As more Catholic priests came out to expose the supposed death threats against them, Malacañang on Wednesday urged the clergymen to prove their accusations rather than blame the government.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the “burden lies on them,” adding it was “elementary in law that the one who alleges must prove.”
“Since the priests are the ones accusing the government or the President as being behind those death threats, it stands to reason that they have to prove their accusation. The burden of proof lies on them,” Panelo said in a statement.
“Our position is that they bring their concern officially to any law enforcement agency so that the latter may conduct an investigation, and at the same time secure their safety.”
Panelo made his statement following the admission of priests Albert Alejo, Flavie Villanueva and Robert Reyes in a press conference on Monday that they had received death threats from unidentified people.
Alejo said the threats were serious.
The priests, who have been vocal against the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, said they were hesitant to seek protection from the police amid the allegation of extrajudicial killings. But they were considering seeking court protection.
“We’re not safe now,” Reyes said. “After this, the death threats may become real.”
The priests showed copies of the text messages they had received harassing Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David.
Alejo then read out a death threat that he said he received through a text message on Feb. 10.
“Your days are numbered, you animal,” he quoted the message as saying.
“You’ll be celebrating your last Masses because the next Mass for the dead will be for you.”
Though the priests admitted there was no evidence linking the President to the threats, they maintained that Duterte’s stiff rhetoric against the men of the cloth could encourage attacks.
“The deadly words of Duterte against Catholics are like a dagger pointed at us,” Reyes said.
“The message is clear. It’s not only people that he wanted dead but our faith as well.”
Panelo allayed the priests’ concern, saying it was “unfair” to blame the President for the death threats.
“There are many probabilities on the threats that the priests allegedly received. It could be coming from pranksters. It could be coming from anti-Duterte trolls. It could be coming from the enemies of the priests. So, we really do not know where it came from,” Panelo told reporters on Tuesday.
“And it is unfair to be pointing to the President as behind it, especially that he mentioned last month not to harm any priest or bishop.”
Panelo did not discount the probability that the death threats received by the clergymen came from “within their circles.” “That is probable. Like for instance, who else knows our numbers? Those who are also within our circle. So, if somebody sends me a threat, it would just be those within my or your circle of friends,” Panelo told a Palace reporter.
“It is hard to trace. It is also hard to accuse.”
In December 2018, Duterte made headlines for seemingly urging bystanders to kill and steal from “useless and rich” Catholic priests and bishops, belittling their existence as they only knew how to criticize the government.
Two months after, Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle informed the President about the death threats allegedly received by religious leaders.
Duterte then made an appeal to the public to “lay off” the clergymen, saying they were not involved in the political ruckus and they did not know the “vagaries of life.””‹