Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas recalled receiving personal encouragement from the late Pope Francis when the prelate received threats and ridicule during the Duterte administration for expressing strong opposition to extrajudicial killings (EJKs).
In a statement mourning the passing of the Holy Father, Villegas shared how Pope Francis urged him to remain steadfast in his mission of guiding his flock through his pastoral letters despite the mounting pressure from the government.
“When I was mocked and ridiculed and threatened by government authorities in my stand against the extrajudicial killings, he assured me and encouraged me personally in Rome to carry on my task of guiding the flock through my pastoral letters,” he recalled.
During the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Villegas was one of the most vocal members of the Catholic hierarchy.
In his capacity as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in 2017 and as Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop, he issued several strongly worded statements condemning the rampant EJKs.
In one of his pastoral letters, Villegas called on churches to ring their bells for 40 nights as a sign of mourning and protest.
“The relentless and bloody campaign against drugs that shows no sign of abating impels us, your bishops, to declare: In the name of God, stop the killings!” Villegas said in the letter.
The letter drew sharp criticism from then-Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who dismissed the bishops’ stance and remarked that he could “communicate with God without passing through them.”
Dela Rosa served as Duterte’s first PNP director and was the chief implementer of Oplan Double Barrel and Oplan Tokhang as part of the former administration’s campaign promise to end illegal drugs in three to six months.
He also defended Duterte’s drug war numerous times after being elected senator, even remarking “shit happens” when asked about the death of a three-year-old girl in an anti-drug operation.
