MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday condemned the use of religious images to conceal the transport of illegal drugs.
CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Social Communication chairman Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara told Radio Veritas that hiding illegal drugs inside religious images is disrespectful of the Roman Catholic faith.
“We hope that they would not use items associated with the Catholic Church such as images of saints to do something illegal,” he said.
The prelate issued the statement after the Bureau of Customs-Ninoy Aquino International Airport discovered a kilo of shabu hidden in the frame of an image of Mother Mary.
The parcel was sent from Wanda, South Africa and consigned to Joseph Manalac of Angeles City.
The parcel that contained the image was one of five parcels found to contain P15 million worth of illegal drugs.