Biking priest and peace advocate Fr. Amado Picardal who helped document the killings related to the so-called Davao Death Squad passed away on Wednesday. He was 69.
Picardal’s death was announced by his congregation The Redemptorists, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website reported Wednesday night.
The Redemptorist Province of Cebu said Picardal died of cardiac arrest.
His remains will lie in state at the Redemptorist Church in Cebu City. Wake Masses will be held starting 8 p.m. Thursday.
The funeral service will also be held at the Cebu Redemptorist Church on June 6 at 9 a.m.
Picardal in 2017 wrote a detailed report on the so-called DDS from 1998 to 2015, which he said became part of the information submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC has been investigating former President Rodrigo Duterte over the killings that took place under his administration’s anti-drug crackdown.
The provincial superior of the Redemptorist Province of Cebu, Fr. Edilberto Cepe, described Picardal as a “brilliant and courageous missionary.”
“He was a passionate advocate of peace and social justice and a professor of theology who has touched and transformed the lives of many,” he said.
Picardal was also dubbed the “biking priest” for taking long-distance bicycle rides to highlight his advocacies.
He served as the former executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Basic Ecclesial Communities of the CBCP.
