In a media interview on May 19, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, expressed the Catholic Church’s stance against the intensifying conflict between the US and China in the West Philippine Sea. Concurrently, he expressed the church’s solidarity with the fisherfolk who are adversely affected by said warmongering.

The bishop said a peaceful solution to the conflict should be pushed, and not “joint military activities.” The most prominent of these is the recently concluded US Balikatan war game which has further increased tensions in the South China Sea.

The bishop agreed with the mission made by Filipino fisherfolk, together with civic groups, to deliver supplies to the fisherfolk in Scarborough Shoal on May 14. He said this is the better way to show unity and defense of the country’s sovereignty against China.

He warned against those who want to involve the Filipino people in a “violent proxy war” which will only benefit major arms industries.