MANILA (UCAN): The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) released a pastoral statement on July 19 condemning several recent developments it said were threatening people’s freedoms, including the new anti-terrorism law and the closure of the country’s biggest broadcasting network.
The pastoral letter was translated into several Filipino regional languages read in churches across the Philippines.
Acting CBCP president, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, read the pastoral letter out in a video posted on social media.
The bishops said they were in disbelief when lawmakers passed the anti-terrorism law while the Philippines was focused on the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic.
“The dissenting voices were strong but they remained unheeded,” they said.
“They did not even seem to care that many of the people they represent were against it—lawyers’ associations, the academe, the business sector, labour groups, youth organisations, NGOs (non-government organisations), political movements, faith-based communities and even the Bangsamoro government,” the pastoral letter said.
The bishops also said that political pressure from above “weighed more heavily” than the voices from below.
“It only made more evident the blurring of lines between legislative and the executive branches of our government,” the bishops said.
The CBCP had also expressed concern about how the new law posed serious threats to the fundamental freedoms of all peaceful Filipinos.
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“Have we not felt the chilling effect of the closure of the country’s biggest broadcast network, the ABS-CBN, after being denied renewal of its franchise? Is it not evident to us how this pattern of intimidation creates an atmosphere detrimental to the freedom of expression in our country?” said the pastoral letter.
“The law has been used too many times as a weapon to suppress legitimate dissent and opposition, we cannot but share in the apprehensions expressed by the lawyers and ordinary citizens that filed the petition against the said infamous law before the Supreme Court,” the CBCP said.
“Is it not evident to us how this pattern of intimidation creates an atmosphere detrimental to the freedom of expression in our country?” the bishops said.
CBCPNews reported the bishops as saying that while a semblance of democracy is still in place, “We are already like the proverbial frog swimming in a pot of slowly boiling water.”
The bishops said, “We draw consolation from the groups of lawyers and ordinary citizens that have filed petitions before the Supreme Court, questioning the constitutionality of the newly signed law.”
