Priest killings unrelated, police say

MANILA. PNP chief Oscar Albayalde puts his forehead on the ring of Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista as a sign of respect prior to the dialogue between the police and the Catholic Church leaders. (Photo from PNP Facebook)
MANILA. PNP chief Oscar Albayalde puts his forehead on the ring of Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista as a sign of respect prior to the dialogue between the police and the Catholic Church leaders. (Photo from PNP Facebook)

PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde on Thursday, June 28, said the murder cases involving three Catholic priests over the last six months were unrelated because the motives were different.

"These murder cases were unrelated. There are different motives and there is no apparent pattern in all these incidents," Albayalde said in a statement that he read during a press conference, allaying apprehensions that Catholic priests were being targeted.

Albayalde said he and other PNP officials presented the PNP's initial findings to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) during a dialogue Thursday in Intramuros, Manila.

"We would like to assure them (CBCP) that there is no pattern here. The priests are not being targeted," he said during the press conference.

Father Richmond Nilo was gunned down on June 10 in front of the altar in a chapel in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, where he was preparing to say Mass.

Two other priests were killed in the last six months. Fr. Mark Ventura was killed in Gattaran, Cagayan Valley on April 29 while Fr. Marcelito Paez was shot dead in Jaen, Nueva Ecija on December 4, 2017.

Meanwhile, Father Rey Urmeneta of the St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Calamba, Laguna was wounded after unidentified men shot him on June 6.

On allegations that the Catholic Church is hatching a destabilization plot against President Rodrigo Duterte, Albayalde said Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista denied this.

"Wala talaga. It's an abstract issue. We did not even talk about it, Kasi (Because) it does not exist," he said.

Evangelista, chairman of the CBCP Permanent Council for Public Affairs led the CBCP panel that met with the police..

During the dialogue, Albayalde said they also sought the bishops' support in the following areas: faith-based support to the PNP internal cleansing program; involvement of various dioceses in the treatment and rehabilitation of drug offenders; and assistance in filling up the 17 vacant plantilla posts for Catholic Chaplains in the PNP.

"We obtained the assurance of the CBCP officials to bring up the matters discussed today (Thursday) in the forthcoming CBCP plenary in July," the PNP chief said.

The bishops, on the other hand, shared their position not to arm priests.

"The PNP even informed them the idea of arming the priests is no longer relevant since the priest from Laguna where that call came from asked the PNP to help them to surrender their firearms," Albayalde said.

He said the meeting "ended on a high note."

"Before we adjourned, both CBCP and PNP panels agreed to hold more regular dialogues to firm up areas of collaboration that were identified," he added. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph