A Catholic bishop who is known to be critical of President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody drug war has confirmed receiving death threats.
Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said that the threats first started two weeks ago, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News announced today.
David, also the Vice President of the CBCP, said he didn’t know who or where the threats were coming from. When asked if he believed the death threats were tied to Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, David said: “[Y]our guess is as good as mine.”
David is one of the staunch critics of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, which has killed more than 5,000 people. He criticized the Philippine National Police for their inability to stop vigilante groups from killing residents of Caloocan, Rappler reported.
In July 2018, David also lambasted the president’s third State of the Nation speech when Duterte promised to continue a “chilling” anti-drug campaign.
“Such a statement implies that the victims of drug-related killings are not human lives!” David said in a Facebook post.
“Addicts, for us, are sick people; drug use is not a crime that deserves death. What people with substance-use disorder need is rehabilitation (and we in the Church are willing to help out in this endeavor.)”
In November 2018, Duterte hounded David and alleged that the bishop is into illegal drugs. David denied the accusation and sarcastically said he prefers fruit shakes.
David said the death threats won’t stop him from being critical of the drug war.
“No threat or intimidation can stop me from carrying on with my spiritual and pastoral duties as a bishop,” he said in the statement published today.
Duterte is known to criticize the Catholic Church and priests, many of whom are openly opposed to his policies.
Earlier this month, Duterte went as far as saying that people should “kill bishops” if they fight back, ABS-CBN News reported.
However, Duterte recently backtracked on his previous attacks against the church and told people not to kill priests in a speech on Sunday.
“Do not touch the priests, they have nothing to do with politics,” he said at the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan rally in Cebu City, Philippine Star reported.
He said that his feud with the Catholic Church was personal and anyone who harms priests will face him. “Stop threatening them or you will have to face me,” he added.
