Bishop appeals to Kalinga residents to protect priests, nuns

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The bishop of Kalinga appealed to residents to protect priests and nuns as the Catholic church marked the first anniversary of the murder of Fr. Fransiskus Madhu, an SVD Indonesian priest assigned in Lubuagan town. Bishop Prudencio Andaya, Apostolic Vicar of the Tabuk Vicariate, called on community leaders to help bring the killers to justice. Fr. Madhu, 31, of Flores Island in Indonesia, was about to say mass in Mabungtot Primary School in Lubuagan on Palm Sunday last year when the gunman, identified as Nestor Wailan, shot the priest six times with an M16 rifle. Wailan is from Antonio Canao village in Lubuagan. He remains at large while one of his companions, Acmor Bonggawon, was arrested in July. "As a bishop, I have pleaded that if ever the government will act on the case, it will not escalate into tribal violence," he said during a dialogue in Tabuk City. "As much as possible, we want the case solved in a non-violent manner," the bishop said. Andaya said the people of Kalinga should protect its priests and nuns. The Kalinga-Apayao Religious Sector Association said six religious leaders were killed in Upper Kalinga in recent years. KARSA, a loose grouping of religious leaders in Kalinga, said the killing of Fr. Madhu is "most tragic and scandalous given the innocence and vocation of the victim, the brutal nature of the killing, and the timing of the killing." - GMANews.TV