Retribution is not justice, CBCP panel says

MANILA, Philippines — Those affected by violence in parts of Mindanao should not seek retribution, a panel of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said Friday.

“If someone does something evil to me or to my loved ones, am I able to forgive?” the CBCP's committee on Ecumenical Affairs said in a statement on Friday signed by its chairperson Cotabato Archbishop Angelito Lampon.

“Hammurabi replied with his ‘eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth…’ which surely reduce us all to be physically handicapped. We all know that true justice cannot be achieved with any type of violence,” the statement read. 

This statement is released as authorities are continuing to hunt down suspects in the twin bombs ripped through a cathedral in Jolo, Sulu, killing at least 21 people and injuring over 100 others.

Four persons of interest who voluntarily surrendered to authorities earlier this week have already been cleared. 

READ: Police clear 4 persons of interest in Jolo bombing 

Around 20 alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf's Ajang Ajang faction, who law enforcement believe may be responsible for the attacks, clashed with troops at around 7:20 a.m. in Patikul, Sulu on Thursday.

READ: Troops clash with Abu Sayyaf faction suspected in Jolo bombing

“As we join in this week of Christian prayer and unity, we clear our eyes to see the truth of God’s justice.  We pray for our nation and all the inhabitants therein, that they will know peace, genuine peace based on justice and righteousness., the committee's statement read. 

Lampon was installed on Wednesday at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato, officially taking over from retired Archbishop Orlando Quevedo.

He is succeeding a staunch advocate of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). Quevedo has urged for interfaith dialogue as a path to peace in recent years. He also leaves a week after the BOL was ratified in the first plebiscite vote on January 21, which gives greater autonomy to areas home to the country's Muslim minority.

Members of the Catholic Church in Cotabato however, had to go through tight security to attend the installation of Lampon, according to a report in CBCP News. 

Lampon was the archbishop of the Vicariate of Jolo — where he served for 20 years — prior to his assignment in the Archdiocese of Cotabato.

He acknowledged the attack that hit his former diocese at the installation mass at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City on Wednesday. 

Lampon said he was thankful in spite of what happened to to his former flock and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo.

“We cannot fathom the plans of God… pray for those who perished and the wounded. Now is the time to trust God even more. Beyond that, my heart is overflowing,” he was quoted in a report in MindaNews.

The outgoing Cotabato archbishop said in his remarks during that the new leader of the Cotabato archdiocese should be a shepherd and must bring hope to people “who look for light in a cultural darkness and mutual biases and prejudices”. 

“He must lead his flock and those who are not of his flock to peace and harmony,” the cardinal added.

Cotabato is a city no stranger to terrorism. On New Year’s Eve, a bomb ripped through the city’s South Seas Mall, killing two people and injured 37 others. .

READ: Police, military join forces for Cotabato City mall bombing probe

But Lampon is not a stranger to violence himself, having taken over as Jolo's archbishop in 1997 after Bishop Benjamin de Jesus was shot dead outside of the cathedral that year, according to MindaNews.

On the day of the Jolo bombings, the CBCP issued a statement condemning the terrorist attack days after the Bangsamoro plebiscite. 

"As we begin a new phase in the peace process with the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM), we ask our Christian brethren to join hands with all peace-loving Muslim and Indigenous People communities in the advocacy against violent extremism," the CBCP said.