MANILA, Philippines — Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo has urged Catholic priests complaining of receiving death threats to report the incidents to law enforcement agencies so that these can be properly investigated by the government.
Panelo rebuked Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Permanent Committee on Public Affairs, who challenged the Palace to prove that the death threats did not come from the government.
“Suffice it to state that it is elementary in law that the one who alleges must prove,” Panelo said.
“Since the priests are the ones accusing the government or the President as being behind those death threats, it stands to reason that they have to prove their accusation,” he added.
The burden of proof lies with the priests who alleged that the President or the government may be behind the threats, according to the spokesman.
“Our position is that they bring their concern officially to any law enforcement agency so that the latter may conduct an investigation, and at the same time secure their safety,” he said.
Catholic priests Albert Alejo, Flavie Villanueva and Robert Reyes called for a press conference last Monday, claiming they have been receiving threats after criticizing several policies of the President, including his war on illegal drugs.
Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, a known critic of Duterte, earlier confirmed he had been receiving death threats since last month.
Priority
Re-electionist Sen. Sonny Angara said the Philippine National Police should make it a priority to protect government critics, including the Catholic priests who came forward to reveal that they had been receiving death threats.
“If anyone should be protected, it should be the critics of the government. This is to show that we are a democracy and we value freedom of speech and expression,” Angara said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
Angara was referring to Alejo, Villanueva, Reyes and David. He said the death threats against these priests were a “cause for concern.”
To settle their differences, Angara is proposing a dialogue between the Church and the government.
“I think dialogue will always be welcome. It’s not really good to see our top institutions engaging in mudslinging,” he said. “That has been done before by other presidents, so why not?” – With Edith Regalado, Paolo Romero