THURSDAYSeptember 7, 2000 volume 11, no. 163
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NEWS for Thursday, September 7, 2000 MANILA, Sep. 6, 00 (CWNews.com/Fides)
The life of
Catholic Bishop Romulo De La Cruz of Isabela in Basilan
province, is in serious danger, according to the Vatican
news service Fides.
The Abu Sayyaf terrorist group could target the Catholic
member of the Crisis Unit set up by the government to find
a solution to the April 23 kidnapping in which a number
hostages are still detained on Jolo island. The alarm was
raised by Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, president of the
Philippine bishops' conference.
This comes after an August 16 pastoral letter in which
Bishop De la Cruz called on the military forces to "remain
vigilant and alert to continue to flush out the Abu Sayyaf
so that they will never again wreak havoc on Basilan."
Misinterpreted by a major newspaper, the statement was
reported as saying that the bishop wants the group "wiped
out" or killed, causing angry reactions and threats from
the Muslim extremist group of kidnappers.
Archbishop Quevedo said that Bishop De la Cruz based his
pastoral statement on moral condemnation of all kinds of
crime and banditry, similar to previous bishops' conference
statements that condemned syndicates in gambling,
kidnapping, drugs, smuggling, among others. "Bishop de La
Cruz has applied that moral condemnation to the Abu Sayyaf
group considering the experience of the people of Basilan,
both Muslims and Christians," Archbishop Quevedo said.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has likewise
condemned the action of Abu Sayyaf as "barbarous and
un-Islamic." The bishops of Mindanao, Protestant leaders,
and Muslim Ulama in the Bishops-Ulama Forum have made a
clear distinction between the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf.
"Bishop de La Cruz expressed his own moral stand and a
courageous one, but his pastoral pronouncement has placed
his life in even more danger than before," said Archbishop
Quevedo.
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