REV. Father Cris Gonzales, head of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Bacolod, strongly condemned the continued killings of some personalities allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.
Gonzales made the reaction Tuesday, January 31, amid the recent resurgence of killings of alleged drug personalities in Bacolod City.
"We are saddened that killings continue. We don’t say that we are okay with drugs because it is very harmful to the community, but killing is not the solution. We in the church do not believe in that. It should be through the transformation of lives by giving hope to people because people lose hope that's why they use drugs," Gonzales pointed out.
He also appealed to everyone to cooperate and help address the root cause of the drug problem.
"Because this is a societal problem, this should involve not only the police and other concerned agencies but by everybody. This problem cannot be solved through killing," Gonzales emphasized.
On the alleged vigilante group behind the killings, Gonzales said, " we don’t have the basis for that, but it's really a call to do the job by solving the killings. The pressure should not only to the police but on everyone else."
Henry Paul Bombate, a resident of Brgy. Banago, was found dead Friday morning, January 27, with his body gagged, blindfolded, and hogtied in Brgy. Mansilingan.
The victim, according to the police report, suffered eight gunshot wounds, four in the head, and three more on his body.
The police said Bombate may have been killed elsewhere and his body was dumped in Mansilingan.
A day before, a pair of severed hands were found in a pile of trash by a garbage collector in Purok Kagaykay, Barangay 2 in Bacolod City. The severed hands appeared to have been made like a linaga (stew) as it was put in an ice cream container with cuts of jackfruit.
It also has a list of names of 22 alleged drug personalities and protectors, with most of them reportedly residents of Barangay 2.
It has also a warning that the names on the list will be raffled off.*