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LAST March 30 Pastor Caloy de la Cruz of the Union
Theological Seminary, Philippine Christian University, was abducted,
detained and tortured. When his abductors realized that they had the
wrong pastor, they released him. Two months later, the “right”
pastor—Pastor Berlin Guerrero—was arrested in a joint operation
of the Laguna police and the Naval Intelligence Security Force. They
held him for about a day and then turned him over to the police.
Guerrero, a former secretary-general of Bayan Southern Tagalog, was
arrested on the strength of a warrant of arrest for murder and
inciting to sedition, crimes allegedly committed in the early 1990s.
The disappearance of de la Cruz
didn’t generate much publicity. I learned about it a day after he
disappeared when friends told me that a pastor of the United Church
of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) had been abducted. Considering
that the pastor is a known critic of the infiltration of UCCP by
CPP-NPA front organizations, the source even suspected that the NPA
was involved.
A week later I got a different
version of the incident. Friends of de la Cruz say that his enemies,
that is, the CPP-NPA front organizations, circulated stories that he
was a member of the NPA. Some elements of either the police or
military intelligence took the bait, picked up the pastor in Dasmarińas,
and tortured him. Concerned about the fate of de la Cruz, his family
and some well-connected friends were able to alert high-ranking
government officials who started asking questions. The abductors
then realized their mistake and released the pastor who has been
deeply traumatized by the incident.
UCCP has remained silent on de la
Cruz’s ordeal. This is in contrast to the reactions generated by
“activist pastor” Guerrero’s arrest. The Internet is full of
manifestos, statements and articles condemning his arrest and
alleged torture. A member of de la Cruz’s congregation told me
that he and other members were disgusted that the UCCP seemed not to
care about de la Cruz, while Guerrero who they believe has been
involved in some unchristian acts, is generating support and
solidarity from UCCP and allied groups.
The Naval Intelligence Security
Force has denied that Guerrero was tortured. The unit had him
undergo a medical examination before he was turned over to the
police. The unit also denied any involvement in the abduction of de
la Cruz.
The AFP and the PNP must
investigate what happened when Pastor Caloy de la Cruz was abducted,
detained and tortured. It is bad enough that elements of
law-enforcement units and the military would engage in abductions,
but it is a double disaster when the victim is a law-abiding citizen
like de la Cruz who is critical of CPP-NPA infiltration of his
church. Those responsible should be identified and made to answer
for their acts so as not to implicate the entire AFP and PNP.
It is interesting that de la
Cruz’s ordeal didn’t generate any condemnation from the UCCP or
those groups that claim to be so concerned about abductions and
torture. In the UCCP statement issued a day after Guerrero’s
arrest, it merely said, “The abduction of Pastor Guerrero took
place two months after a similar incident took place on March 30
along Aguinaldo Highway in Dasmarińas, Cavite, where the Union
Theological Seminary is located.”
“Two months after a similar
incident.” Did de la Cruz’ family request that his ordeal be
kept from the public? Or is UCCP’s silence a result of de la
Cruz’s being against the growing influence of CPP-NPA front
organizations in the church? “The [communist] movement has been
using the church for its political goals and has swayed the
church’s mission and vision,” one member told me. The member
added: “The movement claims to advocate justice, but only
according to their definition of the word. Justice is what is
convenient to them.”
Justice. In Dumaguete City, an
NGO originally established as an extension of the local UCCP
seminary but now an independent, German-funded and Bayan Muna-Gabriela-controlled
organization with continued strong ties to the UCCP, is providing
free legal assistance to a pastor who has been charged with rape by
a female fellow pastor. In retaliation, the pastor charged with rape
has filed a sexual-harassment complaint against the lady pastor.
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