Rival Masses in Philippines mark one year since Duterte’s arrest

‘He should pay for killing our loved ones, destroying human rights and other ways of murdering democratic institutions, insulting women and violating our sovereignty,’ said Fr Flavie Villanueva.

Critics and supporters of the Philippines’ former president Rodrigo Duterte offered separate Masses to mark the first anniversary of his arrest on charges of crimes against humanity on 11 March. 

In Davao City, Duterte’s hometown, the Archbishop of Davao Romulo Valles presided at a Mass at San Pedro Cathedral to pray for Duterte’s release. He remains in detention in The Hague awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, attended the Mass along with political allies and other supporters wearing green, the Dutertes’ campaign colour. The 47-year-old vice president had announced on 18 February her plan to run for president in 2028. 

Valles, 74, began the liturgy with a two-minute catechism about Mass intentions. He said that most Masses have multiple intentions, and on that Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent, one intention was to “pray that former president Rodrigo Duterte, Tatay Digong [“Daddy Digong”], will return to the Philippines safe and well”. 

“We can make all those requests because we know that in the Mass, Jesus is present. The Lord is present, and he loves all of us. All our requests will be given a fair hearing in the Lord, who cares for each one of us,” Valles said at the start of the Mass.

In his homily, Valles addressed Vice President Duterte and said that “it must be very comforting” for their family to see many people praying for her 80-year-old father’s return. This intention was likewise included in the prayers of the faithful.

In Quezon City, around 1,000km from Davao City, critics of the former president offered a separate Mass at a parish run by the Society of the Divine Word. The chief celebrant was Fr Flavie Villanueva SVD, one of the staunchest critics of Duterte’s drug war.

The 55-year-old Villanueva, who in 2025 won the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, said Duterte should be detained at The Hague for life. 

“If you do not give importance to your neighbour, to society and to human rights, you are the lowest kind of person in the world,” Villanueva said in his homily, referring to Duterte.

“He and his companions should pay for killing our loved ones, destroying human rights, and many other ways of murdering democratic institutions, insulting women and violating our sovereignty,” he said. 

Speaking to The Tablet, Villanueva said that aside from bringing Duterte to justice, he prays for the healing of the victims’ families. He also prays for the nation, particularly “the healing of the land”. 

He added that more Filipinos should learn to speak out against injustice. “We need to capture that prophetic voice,’ he said.

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