[Pope Watch] Cardinal Tagle silent on Duterte drug war killings?

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MANILA, Philippines – “We cannot govern the nation by killing.”

It was on the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, September 8, 2017, that Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle issued one of his strongest words against the drug war killings under then-president Rodrigo Duterte. 

But it was not his first statement on the issue. A year before this, on August 28, 2016, Tagle condemned extrajudicial killings and other forms of murder. It was two months after Duterte started his bloody drug war, which had killed over a thousand people at that time.

The cardinal, known by his nickname Chito, also said in a statement on August 19, 2017: “We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces with bonnets, to stop wasting human lives.”

Human rights groups said Duterte’s drug war ended up killing around 30,000 people from 2016 to 2022 — and Tagle, the archbishop of Manila from 2011 to 2019, was often accused of staying silent.

This accusation has recently resurfaced as the 67-year-old Tagle is considered a papabile, a contender in the conclave that begins on Wednesday, May 7.

Activist priest Father Robert Reyes, who went to San Jose Seminary with Tagle, said in a New York Times interview about Tagle, the papabile: “Had Chito spoken clearly and courageously during the Duterte administration, fewer people could have died.”

The New York Times, in its article published on April 29, said Tagle “called for an ‘end to the waste of human lives’ but did not confront Mr. Duterte directly.”

Tagle’s closest associates told Rappler over the years, however, that the cardinal often chose a nonconfrontational approach seeking to address morality rather than specific political figures. He would occasionally use metaphors, such as when he condemned arrogant “kings” who resort to violence, but he never denounced Duterte or his officials in any public speech.

Tagle himself pushed for “active nonviolence” in addressing the drug war killings, asserting that “we cannot stop violence also by violence.”

In a homily in 2013, three years before Duterte took office, Tagle delivered a homily that illustrated the way he chose to deal with the “wolves” of the world — an indication of consistency in addressing problems of this sort.

“The world that the new evangelization faces is like a wolf,” said Tagle, noting that aspects of the contemporary world “might look hostile to us.” This sinful, wounded world, however, “remains God’s world,” said Tagle, adding that “God is there.” 

“Tame the wolf,” the cardinal said, “and let it become a lamb.”

Jesuit priest Father Nono Alfonso, executive director of Jesuit Communications, was one of those privy to Tagle’s moves during the Duterte drug war. Alfonso, who was Tagle’s former student, has overseen production of the cardinal’s popular show The Word Exposed for over 16 years.

“He did so many things. And if actions speak louder than pronouncements or words, then he did a lot,” Alfonso told Rappler on Monday, May 5.

Alfonso recalled that Tagle convened high-level meetings on the drug menace in 2016, only around three months after the killings began. He said the dialogues were attended by officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, generals, academicians, and media practitioners like himself.

It was pointed out in that meeting that “the drug menace is not a criminal problem, it is a medical problem.” He said, “I myself was not very aware of that, so I was informed and educated as well about that side of the drug menace.” 

The meetings took place for around three years, said Alfonso. Tagle left for the Vatican in January 2020, when Pope Francis made him prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (and later pro-prefect of the restructured Dicastery for Evangelization).

“Cardinal Chito Tagle’s approach is always dialogical,” the Jesuit priest said.

Alfonso also said Tagle “had an open line” with the Office of the President because one of Duterte’s most trusted aides, Leoncio Evasco Jr., was a former Catholic priest. Evasco “was organizing people to attend” Tagle’s conferences, “and the discussion was very rich.”

Tagle even met with Duterte himself in Malacañang on July 19, 2016, less than three weeks after the populist leader took office. He was one of the few Catholic bishops who held a dialogue with Duterte.

“The cardinal is like Jesus Christ: He will change the way you look at things. He will not force you to talk, but he will try to persuade you through these meetings with experts,” said Alfonso.

His statement aligned with the words of Father Joseph Komonchak, who was Tagle’s teacher at the Catholic University of America, in an interview with the New York Times: “He tries to persuade people rather than intimidate them.” 

Beyond talking about the drug problem, Alfonso said the Archdiocese of Manila, under Tagle, financially supported drug rehabilitation programs.

On January 8, 2017, in an event attended by government officials and covered by media, Tagle signed an agreement with Fazenda da Esperança, an international drug rehabilitation farm. The goal was to boost the Archdiocese of Manila’s drug rehabilitation program.

Tagle also worked with local government units to solve the drug war killings. This was because the killings began on the barangay level, when the police would go house to house to look for drug suspects who would either surrender or get killed. 

His efforts, of course, began in the church itself, with Tagle appealing to priests to open their churches to drug war victims who need help. 

“Cardinal Tagle, before he left, told his priests: ‘Open your doors,’” said Alfonso. 

He was also one of the bishops who joined the Walk for Life, a church-led protest against Duterte drug war killings. Along with Archbishop Socrates Villegas and other religious leaders, Tagle delivered a rare open-air speech at the Quirino Grandstand to call for an end to violence.

The Walk for Life was not covered widely by secular media, however, as the event was set from 4:30 to 8 am on a Saturday.

“The Cardinal does not flaunt what he is doing: ‘Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing,’ biblically speaking. He is more of a man of action rather than mere pronouncements,” the Jesuit priest added.

“Cardinal Tagle was very supportive of the clergy who were already silently and, like Ambo David, vocally active about the war on drugs of Duterte,” said Alfonso. 

“During the war on drugs, silently, the Church was opening its doors,” Alfonso said, attributing it to bishops like Tagle and David who gave this instruction to priests. He likened it to the Marcos dictatorship, when “the Church was offering refuge quietly to subversives and rebels.”

If the killings continued despite such efforts, Alfonso said, “Every one of us is at fault.” He said majority of Filipinos, including democratic institutions, kept quiet during Duterte’s time.

“We’re just finding fault to wash our hands clean,” Alfonso said. – Rappler.com