Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ delivers the opening remarks at the Metro Manila launch of “The Beloved: Journals, Diaries and Letters of a Priest,” written by the late Fr. Amado Picardal. Human rights defenders gathered at the Commission of Human Rights for the launch last Saturday, 23 August 2025. Picardal’s documentation of the killings in Davao City while Rodrigo Duterte was mayor, eventually led to the filing of charges and detention of the former President in The Hague, the Netherlands, where he is facing charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court in connection with his bloody war on drugs. MindaNews photo by EIZEL HILARIO
