La Salle president backs Nov.5 healing walk vs killings

MANILA, Philippines — De La Salle Philippines expressed its support for the mass and march along the historic EDSA on Nov. 5 dedicated for the victims of extrajudicial killings under the government’s war on drugs.

In a letter to Lasallian schools, De La Salle Philippines president Br. Armin Luistro urged the community to “participate actively” in the “Lord Heal Our Land” Sunday organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

“As one Lasallian community, we act in solidarity with other Filipinos in fight for dignity of human life and democracy,” Luistro said.

Luistro said that Luzon-based schools will gather at Chapel of the Divine Child in La Salle Green Hills at 2 p.m. After the orientation, they will walk to EDSA Shrine for the mass at 3 p.m.

The former education chief encouraged the Visayas and Mindanao-based schools to hold similar activities and coordinate with local parishes.

READ: CBCP invites public to 'national healing' walk on EDSA on Nov. 5

In a separate pastoral letter, Lasallian leader Br. Jose Mari Jimenez also urged the school communities to participate in the activities on Nov. 5.

“I wish for us to be involved in actions that raise awareness on the issue of human rights; that build solidarity with other like-minded groups; that engage us in formative actions to safeguard our democracy; and that bring relief or support those affected by acts of violence,” Jimenez said in a letter dated Oct. 25.

The “Lord Heal Our Land Sunday” on Nov. 5 will commence a month-long period of church activities for the continued healing of the nation. It will end on December 5, which marks the solemnity of Immaculate Conception.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Socrates Villegas, on August 28, ordered the tolling of church bells for three months from August 22 to November 27 in memory of the thousands of dead under the government’s bloody war against illegal drugs.

READ: Manila churches toll bells for the dead in drug war

De La Salle Philippines is one of the most outspoken groups against the killings under President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal crackdown on illegal drugs.

Last month, a black cloth with the words “Stop the killings. Start the healing” printed on it was put up on the façade of St. La Salle Hall of De La Salle University in Taft, Manila.