We view with great alarm the threat against the life of Fr. Amado Picardal. We call on credible authorities to ensure the safety of the Redemptorist priest and investigate the matter.
The motive of those attempting to kill him was clear. He has been an outspoken critic of extrajudicial killings in Davao City when President Duterte was still its mayor. He was also critical against the administration’s war on drugs.
We have witnessed servants of God and servants of the people being gunned down in the past, and justice has not been served.
Without arrests and punishments, the killers, including the so-called death squad, are free to roam around, waiting for command on who their next victim would be.
This is not the kind of society we want to live in. We need people of the church in our midst, who would not only speak about the word of God, but also how to live them out by promoting respect for human rights, protection of the environment, living with dignity.
As we pray for the safety of Fr. Picardal, we also urgently seek that he be given protection so that he could return to his normal life.
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Nakakabahala ang banta sa buhay ni Fr. Amado Picardal. Nananawagan tayo sa mga otoridad na siguraduhin ang kaligtasan ng Redemptorist priest at imbestigahan ang bantang ito.
Malinaw ang motibo ng mga nagtatangkang pumatay sa kanya. Isa siyang tahasang kritiko ng extrajudicial killings sa Davao City noong mayor pa si Pangulong Duterte. Naging kritikal din siya laban sa giyera kontra droga ng pamahalaan.
Nasaksihan natin noon ang pagpaslang sa mga alagad ng Diyos at mga alagad ng mamamayan, at wala ring hustisya.
Habang walang naaaresto at napaparusahan, ang mga pumapatay, kabilang na ang death squad na kung tawagin, ay malayang lumilibot, naghihintay lamang ng utos kung sino ang susunod na magiging biktima.
Hindi ito ang klase ng lipunang nais nating mapabilangan. Kailangang kasama natin ang mga taong-simbahan, na hindi lamang magsasalita tungkol sa salita ng Diyos, kundi kung paano ito isasabuhay sa pamamagitan ng pagtataguyod ng respeto sa karapatang pantao, pangangalaga sa kapaligiran, at pamumuhay nang may dignidad.
Sa ating pananalangin para sa kaligtasan ni Fr. Picardal, hangad din natin na mabigyan siya ng proteksyon para makabalik na siya sa kanyang normal na pamumuhay.