MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino priest and fierce critic of the country’s former President Rodrigo Duterte recently said he was accepting an award known as the Nobel Prize of Asia in honor of all victims of injustice, especially those who died as part of a widespread campaign of extra-judicial killings during the tumultuous Duterte regime.

From 2016 to 2022, government figures say a crackdown on drugs and gang violence in the Philippines launched by Duterte resulted in just over 6,000 deaths outside the judicial process, mostly at the hands of police and security officials, though human rights groups say the real number of such killings could be as high as 30,000.

Duterte’s bloody campaign splintered Filipino society, drawing strong support in some quarters but also stern criticism from many Catholic leaders, at one point leading the ex-president to refer to the country’s bishops as “useless fools.”

Father Flavie Villanueva, part of the Catholic protest against Duterte, recently warned against a “pandemic of apathy” as he was named a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in Asia.

Villanueva is set to receive the award, often called the Nobel Prize of Asia, in a ceremony in Manila on Nov. 7. His fellow awardees are to include the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally from India and Shaahina Ali from the Maldives.

Over the past 67 years, past recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Award have included the likes of Saint Teresa of Calcutta and the Dalai Lama. The award is given “to individuals and organizations who address issues of human development in Asia with courage and creativity,” embodying the “greatness of spirit” of the well-loved Filipino president Ramon Magsaysay who served from 1953 to his death in a plane crash in 1957.

Villanueva, 54, is a former drug addict who later became a priest of the Society of the Divine Word, a missionary order founded in 1875 by Saint Arnold Janssen.

He’s known across the Philippines for building a shelter for Manila’s homeless and defending victims of extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s drug war. For allegedly plotting to oust Duterte, he once faced a sedition case filed by the Philippine government, which was later dismissed by a trial court.

“I accept this on behalf of the thousands of homeless and those victims of social injustice, particularly the EJK victims, that they may have a face in this fast-changing world,” said Villanueva in an online press conference on Wednesday.

Villanueva called for an end to the “pandemic of apathy” that, in his view, has kept his country poor.

“I would point to the apathy, to the indifference, to the lack of basic care of people for their neighbor, especially the poor, as a serious problem,” said Villanueva, noting that this is the reason why his country is “in a cycle of poverty.”

The problem goes “beyond physical poverty,” he said.“People just say, ‘This is not my problem, this is the government’s problem.’ When you talk about the homeless, they would say, ‘It’s their fault, not mine. Let them handle this problem.’ Because it stems from that deep indifference, unless we start caring, we will sadly find ourselves in a cycle of poverty,” he said.

Villanueva pointed out that “one critical effect of apathy is homelessness.”

“When people start becoming uncaring, beginning in their homes, people are pushed away. And homelessness is not only physical homelessness. It’s also about the space and the feeling of not being wanted — the lack of belongingness, the lack of showing that ‘I care,’ also greatly creates that issue of homelessness,” said Villanueva.

The priest looked back at the legacy of Magsaysay, the former Philippine president after whom the award was named. Magsaysay was known especially for his love for the poor.

“The thing that struck me the most about our dear former president Ramon Magsaysay would be his love for the masses. That, I believe, was where we were when we decided to embrace the plight, the struggles, of the homeless and those who have been denied justice and care,” Villanueva said.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) congratulated Villanueva for being named a Magsaysay awardee.

In a statement, CBCP president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said the recognition pays tribute not only to Villanueva’s person, “but also to the prophetic ministry he has embraced with courage and compassion.”

The 66-year-old David, who himself was a Duterte drug war critic, cited Villanueva’s “tireless work of restoring dignity to victims of extrajudicial killings and their families.” He said Villanueva “has given voice to the voiceless, hope to the grieving, and strength to the weak.”

“In honoring Father Flavie, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation affirms what we in the Church have long recognized — that he is a prophet of our time, courageously standing with the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized in the peripheries, and reminding us all of the Gospel’s unwavering call to defend human life and dignity,” the cardinal said.

Referring to Villanueva and the Society of the Divine Word, David said, “May their witness continue to inspire not only the faithful of our nation but also the peoples of Asia and the world, showing that faith indeed acts in love.”

He prayed that Villanueva “may remain steadfast in his mission as a servant-leader of Christ and shepherd of his people.”