Matobato last year confessed before the Philippine Senate that he was part of the so-called Davao Death Squad, which was allegedly formed by Duterte to eliminate political opponents and drug addicts.

The ICC complaint was based on the testimonies of Matobato, retired policeman Arturo Lascañas, media reports and reports from rights groups.

Almost 9,000 people have been killed since Duterte assumed the presidency in June 2016. </s> Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption The mother of Leover Miranda, an alleged drug dealer, cries during his funeral on Sunday

The head of the Philippines Catholic Church has criticised the government's bloody campaign against drugs.

Manila Cardinal Luis Tagle condemned "those who kill even the helpless".

Police say that since President Rodrigo Duterte launched a campaign against drug dealers 14 months ago, 3,500 people have been killed.

But rights groups say the number is much higher, and that many of those targeted are innocent. One high-profile case this week spurred new criticism.

Reuters reported that at least 90 people were shot dead this week, with 32 killed in one day alone in Bulacan province, north of the capital Manila.

One of those who died was a 17-year-old boy, Kian Delos Santos. Police said he was killed on Tuesday after shooting at them first in Caloocan City.

However, security camera footage later emerged showing him being dragged away by two officers, raising serious questions about the circumstances of the shooting.

The police chief in Caloocan City has since been suspended pending an investigation, and President Duterte's allies in the Senate have put forward a resolution condemning the killing.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Inside Manila's drug war: A female assassin's story

On Sunday, as anger over the teenager's death grew, Cardinal Tagle issued a statement read out in Masses across the capital.

"We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces, to stop wasting human lives.

"The illegal drug problem should not be reduced to a political or criminal issue. It is a humanitarian concern that affects all of us."

He was supported by another senior cleric, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who called on churches to ring their bells at 20:00 every day to show solidarity.

"The sound of the bells is a wake-up call for a nation that no longer knows how to condole with the bereaved," and that was too "cowardly" to condemn the violence, he said.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Relatives of Leover Miranda urged the government to "kill drugs, not people"

The Church initially veered away from criticism of President Duterte's campaign, but last year began calling for an end to the violence.

In response, the President lambasted senior Church officials. He has not officially responded to the Cardinal's plea on Sunday.

In Manila on Sunday, mourners gathered for the funeral of Leover Miranda, who was shot dead on 3 August.

They insist he was not involved in the drug trade, but was nevertheless killed. His relatives wore T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan: "Kill drugs, not people".

"This is not the right answer," his mother Peregrine Santos said. "They can put him jail, why did they have to kill? That's my question to our president now."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Living with the Philippine drug war

Rights groups have accused Philippine police of planning extrajudicial killings and in some cases profiting from them.

Police have maintained that the suspects are killed when they offer armed resistance to police, a claim that has been highly disputed.

Mr Duterte suspended the campaign in January promising to "clean up" the police, and re-organise the anti-drug units. The campaign resumed in March. </s> Thousands of Roman Catholics marched in the Philippines capital Manila on Saturday in the biggest gathering denouncing extra-judicial killings and a government plan to re-impose the death penalty for criminals.

Dubbed a “Walk for Life” prayer rally and endorsed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the gathering came just days after the church launched its strongest attack against President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

Organizers claimed as many as 50,000 people took part in the march toward Manila’s Rizal Park, while about 10,000 based on police estimates stayed to hear speeches.

More than 7,600 people have been killed since Duterte launched his anti-drugs campaign seven months ago. More than 2,500 died in shootouts during raids and sting operations, according to the police.

Amid mounting criticism about a surge in killings, Duterte said Saturday that the campaign was “by and large successful.”

Speaking at the Philippine Military Academy’s alumni homecoming in Baguio City, he said the drug problem was more complex than he initially thought, prompting him to seek military support.

“I need the help of each one, especially the military, not for social control but protection (for) the citizens from the lawless, the reckless, and the selfish,” the firebrand leader said.

Both the government and police have denied that extra-judicial killings have taken place. But human rights groups believe many deaths that police had attributed to vigilantes were carried out by assassins likely colluding with police.

“We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing those who kill. It also increases the number of killers,” CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in a statement.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, who also joined the rally, called for strengthening and promoting the culture of nonviolent movements.

In its most strongly worded attack on the crackdown on drug pushers and users, a CBCP pastoral letter read out at services across the country early this month said killing people was not the answer to trafficking of illegal drugs.

Nearly 80 percent of the Philippines’ 100 million people are Catholic and until recently the church had been hesitant to criticize Duterte’s war on drugs.

Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte’s war on drugs now facing three drug-related charges, also joined the rally. She said the charges were meant to silence her. </s> MANILA, – Thousands of Catholic faithful gathered in the Philippine capital on Saturday for a “show of force” in the biggest rally yet to stop extrajudicial killings in President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, reports BSS.

More than 6,000 people have died since 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”.

“We have to stand up. Somehow this is already a show of force by the

 faithful that they don’t like these extrajudicial killings,” Manila bishop Broderick Pabillo told AFP before addressing the crowd.

“I am alarmed and angry at what’s happening because this is something that is regressive. It does not show our humanity.”

Duterte, 71, has attacked the Church as being “full of shit” and “the most hypocritical institution” for speaking out against a campaign that he says would save generations of Filipinos from the drug menace.

About eight in 10 Filipinos are Catholic, making the former Spanish colony of more than 100 million people Asia’s bastion of Christianity.

The Church helped lead the revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand

 Marcos in 1986 and a 2001 uprising against then-president Joseph Estrada that saw him ousted over corruption charges.

It had initially declined to voice opposition publicly to Duterte’s drug war but, as the death toll of mostly poor people mounted, it began late last year to call for the killings to end.

Saturday’s event, called the “Walk for Life”, gathered 20,000 people,

 according to the organisers. Manila police estimated the crowd at 10,000.

The rally also opposed Duterte’s push to restore the death penalty, his top legislative priority as part of his crime war.

“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,” said Manila Cardinal Luis Tagle, the country’s highest-ranking Church official.

“In your surroundings, in your neighbourhood, there are so many lives that

 must be saved. They will not be saved by mere discussion.”

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines had called on the

 faithful to gather at the Quirino Grandstand, where Duterte held a huge pre-

 election rally, from 4:30am.

“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,” Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the bishops’ conference, told the crowd.

Villegas this month issued the Church’s strongest statement against the drug war, warning against a “reign of terror” in poor communities.

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.

The government on Friday filed charges against her for allegedly running a drug trafficking ring using criminals in the country’s largest prison when she was justice secretary in the previous administration.

De Lima, who has repeatedly insisted the charges against her are trumped up to silence her and intimidate other Duterte critics, said she attended Saturday’s event as a show of solidarity.

“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.

Bone cancer survivor Lucy Castillo, 56, turned up in a wheelchair along with dozens of other people with disabilities.

“When I was in so much pain, I could have taken my life but I did not.

 Only God can take it,” she told AFP.

“I was diagnosed 40 years ago but I was given a chance to live. I want to give these drug addicts another chance.” </s> Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said he plans to withdraw his country from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it began examining the country's drugs war.

"It is apparent that the ICC is being utilised as a political tool against the Philippines," Duterte said. He slammed "baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks on him and his administration by the UN, the BBC reported.

"I confirm that the President has directed the Executive Secretary to give notice that (the Philippines is) withdrawing as a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC," Duterte's spokesperson Harry Roque said.

Roque's statement came a few minutes after Duterte's office issued a draft statement on the move.

"I therefore declare and forthwith give notice that the Philippines is withdrawing its ratification of the Rome Statute effective immediately," Duterte said in the draft statement.

The ICC in February began examining alleged crimes committed during the controversial anti-drugs crackdown. ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the court would be looking at reports of extrajudicial killings.

She stressed that the examinations by the ICC -- based in The Hague -- were "not an investigation" but a process of examining information "in order to reach a fully informed determination on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation".

A statement from the Philippines administration said the ICC inquiry was "in violation of due process".

There has been growing international pressure on Duterte about his country's war on drugs, which caused the deaths of thousands.

Police claimed they killed nearly 4,000 drugs suspects, while rights groups suggest the figure could be far higher. (IANS)
The Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle condemns the extralegal killings and murders under Rodrigo Duterte.