By LITO RULONA
Correspondent
LEADERS of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) slammed President Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao, and called on him to lift it immediately.
IFI Bishop Felixberto Calang released a statement after a gathering of the NCCP that also expressed grave concern over the “undue haste in declaring martial law in the whole of Mindanao.”
“We are alarmed, and we know what is the effect of martial law. Dili na unta mahitabo. Naa naman kita’y kasinatian sa miagi. Whatever is the purpose or intention in declaring martial law, atong ipaabot sa atong Presidente that this is alarming,” Calang said.
He said IFI is also calling on authorities to be be professional as they carry out martial law orders.
“Authorities must remember that there are inherent rights… They must respect the rights of every individual,” Calang said.
NCCP general secretary Rev. Rex Reyes Jr. also urged Duterte to lift martial law the soonest possible, and “address the issues that gave rise to this conflict, not through an all-out war but through peaceful means.”
The NCCP lists as members the Apostolic Catholic Church, Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, Episcopal Church in the Philippines, Iglesia Evangelica Metodista En Las Islas Filipinas, Iglesia Filipina Independiente;
Iglesia Unida Ekyumenikal, Lutheran Church in the Philippines, The Salvation Army, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and the United Methodist Church.
The NCCP urged the public to be vigilant against possible human rights violations.
The group called for “sobriety in speech” as well even as it asked its member-churches in Mindanao to monitor events and “let voices be heard.”
“We invite everyone to prayer, that civilians will be protected and served, that our rights and civil liberties will be respected and observed, that the malicious intent to sow war in the region will come to naught and peace and calm settle in strife-weary Mindanao. May God’s mercy and peace engulf us all.”
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