Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kidapawan (Agenzia Fides) - "Our basic attitude is patience. The Special Task Force appointed by the government to shed light on Fr Fausto Tentorio’s murder is doing its job, and we are waiting for the investigation results. We are confident and hope that it will bring out the truth and that justice is done, even if many cases of murders go unpunished in Mindanao, even among the priests" This is what His Exc. Mgr. Romulo de la Cruz said to Fides, Bishop of Kidapawan, the diocese in which Father Fausto Tentorio worked, the PIME missionary killed on October 17 in Arakan.
The Bishop refers to Fides that in the coming days he will meet the lawyers of the "National Commission for Human Rights" and says, "I hope they will provide a valuable aid in dealing with sensitive issues concerning the pastoral care in the diocese, even those that touch the lives of tribal people, that father Tentorio defended. "The work of the missionary, therefore, will not be forgotten, underlined Mgr. De La Cruz, noting that his sacrifice has also "awakened a movement that, in the Christian community and in civil society, promotes values such as non-violence and justice in Mindanao".
In particular the Forum "Justice for father Pops" (as Father Fausto was called) reported to the public opinion’s attention the problem concerning the long trail of extrajudicial killings, impunity for most of them, of human rights activists, journalists , magistrates, lawyers, trade unions, religious, registered in the Philippines. In the past year, under the government of Benigno Aquino, they were at least 60. In eight years of Gloria Arroyo’s government, there were 1,118 victims. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 09/11/2011)
