Thousands of people gathered at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila yesterday, February 18, 2017, to join a prayer rally calling an end to the extrajudicial killings happening in the country as well as opposing the re imposition of death penalty.
The Walk for Life was attended by bishops, lay Catholics, religious men and women, members of the El Shaddai, and Couples of Christ among others.
Different speakers primarily reiterated the stand of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines regarding the on-going issues affecting the lives of the Filipinos.
"Life is just borrowed from God. It must be cared for most of the time," Mrs. Zenaida Capistrano of the Council of Laity in the Philippines said. She also hoped that "our walking would lead us to a path of understanding and the fulfillment of our goals."
The prayer rally received encouragement from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, with its President, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, also voicing out that the 'Walk for Life' is not a protest against the actions of the Philippine government but "a commitment to the sacredness of life given by God," that the Walk for Life is a Walk for God.
Speaking about death penalty, Archbishop Villegas said in his speech that death penalty is contrary to the sacredness of human life.
"Instead of restoring the death penalty, cleanse the ranks of the police, reform the judiciary and strictly enforce rules in our penitentiaries," since "criminals ought to be arrested, prosecuted, sentenced and jailed to correct the wrongdoings they committed. They ought to be judged by the court of law and never by the (barrel of the gun) extrajudicial means," he said.
"We say “No to Death penalty!” Yes, to the reforms in the criminal justice (system). We call on the House of Representatives to allow their members to vote according to their conscience. Partisan politics is fleeting. Conscience is the voice of God inside everyone of us. Respect our conscience..." he added.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Archdiocese of Manila also made a surprise appearance during the prayer rally. He reminded the faithful that life is sacred, and that the faithful should be the witnesses to this truth always by word and example.
“Let’s not stop walking for life. We should do it everyday,” said Tagle. “Nothing will happen if we will not walk for life everyday.”
The archbishop also called for a renewed commitment to a "culture of active non-violence" as a response to the "culture of violence" that is slowly becoming a "normal thing" in the country.
“If the response to violence is also violence, we double the violence. We shouldn’t be doubling or propagating violence. We should match it with non-violence,” he said.
Participants of the prayer rally held banners with words like "No to Death penalty," No to extrajudicial killings" and "Pahalagahan at Pangalagaan natin ang buhay" (Let us value and take care of life) while walking and praying the rosary.
Organizers say that around 20,000 people attended the prayer rally from different Catholic dioceses in Luzon and from other Christian churches. Participants from as far as Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija and Batangas were also at the event.
The Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, as well as member-schools of the Manila Archdiocesan and Parochial Schools Association (MAPSA) also joined the prayer rally.
A similar 'Walk for Life' was also organized in Cebu City, as well as in Cagayan de Oro City.
WITH REPORTS AND QUOTATIONS FROM CBCP NEWS