MANILA, Philippines – Two prominent Filipino cardinals, Luis Antonio Tagle and Pablo Virgilio David, criticized discrimination against migrants in separate speeches at a Catholic forum in Manila.

“The world seems to be returning to tribal conflicts,” said Tagle, 68, at the Serviam Servant Leadership Conference held at a Catholic school run by the La Salle brothers on July 12.
Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, was visiting Manila for two major events that listed him as the keynote speaker. He was the archbishop of Manila from 2011 to 2019 before the late Pope Francis appointed him to a Vatican post.

At the Serviam forum, Tagle explained that the world’s “tribal conflicts” tend to exclude people who do not belong to the same ethnic, cultural, economic, or educational groups. Excluded persons are considered “strangers” and “are treated with suspicion,” he said. They are also often “treated as scapegoats” and “are being blamed” for things that do not go well.

Tagle said he sees this firsthand, as he has lived in Rome for over four years. He was on the verge of tears when he spoke about migrants like him.

“Now, it seems you’re so afraid when you’re a migrant. You do not know how you will be treated, just because you’re different,” said Tagle, who also descended from a Chinese family that migrated to the Philippines.

“And we have millions of our own,” he continued, referring to Filipinos who work overseas to feed their families back home. “They won’t tell that to their families, so that they won’t feel sad.”

The Philippine government estimates 2.16 million overseas Filipino workers as of 2023, a figure that excludes Filipino natives who have already taken foreign citizenship. Many Filipino migrants, although hailed by Francis as “smugglers of the faith,” often experience discrimination in their places of work.

“But that’s how dangerous the world is,” said Tagle. “If you look at the many armed conflict situations in the world, they are almost like tribal wars.”

The Filipino cardinal recalled telling Francis, “Tribalism is very much alive, but it has become sophisticated.”

“So part of our being pilgrims of hope is to walk humbly with those who differ from us, especially those who are being threatened just because they are different,” he said.

Cardinal David, 66, also spoke at the Serviam Servant Leadership Conference — which was organized by the Catholic charismatic community called Serviam — hours after Tagle delivered his speech.

David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, voiced concern about the rise of populist leaders around the world, “who capitalize on resentment.”

“It’s like Hitler is resurrected,” said David, who rose to prominence as a critic of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.

Germany’s late dictator Adolf Hitler, noted David, “was able to persuade the German people that the root cause of the problem of the Germans was the Jewish people, and it was enough to exterminate them to ‘save’ the German economy.” Hitler “demonized a sector, and when he was already exterminating them, no one raised a howl.”
“That’s why the new versions of Hitler are just copycats,” David said.

David then referred to the United States and the anti-immigrant policies of President Donald Trump, whom he had already criticized in the past.

“Now, in America, who are they demonizing? Immigrants. Can you imagine their own president almost equating immigration with criminality? Is he forgetting that America is a nation of immigrants, that there are no natives in America aside from American Indians?” he said.

David recalled a recent visit to California, with San Francisco as his main port of entry. “I scanned the crowd, and with one look, I could easily say 90 percent of the people inside that airport were people of color,” he said, referring to the Africans and Asians, especially Filipinos and Indians, whom he saw.

“Sometimes, it is enough for people, or some leaders, to demonize a sector. Let’s not get carried away by resentment,” the Filipino cardinal said.