Interview with a Bishop under Fire

Interview with a Bishop under Fire

BISHOP REUEL MARIGZA, labeled ‘communist’ by government. PHOTO: TAN CANCHELA

The General Secretary of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), Bishop Reuel Marigza, recently spoke with The Philippine Reporter following the “Our Voices Will Not Be Silenced” event at OISE at the University of Toronto.

During Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency, in the UCCP “more than 20 clergy and lay leaders of the church have been extrajudicially killed,” Marigza said during his speech on March 31, 2012. “There have been those who have been abducted and imprisoned on fabricated charges simply because they stood for those whose rights have been trampled,” he said.

Since President Benigno Aquino was elected in May 2010, two more people in Marigza’s church have been extrajudicially killed.

The event featured speakers touring North America sharing stories of human rights abuses in the Philippines.

Some estimate that there have been over 1200 extrajudicial killings in the Philippines over the past decade, with hundreds more unlawfully arrested and disappeared. Human rights activists blame the Philippine government’s military and paramilitary troops for the crimes and only a handful of people have been charged.

Q. What work do you do in the Philippines?

A. I’m the head of the UCCP. I’m also the Vice-Chairperson of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.

One of our ministries focuses on human rights and justice. In this work, we’re raising the stories of people, especially those of my church, whose rights have been violated while they themselves were speaking out for the rights of others.

Q. What is your history of involvement in this cause?

A. My sister was detained during Martial Law. She organized students and used to bring home a newspaper called The Signs of the Times that detailed stories of detainees. Later on, she herself was arrested and left incommunicado. In the two weeks that she was being moved from safehouse to safehouse [makeshift military detention camps], we went through harrowing hell. There were times that we wished that we could just see her body for closure.

I was 25. I remember thinking at the time whatever happens to her, she would not be the last in our family that will stand up for justice and fight for human rights. That experience, and working with victims of human rights abuses and their families, are the sources of my advocacy.

And of course, this is what my faith teaches me to do.

Q. Why do you think the government is targeting the United Church?

A. During Martial Law, we were the first church to call for the dismantling of Martial Law. We followed that up in 1978 at our General Assembly.

The faith that we profess calls us to follow the prophets in the Old Testament, and Jesus’s mission proclaiming good news to the poor and release of the captives. We teach our members to believe that people are created in the image of God. Therefore they have dignity and human worth and this should not be trampled upon.
Because we’re doing advocacy and are speaking out, we have been labeled as communist or communist-infiltrated, and we have been targeted.

Q. In what ways has the government labeled you communist?

A. In the Martial Law period, people in the defence establishment called us this, and this label has stuck. In the Pres. Arroyo period, there was a Power Point presentation used by the military entitled, “Knowing Your Enemies.” We were one of the listed organizations and churches that were supposedly Communist-infiltrated.

Q. What does that mean if you’re labeled as communist?

A. That means you become an open target for extrajudicial killings and arrest. Other than the military, they also have paramilitary groups that they have trained. There are some cults that harbor some very strong anti-communist sentiments and these cults can do violations with impunity and think that they could get away with it.

Q. How has your church been affected?

A. In my church there have been more than 20 church and lay leaders killed. There was one very appalling situation in 2006. One of our human rights lawyers, Attorney Romeo Capulong, filed a resolution calling for the government to stop the extrajudicial killings. The next day, his brother, Noel Cortez Capulong, who was an environmentalist, was killed in the streets of Calamba City. We do not think this is coincidence. It was a message that was being sent across the United Church.

Q. How have you been affected?

A. People have distributed pamphlets blacklisting me, and the church. But because I have spent the last decade in the academe, I have been more protected. Others aren’t.
Some of those who have been killed have been my personal friends, like the conference minister. He was killed at a time when he was protecting protesting organizations, like the Motorcycle Association. I talked to him about it and said, “Why don’t you take a lower profile?” He had quite a high profile. One week after that, he was dead.
Another friend of mine was coming from a human rights seminar to pick up his wife in Manila, and a van just stopped at the waiting shed he was in and gunned him down. He was able to run, but they followed him. Twenty-two bullets were pumped in his body.

Q. Are you afraid?

A. Definitely. We don’t want to court danger ourselves. But, if we stop and say nothing then this climate of impunity will go on. It’s a risk that we take, but it’s what our faith demands. It’s what our commitments demand of us.

Those risks are taking into account, but at least we know that whatever happens we have moved towards the right direction. And we hope that other people will follow who will raise the same voice, so the voice will not be silenced and eventually justice will be done.

Q. Filipinos here don’t face the culture of impunity that Filipinos back home face. What’s your message to them?

A. Even while they are here, they are still part of us. The Filipino community must make it a point to get to know the realities that are going on back home. There are many things that could be done, from simple signing of petitions, to calling on your Members of Parliament, to sending letters to authorities in the Philippines like the President, Department of Justice, the Foreign Affairs, and joining organizations that work on Philippine causes.