MANILA, Philippines — Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas has rallied the faithful to take a stand against the “Reign of Murder and Vulgarity” engulfing the nation.
Villegas, former head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, did not mince his words in rousing the Catholic flock to take a stand: “[A]mong all the social ills that are slowly eating up our national soul, the murders and the vulgarity are incredibly and sadly of the list.”
“Years from now, this chapter in our history as a people will be called the Reign of Murder and Vulgarity. We have had enough!” the archbishop said, in his message for the Feast of Mary Help of Christians commemorated on every May 24th of the year.
The Catholic leader also lamented the killings of Filipinos who are “defenseless and silent poor.”
He said: "If they were not killed by government agents, the government agents have been incredibly yet systematically unable to trace the killers and bring the wheels of justice to roll."
During his helm of the CBCP, Villegas has been vocal in condemning the spate of killings in the country. President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against drugs has claimed a staggering number of thousands of Filipino lives since it started in July 2016.
READ: Top CBCP officials issue call to conscience over drug war casualties | Bishops issue strongest statement vs Duterte’s drug war
Vulgarity used to mock the dead
Villegas also pointed out that the vulgarity that has pervaded in the Filipinos’ conversations. He pointed out that women have been disgraced habitually “as if it were a standard policy to mock womanhood and reduce the God given dignity of personhood to genitals.”
“We have become numb to vulgarity. We laugh at vulgarity instead of getting shocked and angry,” he added.
While the Catholic leader did not identify anyone, he said that the decline in courteousness in national conversations happened since two years ago—roughly since the start of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
The acid tongued leader has made headlines for his misogynistic remarks against women, especially of female government officials. The Malacañang usually downplays the chief executive’s remarks as mere jokes or sarcasm.
Villegas also said that vulgarity has been used to “mock the memory of the murdered; to calumniate a faithful departed who cannot defend himself; to gossip about the dead; to add inconsiderate sorrow to the grief of those they have left behind.”
“Is murder to be excused due to unproven immorality of the killed? Enough!” he added.
The archbishop did not identify anyone, but his remarks days after Duterte made public remarks against Fr. Mark Anthony Ventura.
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Weeks after Ventura was gunned down while blessing children, Duterte has lambasted the slain priest in his speeches. He said that the Cagayan priest had “illicit affairs with the wives of politician, a police officer, a military man and a businessman.”
Leaders of the church have also taken offense of Duterte’s remarks and said that the killing of Ventura is an “evil act.”
Villegas stressed: “There is hostility towards decency. Human life is under threat. It would be naive to hope that things will improve without us lifting a finger.”
“Think. Pray. Work together,” Villegas called.