The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has sounded the alarm over escalating global conflicts, with particular concern for the welfare of overseas Filipino workers caught in the crossfire of the US-Iran standoff and other flashpoints across the world.
In a pastoral statement signed by CBCP president and Lipa Archbishop Gilberto Garcera, the bishops warned that the ongoing violence carries severe consequences not only for OFWs deployed in the Middle East but also for the families they support back home.
Garcera underscored the primacy of human life in any conflict, stating that every nation is bound to pursue justice through conversation rather than destruction — a position the bishops grounded in the belief that all people carry inherent, God-given dignity.
The CBCP took direct aim at what it described as a disturbing drift toward accepting violence as normal, condemning the deliberate targeting of civilians, acts of terror, and collective punishment as fundamentally incompatible with that dignity.
Beyond the human toll, the bishops raised environmental concerns that rarely surface in diplomatic discourse — arguing that bombs, missiles, and heavy artillery cause irreversible damage to air, soil, and water, compounding the long-term cost of war on communities forced to rebuild.
While the US-Iran conflict drew specific mention, the CBCP was careful to extend its call for peace beyond the Middle East, noting that volatile situations elsewhere in Asia and around the world demand equal moral attention.
The statement did not specify how many Filipinos are currently deployed in affected zones, but the bishops’ explicit link between the conflict and household anxiety in the Philippines reflects the broader economic precarity of families dependent on remittances from OFW relatives serving in one of the world’s most turbulent regions.
