MANILA, Philippines — Thousands of Catholics joined a march with church leaders in Manila on Saturday in one of the largest shows of opposition against President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly crackdown against illegal drugs and attempts to revive the death penalty.
Police estimated that at least 10,000 people joined the “Walk for Life” march and rally starting at dawn at Rizal Park, carrying placards that read “Choose life” and “No to death penalty.” Organizers gave a larger estimate of the crowd.
It’s the latest sign of the Roman Catholic Church’s increasing activism against a government crackdown that has left thousands of drug suspects dead and efforts by pro-Duterte legislators to reimpose capital punishment as early as next month.
Catholic bishops expressed their deep concern over the drug killings in a recent statement read in churches across the country.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who leads the country’s bishops, said no civilized country should allow such illegal actions to continue unabated. “They ought to be judged by the court of law and never by the extrajudicial means,” Villegas said.
Sen. Leila de Lima, one of the most vocal critics of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, joined Saturday’s rally. State prosecutors charged her in court Friday with receiving bribes from detained drug lords, an allegation she has staunchly denied.