On the eve of All Saints Day, Church and faith-based groups join relatives of those slain in the drug war in remembering their loved ones in a mass and evening prayer in Quezon City. The mass prayed for justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs).
Rise Up for Life and for Rights led a holy mass in San Isidro Labrador Parish in Barangay Bagong Silangan in Quezon City.
Fr. Gilbert Billena, spokesperson of the group encouraged the relatives not to lose hope but be more determined in attaining justice for their departed loved ones.
He said, “We can achieve justice maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day for sure we can achieve it. Only our faith in God and unity and strength in each other’s arms were the things we can depend on today.”
Mourning
Emotions poured as members of Rise Up and relatives of drug killings victims start to sing songs for peace and justice as they lit candles and offered flowers to the portraits of the victims inside the parish.
“We accept the fact that death comes naturally to every person but what happened to our loved ones is a different issue. Our mourning is no ordinary mourning because we knew that they were unjustly killed under the government’s drug war policy,” says Nanay Emily on her statement on behalf of other families.
She continued, “The death of our loved ones are surely not God’s will. They were forcefully taken away from us by police forces, state authorities and people owning guns because of the war on drugs.”
Nanay Emily insisted “We dream of a peaceful community that is free from fear. We also want decent livelihood, basic social services like housing, education and health benefits.”
Members of the group were hopeful that the Philippine justice system treats them fairly so that justice and accountability would not be elusive for poor families like them.
After the mass, church people and drug war victims’ kin trooped to Quezon City Police Station 6. They say that this action should remind the police and the public of the police’s hand in the bloody drug war that has killed more than 13,000 since July 2016. At the station, they lighted candles and displayed photos of their slain loved ones.
Evening Prayer
Meanwhile, faith-based group of seminarians, nuns and community-based organizations Nicodemus Solidarity Youth conducted their fifth evening prayer for justice, peace and integrity of creation at the Mariana Park along E. Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City.
Participants lighted candles as they proclaimed liturgical prayer during the activity.
According to the group, the continuation of the series of their evening prayer was held on the eve of the culmination of the 40-day Stop The Killings, Stop The Healing bell ringing campaign of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Different Roman Catholic churches would ring their bells every 8:00 in the evening for 40 days to call on the Duterte government to stop killings under the war on drugs campaign.
The Rise Up for Life and for Rights and Nicodemus Solidarity Youth said that they would join the CBCP’s call for a nationwide “national healing walk” from EDSA Shrine to the People Power Monument on November 5. The activity aimed to pray for the victims of EJKs.
Nicodemus Solidarity Youth said, “more than anyone that will be present on the CBCP rally on Sunday, the loud voices and cry of the relatives of EJK victims will mark the loudest for they are the ones who were directly victimized by the killing spree policy of this present government.”
They group said their protest would spread and go beyond the November 5 prayer rally.
Church groups and EJK victims’ relatives also vowed to raise the issues of EJKs in the upcoming international events that will be held in the country.
“The protests would not stop as the killings continue. As world leaders and the international media arrive in the country early next month for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Summit (EAS) meetings, the Duterte administration must brace itself for series of actions by relatives of drug war victims across the country that would expose further the gross human rights violations in the Philippines,” said Fr. Dionito Cabillas, Rise Up Metro Manila lead convenor.
