Archbishop Socrates Villegas president of the Philippine bishops'
conference, spoke out against President Duterte for supporting the
proposed revival of the death penalty and for the spate of drug-related
killings in Philippines.In his New Year's Eve homily, Archbishop Villegas said: "If the law for the re-imposition of death penalty is approved by Congress, the president of the Philippines will kill people, mostly indigents who cannot afford to pay lawyers in their judicial fight specially those accused in drug pushing and other crimes."
The Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop urged Catholics to help the country's bishops to oppose the re-imposition of the death penalty and condemn the government's war on drugs which he said has victimized innocent people.
Archbishop Villegas urged Catholics in his archdiocese to ask their congressmen not to vote for the re-imposition of the death penalty, saying that most of those who made mistakes and violated the law are victims of injustice and poverty.