(5 Nov 2017) Thousands of Filipinos attended a prayer procession on Sunday as part of a call for national healing in light of the recent spate of drug-related killings in the country.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has arranged a 33-day 'Start the Healing' campaign that focuses on praying for the end to violence and deaths related to the government's 'war on drugs'.
To launch it, a Mass was offered followed by a one-kilometre procession along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue, a highway in Manila.
One priest said the government should stop killing drug addicts and instead focus on their rehabilitation.
The marchers were not just Catholic devotees, with many multi-sectoral groups also attending the procession to support the campaign.
More than 3,200 drug suspects have been gunned down by police since Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte launched his crackdown.
More than 2,000 others have died in drug-related killings, including attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen, whom human rights groups allege are police officers in disguise or their civilian hit men.
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