MALACAÑANG on Thursday, December 6, defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent “kill the bishops” statement as only a hyperbole intended for a dramatic effect.
Despite the president’s previous attacks on the Catholic Church and religious leaders, Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo told reporters that the public should get accustomed to Duterte’s manner of speaking.
“I think that’s only a hyperbole on the part of the president. We should be getting used to it. He makes certain statements for dramatic effect but he actually means stop criticizing and do some good for the country. Help us,” Panelo said as reported in the press briefing report of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
Panelo also shared his wife’s insight that when the president said “these bishops, kill them” the leader actually meant “kill them with kindness.”
“The president, just like any ordinary human being, is upset when the good things that he does for this country is not even appreciated by people who are supposed to support him like the Church,” he added.
The tough-talking leader has expressed his strong sentiments even before he was elected to the country’s highest position.
The spokesperson who also acts as Duterte’s legal counsel said that there is no way to convince the president to change his character.
“It’s not a matter of convincing, perhaps it is a psyche; it is in his mind. There are certain things that he doesn’t approve of. And he expresses his thoughts to us. Perhaps in a manner that some of us don’t want but that is his style. As correctly pointed out by Senator Lacson, when we voted him into office, his style was factored in. So we have to leave it up,” Panelo explained.
The spokesperson also provided context as to why the president remains hostile towards the leaders of the religious institution. He recounted Duterte’s experience of being allegedly abused by a priest at a young age.
“He has been a victim of harassment, sexual harassment, when he was a young boy, remember. He keeps on telling us that. And again, that is a basis, when priest gives us the teachings of God and yet to the opposite, so that make him hypocritical. But of course, he refers to certain members of the church,” the spokesperson said.
Catholic bishops respond
The recent attack from the president garnered different responses from Catholic bishops around the country.
Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes believed that Duterte might be suffering from a mental health condition.
“This is worrisome coming from a psychotic mind. He is sick and a megalomaniac. “His advisers must already give him advice never to utter such kinds of statement. He is really a murderous madman. No Filipino should take his statements lightly from this time on,” Bastes said as reported by The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David responded compassionately as he shared a bible verse from the book of Luke in his Facebook post along the lines of “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
David has accused by the president of being involved in drugs and corruption, even threatening to cut the bishop’s head off.
“We have already faced quite a lot of persecutions in the past 2,000 years of Church history. We always respond the way Jesus would,” David said.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said that Duterte’s remarks do not represent a character of an exemplary chief executive. He added that the leader is much more capable of destabilizing the accepted norm.
“Any leader who asks the others to be killed, not even bishops, is no leader at all. He is instigating people to go against the law. Is this not a work of a destabilizer against the social order?” Pabillo said.
Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos found Duterte’s insights to be divisive as he only expressed violence to deliver his thoughts. Santos called the president’s actions as disgraceful and disappointing.
“This is a very heartless statement, very harmful to all. Not only attacking the Church but dividing our country and showing that there is only hatred in his heart. His statement disgraced himself and disappointed all God-fearing citizens of our country,” Santos said.
Earlier this year, the Catholic leaders released a statement to hopefully convince the president to stop issuing those life-threatening statements.
“They are killing our flock. They are killing us, the shepherds. They are killing our faith. They are cursing our church,” the leaders stated as reported by The Telegraph.
Commission on Human Rights spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said that the government should take the criticisms from the Catholic church constructively. She further noted that issuing hateful words only worsens the situation.
“Churches and priests work directly with communities and families who continue to suffer the many forms of human rights violations allegedly stemming from the government’s drug campaign,” De Guia said.
“Instead of calling them useless, the government must take their concerns as valid challenges from the ground and as means to improve, rather than degrade protection of human rights of all,” she added.
