CBCP denounces killing of Aglipayan bishop

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) denounced yesterday the killing of the chairman of the supreme council of bishops of Iglesia Filipina Independiente or the Aglipayan Church in Tarlac City before dawn last Tuesday.

CBCP president and Jaro Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo issued a one-page statement condemning the killing of 69-year-old Aglipayan Bishop Alberto Ramento.

"In the spirit of ecumenism, we express our sympathy to the supreme council of bishops of the Philippine Independent Church over the death of Bishop Ramento. What are saddening and shocking are the circumstances surrounding his killing," Lagdameo said.

Ramento was the Tarlac chairman of the human rights group Karapatan in Tarlac and was actively supporting the workers of Hacienda Luisita.

He was found dead inside his room on the second floor of the San Sebastian Cathedral in Tarlac City at about 7 a.m. last Tuesday.

He sustained three stab wounds in the back and two others in the chest. A six-inch long knife was found in the cathedral’s compound.

Police initially ruled that robbery was the motive for the killing. However, there are some speculations that this could be another extra-judicial killing.

Malacañang also condemned Ramento’s killing, but scored leftist groups for taking advantage of the incident to hit the Arroyo administration.

"Their (leftist groups’) propagandists are really quick... They want to capitalize on this because the issue of extra-judicial killings is still up in the air," said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

In a separate statement, former CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz described the killing of church men as the "summit of socio-political errancy."

"A man who denounced the many and continuous killings in the country himself became a victim of a shameless killing. His blood will certainly water the seeds of many more men and women like him who will continue his unfinished cause," he said.

Cruz doubted if robbery was the motive for the killing.

"How could Bishop Ramento be killed by mere robbers? He was a poor man himself. He led a simple life. He lived in a dilapidated house. He even took public buses to commute from one place to another," he said.

The National Democratic Front, along with left-leaning groups, also condemned "in the most unequivocal terms" the killing of Ramento, whom they described as a "man of peace," "a bishop of the poor" and "a consistent human rights defender." — With Eva Visperas, Paolo Romero and Katherine Adraneda