CBCP denies viral fake news that bishops condemned Maute, Hapilon deaths

The president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has denied a viral fake news report, indicating that the Catholic leaders were saddened by the deaths of bandit leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute.

#StopFakeNews pic.twitter.com/L7RVI5Ip3g

— CBCPNews (@cbcpnews) October 17, 2017

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas denied that the prelates were saddened by the military's killing of the bandits who laid siege to Marawi City for months and who caused the declaration of martial in the whole of Mindanao.

"Once more, the CBCP is the hapless of fake news. Going viral on social media is a 'report' that the CBCP regrets the killing of Messrs. Hapilon and Maute," Villegas said.

"The CBCP never made such a statement," he added.

Villegas said that the Catholic leaders lauded "the gallantry of our soldiers and their heroic efforts to free Marawi."

"We will gladly join government in rebuilding the city in the measure we are able," Villegas said in a statement.

"We pray for the dead, and for lasting peace in Mindanao," he added.

A CBCP official on Monday said that the deaths in Marawi City of Hapilon and Maute didn't mean the end of terrorism in the country.

“Rejoicing in the death of these terrorists will merely be temporary. Their death doesn’t mean the end of terror groups in the country,” CBCP-Permanent Committee on Public Affairs executive secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano said in a statement released by church-run Radio Veritas.

Secillano instead urged the government to focus on the economy of Mindanao and educate its citizens properly to veer them away from terrorist ideals.

“There must be a holistic approach to thwarting terrorism. Education, employment, poverty eradication and infrastructure development should only be some of the measures that this government should undertake if only to dismantle or at least weaken the influence of terrorist cells,” he said. —NB/JST, GMA News