red-tagging

Red-tagged Bishop Alminaza: ‘I cannot be silent amid violence and injustices’

Rappler.com

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Red-tagged Bishop Alminaza: ‘I cannot be silent amid violence and injustices’

BISHOP. San Carlos, Negros Occidental Bishop Gerardo Alminaza.

Gerry Alminaza's Facebook page

The attack on Alminaza comes after he points out hundreds of political prisoners, human rights violations, killings, and militarization under former president Rodrigo Duterte

BACOLOD, Philippines – San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza on Friday, February 24 admonished the media outfit of the self-proclaimed son of god Apollo Quiboloy after it alluded to him as a mouthpiece of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

In a statement released on Friday, February 24, Alminaza reminded his attackers: “the demand to pursue peace is an  echo of Jesus’ command to love.”

A pastor, he stressed, needs to speak out. 

“I cannot be silent amid violence and injustices,” said the bishop of a diocese that has seen multiple extra-judicial killings of activists during the six-year term of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The San Carlos diocese includes the northern towns of Negros Occidental as well as towns and cities in Negros Oriental.

The social media posts of SMNI, which is part of the network of corporations under the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC), accused Alminaza, a convenor of the Pilgrims for Peace, of using the line of the CPP and the National Democratic Front.

The network placed a question mark at the end of a post showing Alminaza’s photo with the phrase “mouthpiece ng CPP”. But SMNI’s talk show personalities slammed the bishop for his February 21 statement that mentioned  hundreds of political prisoners, human rights violations, killings, and militarization under former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Alminaza had also mentioned the arrest on March 19, 2019 of former priest and NDF consultant Frank Fernandez, Cleofe Lagtapon, and Geanne Perez “under suspicious and irregular procedures.” 

“During the hearings, it has been submitted into evidence that Frank, Cleofe, and Geanne were actually brought back to the house of their arrest in Liliw, Laguna for photo documentation with alleged evidence after the police officers facilitated their physical examination at the Laguna Provincial District Hospital.  This is contrary to the Rules of Court which say that they should have proceeded from the hospital to the nearest detention facility. Such should raise reasonable doubt. We will learn the verdict of the judge in an upcoming promulgation on February 27, 2023,” said the bishop.

The SMNI personalities branded Fernandez a terrorist. 

Responding to a challenge to name civilian victims of extra-judicial killings, Alminaza said mentioned the late Escalante council Bernardito “Toto” Patigas, human rights worker Zara Alvarez and Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan, the city health officer and only doctor of Guihulngan in Negros Oriental. 

The KJC’s Davao-based leader,  Quiboloy is on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “most-wanted” list and faces sanctions for alleged rape, human trafficking, exploitation of power, and physical abuse.

In 2019, following a spate of 15 killings in Negros Oriental within a week, Alminaza lamented the “manifestations of a total absence of peace and order.”

He also urged the local government leaders to speak up, and “not let your silence add to the growing number of killings and embolden more the criminals.”

In July 2019, the human rights group Karapatan said at least 41 people had been killed, often absent of due process, in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental from November 2018 to July 28, 2019.

The bishop said attacks calling his advocacy as “diabolical and demonic” and other forms of red-tagging “will never stop our commitment to peace and justice.”

‘We should never be afraid, but rather be brave in speaking for the truth on behalf of the victims of injustice,” Alminaza stressed. – Rappler.com

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