Statement of the South-Central Luzon Bishops Conference
in Fraternal Support to the United Church of Christ in the Philippines'
Call for the Release of Pastor Dan San Andres
"But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name." (Luke 21:12)
The South-Central Luzon Bishops Conference expresses fraternal support to the United Church of Christ in the Philippines-South Central Luzon Jurisdiction (UCCP-SCLJ) and joins its call for the immediate release of the Rev. Dan San Andres, whom authorities arrested on July 9, 2020 over charges of double murder in relation to an alleged ambush by the New People’s Army on May 13, 2018.
UCCP Bishop Joel Tendero has refuted the trumped-up charges, censured the accusations for its lack of credible evidence, and certified that Pastor San Andres had nothing to do with the incident. The UCCP congregation in Sipocot, Camarines Sur has likewise vouched for the presence of Pastor San Andres in their midst at the time, leading them in Sunday worship.
The pastor is the spokesperson of human rights watchdog Karapatan in the Bicol region.
We are infuriated by the malicious manner in which President Rodrigo Duterte’s government has been red-tagging faith-based human rights defenders and exploiting the country’s judicial system to pursue vindictive attacks against dissenting voices. We see the arrest and detention of Pastor San Andres as part of the government’s systematic policy to jail well-meaning advocates and critics.
In the backdrop of the Anti-Terrorism Law, we fear for the lives, security and safety of many other church people who have taken upon their shoulders the mission of defending the poor and advancing social change, who might suffer persecution for incarnating the mandatum of our Christian faith. The government is maniacally hurling unfounded allegations at faith-based human rights defenders and just peace advocates, red-tagging them and labelling them as “terrorists” to defame them and discredit their support for the legitimate and legal struggles of the underprivileged and marginalized sectors.
What we need today is healing from the crises that envelope our nation. The government should support the right of our people to meaningfully participate in the dream of resilient social stability and just economic development, not pounce upon them through judicial and extrajudicial attacks. It should refrain from sowing fear through vitriolic language, insidious acts and draconian laws.
We call out President Duterte’s government for witch-hunting critics, and demand that it refrains from its vicious attempts to throttle the people by labelling them communists and terrorists, and weaponizing the law against them.
We ask Churches to unite behind the call for the release of Pastor Dan San Andres and demand the dismissal of the fabricated charges against him. Let us courageously challenge the authoritarian rule taking root on our land, and the spiteful pattern of red-tagging, extrajudicial killings, judicial attacks and impunity. Let us raise our prophetic voices to decry the political persecution of church people and other people working for social justice, peace and democracy.
Let us resoundingly reject the normalization of state terror.
THE RT. REV. ROWEL AREVALO
Chairperson, SCL Bishops Conference
Bishop of Laguna
Bishop-in-Charge of Masbate
THE MOST REV. GODOFREDO DAVID
Bishop of Rizal and Pampanga
THE RT. REV. VICENTE SALVADOR BALLESTEROS
Bishop of Greater Manila Area
THE RT. REV. JOSELITO CRUZ
Bishop of Bataan and Bulacan
THE RT. REV. EMILIANO DOMINGO
Bishop of Cavite
THE RT. REV. PEDRO OJASCASTRO
Bishop of Marinduque, Quezon, Batangas and Camarines
THE RT. REV. RONELIO FABRIQUIER
Bishop of Romblon and Mindoro
THE RT. REV. JOVY FODULLA
Bishop of Palawan
THE RT. REV. JOEL PORLARES
IFI General Secretary
SCLBC Auxiliary Member
