Filipino bishops spoke after the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte, accused of human rights violations allegedly committed during his government, while claiming to fight crime and drug trafficking in the country.
Speaking to Radio Veritas, the broadcaster of the Archdiocese of Manila, Mons. Broderick Pabillo, Apostolic Vicar of Taytay, said that after the arrest and next process before the International Criminal Court, “it is where we will see if their actions were correct or incorrect and if it should be considered responsible if they were incorrect.”
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“That is what democracy should be: nobody is above the law and everyone must respond for their actions,” he said in the interview, which were then collected by CBCP News, informative organ of the Filipino Episcopate.
Duterte, a Philippine politician of almost 80 years, was Vicealcalde and then mayor of the town of Dávao between 1988 and 2016, and president of the Philippines between 2016 and 2022. In those periods, he undertook policies against crime that have been criticized for alleged violations of human rights, including extrajudicial murders.
According to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court and executed through Interpol, “there are reasonable reasons to believe that” Duterte “was the founder and leader” of a death squad in Dávao, and both during his time in the municipality and when he was president he used “to the direct authors of crimes as tools.”
Duterte was arrested this Tuesday, March 11. As collected Reutersthe current president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said in a press conference that Duterte was taken by plane to The Hague (Netherlands), to face “accusations of crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody war against drugs.”
Mons. José Colin Mendoza Bagaforo, Bishop of Kidapawan and president of Caritas Philippines, stressed that true justice “is about accountability, transparency and the protection of human dignity.”
“For years, former President Duterte has assured that he is ready to face the consequences of his actions. Now is the time to try it, ”he said.
Mons. Gerardo Almiza, Bishop of San Carlos and vice president of Caritas Philippines, said that the killings in the Philippines “were not random; They were part of a policy that violated the fundamental right to life. ”
“The families of the victims deserve the truth, repairs and justice. As a nation, we must ensure that these crimes never happen again, ”he said.
David Ramos
Graduate in Communication Sciences by the Private University of the North in Trujillo, Peru. With more than 12 years of experience in Catholic journalism working in ACI Press, I am based in Mexico since 2018. I have covered the trips of Pope Francis to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Panama.