SEVERAL prelates, including Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, will attend the three-hour prayer rally "Walk For Life" at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta, Manila on Saturday.
The activity was organized by the laity and other pro-life groups to stop the extrajudicial killings and oppose the revival of the death penalty.
At the same time, similar activities will also be held in the cities of Dagupan, Pangasinan, and Cebu.
According to Joseph Jesalva, executive assistance of the Council of Laity of the Philippines (CLP), they expect some 20,000 people to attend the gathering.
"We open it to everyone, religious groups, civic groups...We asked them to go directly to the venue...we expect 20,000 or more," he said.
Some of the participants in the Manila event will come from dioceses of Bataan, Malolos, Pampanga, Antipolo.
"Our appeal to the public is to come and stand up for life. Let us all stand up to be counted to promote life. We defend life of each one," Jesava added.
Organizers urged those who are planning to attend the event to wear white t-shirts and bring white flaglets and ribbons to echo their call for the protection of life.
Earlier, Villegas, who is also the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), called on the faithful to join the prayer rally and “fill the streets with prayers and not with blood."
"We hope that there will be more people who would be disturbed every time one human person is killed, because one brother or sister killed is already too much," he said.
Also, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo had said that President Rodrigo Duterte should listen to the voice of Catholics joining on Saturday’s event.
"This is his (Duterte) constituency. It's a big group. These are people who come from different parishes who want to speak," said the head of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on the Laity (ECL). (FP/SunStar Philippines)