John Lloyd B.

Macuat

Assignment in Seminar 3

When Heaven Wept By Bishop Pablo Virgilio S. David

In this Homily, Bishop David compared Kian de los Santos as that of Jesus Christ. He emphasized
that It is normal for a son or daughter to bury a dead parent. What we are doing today is not so
normal; it is the parents who are burying their child. Its a reversal of roles. It is not right. Moreover,
he expressed that It is not easy to condole with parents who have lost a child. You cannot just say,
I know what you are going through, if you have never lost and buried a child who is at the prime
of his youth and is just learning to weave his dreams. In such circumstances, it is better to keep
quiet.

But there is one mother who can truly condole with Lorenza todayThe Blessed Mother Mary. She
has the right to say to Lorenza, I know what you feel; I also lost my son. Like your son, he was
also arrested, beaten up, and murdered, even though he was innocent.

He further explained that: for us Christians, Jesus is not just a human being. We profess faith in
him as a Son of God. And so even God the Father in heaven has a right to say to Zaldy today: I
know what you feel; I also lost a son. I gave him up, for love of you. That is the reason why I
chose the famous John 3:16 for our Gospel today. For God so loved the world, He gave us His
only Son so that all who believe might not perish but might have eternal life. That must be also
the reason why its not just KIans family that is weeping today. Heaven too is weeping. The
weather is dark and gloomy. The rain poured down very early this morning. All the agony and
sorrow of heaven pours down whenever God in heaven loses a single one of His children.

The Bishop was inspired by the courage of Kians parents in pursuing legal means to obtain justice
for their son. Even the neighbors found the courage to stand as witness, to testify to what they had
seen and heard. He also made recognition and salute the young lady Barangay Chair for having
the courage to submit the CCTV footages.

Finally, the Bishop said that we would like to cry out to the authorities in government: Enough
with the killings! Stop the killings, for heavens sake! Let us please sit down and discuss
reasonably as citizens of one country. Let us help out in addressing this problem of illegal drugs
properly, but not in a manner that has no respect for the law. Not in a manner that almost treats
addicts and pushers as vermin, as non-humans. Addiction is a disease; let us please address it as a
health issue!

II

In the Homily of Bishop David, I agree with his statements commending the courage of Kians
parents to pursue legal matter and also neighbors and local officials in cooperating with this matter.
The legal remedy of the of filing a suit against the police officers who allegedly killed Kian is the
proper way of dealing with the Issue. We cannot just easily condemn the War on Drugs because
of the casualties or the alleged innocent victims of this cause. We should rely on the due process,
to determine the liabilities of both parties, to convict if found guilty and recompense the loss in
form of damages. It is never right to blame the Government regarding its advocacy on war on
drugs, we must leave the matter to the court who is the only branch of government capable of
knowing what has truly transpired in such incident and deciding the issue with finality.

I do not agree with the Bishop regarding comparing Jesus Christ with Kian regarding their
innocence when arrested and both being killed for the crime that they have not committed. I
strongfully disagree. In the case of Kian, there was intelligence that the latter was involved in drug
dealing, the police officers conducted investigations and monitoring first before the alleged
incident. Kian was found late at night in the community and the police officers find in right time
to act in order to catch the subject of investigation in action while committing the crime. It was
alleged, according to police officers that Kian fired a gun at them. As far as the law of the land is
concerned, every person may retaliate or may perform an act necessary in order to preserve their
life from any harm or aggression in the form of self-defense. More so in case of police officers,
they are mandated by law to defend themselves whenever they find their life in danger and in
pursuing a criminal who shows a threat in their lives, may even shoot and kill the fleeing criminal
because such person is a threat to the community as a whole. The Bishop should have said that the
incident must be investigated first before saying such words because he might influence the people
and turn them against the lawful operations of the government. The words uttered by the Bishop
regarding the innocence of Kian and being killed without doing criminal act are just conclusions
of law, a general statement which has no basis to stand on.

III

Yes, the Bishop clearly interfered with the affairs of the government. The separation of the Church
and State is clear in the Constitution. When the Bishop stated to stop with the killings, enough with
the killings and instead, treat the drug addiction as a decease, he clearly crossed the line. The
bishop, substitutes his opinions on the policy of the government. The church must mind its own
affairs and let the government do its duty to preserve the security and welfare of its inhabitants,
primarily the State. The principle of the separation of the church and state is based on mutual
respect and cooperation. The state to ensure the wellbeing of its citizens and the church to uplift
the spiritual being of its followers. One should not interfere with the affairs of the other.

Thus, the principle Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things
that are God's must stand.