04.06.2007

Philippines church persists despite political killings

Bishop Eliezer Pascua of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines is a man on a mission.

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	Larry Emery and Insik Kim of the Presbyterian Church (USA) met with Filipino Bishop Eliezer Pascua. (Photos: Evan Silverstein, (Presbyterian Church (USA))

And this one is a matter of life and death.

Early in his March visit to the United States to raise awareness of the political violence devastating his country, Pascua was awakened to the news that yet another church human rights worker had been gunned down in the streets. Renato Torrecampo Pacaide, 53, was secretary general of a peasants movement on the island of Mindanao.

His death brought the toll of politically-motivated killings in the Philippines since 2001 to 835. Of those, 25 were church workers, 15 of them from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. (There have been more killings since that time.)

“Those who were killed had several things in common,” Pascua said in an interview. “They were all activists for the rights of the poor, they were all critical of the policies of the government and they were all opposed to the president (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) – particularly in the 2004 elections.”

Arroyo, a former vice-president who assumed office in 2001 when the former president was forced from office in a corruption scandal, initially had a reputation as an economic reformer but she has steadily lost influence to the Philippine military, Pascua said.

In 2004 she was elected president in her own right in elections widely reputed to be rigged in her favour. Regional and congressional elections took place in May and Pascua was among those trying to make sure that they were fair.

A three-pronged strategy was being pursued by Pascua, other Filipino reformers and their supporters in the U.S., said Larry Emery, pastor of the Community Presbyterian Church in Walnut Grove, California, a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation, which has a mission partnership with Pascua’s church.

“We want to ask Congress to investigate U.S. foreign aid to the Philippines, to make sure it is not being used to foment these killings”, Emery said. He said the elections would be carefully monitored and that an accompaniment programme would be set up to help safeguard the lives of United Church of Christ in the Philippines sisters and brothers.

Emery described his own experience that points to the value of accompaniment: last spring he and another U.S. pastor were helping four Filipino pastors deliver medical supplies to a remote village in the Philippines when they were stopped by the military. After being held and questioned for several hours, all six were released.

“Afterwards,” Emery recalls, “we were repeatedly told that if we had not been with them, all four Filipino pastors would have been killed.”

Several investigations – including those by the United Nations and by a commission headed by a highly-respected former chief justice of the Philippines supreme court – have attributed the killings to the Philippines military.

The UN report flatly declared that Arroyo is either directing the killings or cannot stop the military from committing them. “Certainly she depends on the military,” Pascua said. “They cover each other’s back, maintaining a certain equilibrium.”

Government and military officials insist that they are not responsible for the killings, that the violence is a result of a number of anti-government insurgencies being waged by various groups around the country.

In such a polarized environment, the church has been named an “enemy of the state” because of its human rights and advocacy work. “We confronted the military about why we’re on their list and they refuse to elaborate,” Pascua said. “They play innocent and say ‘national security.’”

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines has no choice but to be involved in the economic and political struggles of the Philippines, Pascua said. “Our constitution, by-laws and statement of faith are the foundations for addressing the current political, social and economic context,” he explains.

“We profess that all persons are created in the image of God, entrusted with creation and so are called to try and create a just, compassionate social order,” Pascua continued. “We believe the kingdom of God can only be present when the hungry, sick, poor and imprisoned are cared for and where love, justice and peace are created.”

Ministry in such a situation can be frightening, Pascua said. “We are very vulnerable because we are only five per cent of the people and who is in a position to protect us? All we can do is bring these crimes against individuals and God to the public’s attention.”

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	Bishop Eliezer Pascua said his church has lost 15 leaders to political killings.

A hopeful sign, Pascua said, is that the dominant Roman Catholic Church is finally beginning to speak out against the killings of religious workers. “At first they wouldn’t acknowledge that church people were being killed,” he said, noting that the Catholic church has enormous power, wealth and privilege in the Philippines.

Arroyo remembers, Pascua said, that notorious dictator Ferdinand Marcos lost his grip on power when he antagonized the Catholic church. No Catholics are among the victims of the current spate of killings. “They (Catholics) seem to be acknowledging the killings now, only not enough,” the bishop added.

In spite of the killings and the constant threats, the church’s ministry continues. “Our church is still vibrant and reaching out to people, though we are having trouble making both ends meet,” Pascua said. Despite a 33 per cent downsizing of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines staff two years ago, “Our schools, seminaries and community outreach programmes are continuing,” he said.

“Filipinos know how to sing and cry at the same time.”

Presbyterian News Service