They Killed Him!

A STATEMENT ON THE KILLING OF REV. EDISON LAPUZ

Early in his theological formation he sang:
“Dili sayon ang pagsunod kang Kristo. Daghang tunok ang dalan nga agian ta
Bug-at ang krus nga pagapas-anon ta, Ug kamatayon naa gahulat kanato.”

“To follow Christ is not an easy choice. The thorns are many in the pathways of struggles
Heavy the cross on our shoulders we must hoist and agonizing death ever waits to get us.”
(From the song “Ang Hagit sa Ebanghelyo” -The Challenge of the Gospel)


He is a person filled with joy and goodness never tired of doing well for poor peasants and mobilized resources to assist the struggling and oppressed.

We are saddened by the untimely death of The Rev. Edison Lapuz, Conference Minister of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in Northern-Eastern Leyte Conference, central Philippines. He was brutally murdered on May 12, 2005, in San Isidro Leyte, together with Mr. Alfredo Malinao, a peasant leader, by suspected military officers The slaying happened in front of his house and was witnessed by his eldest child. In that day, Rev. Lapuz had just arrived from the burial of his father-in-law. His sudden death left orphaned his two children and his wife, Emma.

He unceasingly challenged the powers and principalities in his country and the world at large with the Gospel of love in Christ.

The Rev. Edison Lapuz is one of the many contemporary committed and concerned Filipino prophets who in the midst of escalating political repression and worsening poverty situation has always been in the forefront of protecting people’s human rights but was considered threat to society by the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government. The slaying of Rev. Lapuz and Alfredo Malinao has brought to five (5) the number of people’s organizations’ leaders killed in Eastern Visayas, central Philippines by assailants associated with the government’s military establishment since the month of March, while three (3) others escaped slay attempts.

We strongly condemn the ongoing political repression in the Philippines targeting priests, pastors, and other church workers as part of the evil design to stifle prophets and legitimate political dissenters of the morally bankrupt Macapagal-Arroyo government. It is deplorable that the Philippine government has unreservedly made public exposure of the military list of the enemies of the state entitled: “Knowing your Enemy” that includes, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Association of Major Religious Superiors (AMRSP), Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR), Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), and National Union of Journalist in the Philippines (NUJP) among others.

We call on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to act immediately to give justice for the Rev. Edison Lapuz and the other Church workers who were murdered in the service of the people and God. Let justice be the value in governing the Filipino people, respect human rights and institute social justice to improve living conditions of the poor and oppressed in society.