Some members of the church joins the “Walk for Life” event at Quirino Grandstand. [Photo by Jansen Romero|Manila Bulletin]
Organized by the Council of the Laity of the Philippines, the event is a stand against the death penalty and the spate of extrajudicial killings associated with the Duterte government’s campaign against illegal drugs.
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said: “this is standing up for the godly tradition that is truly Filipino because a real Filipino is pro-God, pro-life. This is mentioned in our Constitution.”
CBCP-Episcopal Commission on the Laity chairman Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said the large crowd was a “show of force” that “only shows that the people are standing up for life and they are against these methods of death such as death penalty and EJK.”
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said “it is evident that the culture of violence is growing. It is saddening to see and hear that violent words being said, people giving dagger looks, bad attitude and bad actions have become natural and ordinary to us.”