(Message delivered during the Manila launch of  the late Fr. Amado Picardal’s book, “The Beloved: Journals, Diaries and Letters of a Priest,” on 23 August 2025 at the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City. The book was earlier launched in the cities of Cebu, Iligan and Davao)

​It is a profound honor to be with  you today, though it is with a heavy heart that we gather for a book launch that should have been celebrated with Fr. Picx by our side.

We feel both the joy of this moment and the deep void left by his absence.

Daghang salamat sa Institute of Spirituality in Asia (and the Redemptorist Province of Cebu) for  publishing  “The Beloved,” for keeping  alive Fr. Picx words, wisdom and  radical mysticism.

I had the privilege of knowing Picx not just as a priest or a scholar, but as a comrade, a brother-in-arms in the most challenging of struggles.

We were on the front lines together in Davao City, working shoulder to shoulder to fight a darkness that threatened to consume our community.

We co-founded CASE, the Coalition Against Summary Execution, in 1999 because we could not, in good conscience, stand idly by when Davao City was drowned in blood in the name “public order and safety.”

In those days, the work was dangerous, the opposition fierce, and the stakes immeasurably high.

But in every late-night meeting, every tense press conference, every protest rally,

Picx was there—a beacon of moral clarity. He was a person of immense courage, whose faith and conviction were so strong they could move mountains.

A modern day prophet, he taught us that true compassion means not only to serve the poor but to stand with the oppressed against their oppressors, no matter the cost.

And that is what this book represents. It is more than just a collection of thoughts and reflections; it is a testament to a life lived in service of a mission greater than himself.

It is his voice, still speaking to us, still calling us to action.

Through these pages, we are reminded of the principles he held so dear and the legacy he left behind. The book ensures that his sacrifices were not in vain and that the fight he championed will not be forgotten.

Nawa’y maging inspirasyon ang aklat na ito para sa ating lahat.

Nawa’y hamunin tayo nitong maging kasing-tapang niya, magsalita ng katotohanan sa harap ng may kapangyarihan at mga naghahariharian, at ipagpatuloy ang makatarungang laban para sa isang mundo kung saan ang buhay ng bawat tao ay sagrado at ang mga karapatan ng bawat isa ay protektado.

Thank you, daghang salamat pinalangga nga Fr. Picx, for your life, your work, your radical mysticism, and your unwavering friendship.

We will carry on your fight, Kaubang Picx. Padayon!

(Karlos Isagani T. Zarate is a public interest lawyer and former three-term Byaan Muna congressman. He is now a senior legal adviser of the Klima Center-Manila Observatory at the Ateneo de Manila University).