MANILA--Every night since July 20 this year, Fr. Robert Reyes lights candles after evening Mass in San Isidro Labrador Parish in Quezon City.
He began with 7 candles representing residents slain in vigilante-style murders, which have gripped the slums in Barangay Pinyahan since January, with the killings becoming more frequent and brazen during the pandemic. The number has since increased to 10 with half of the murders taking place during a 4-week stretch.
More than 5,500 people have been killed in anti-drug operations by law enforcers under President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war as of end of 2019. Based on reports monitored by the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group, there have been nearly 2,000 drug-related fatalities by unidentified assailants as of February 2020. Barangay Pinyahan, home to a large slum area near the headquarters of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, has seen some of these killings, said Reyes.
Before the final blessing, he told parishioners to offer prayers as well for victims of extrajudicial killings, warning of the "virus of the war on drugs."
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