The Philippines’ interior ministry said on Wednesday it plans to acquire pistols for community leaders willing to fight crime and drugs, prompting concern it could fuel even more violence in the country’s notoriously bloody crackdown. Meanwhile, National police chief Oscar Albayalde said the police are willing to provide priests with the legal means of arming themselves “if they request it and if we think that there are threats to their lives.” Despite the attacks, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines reiterated its opposition to arming priests. Previously, CNN reported that Malacañang was suspecting that the killings of priests were meant to discredit the government. The statement was made after Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s verbal attacks against the Catholic Church “can unwittingly embolden more crimes against priests.”