Duterte to meet with CBCP head, says Roque

FILE: President Rodrigo R. Duterte will have a one-on-one dialogue with Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Romulo Valles, Malacañang said Saturday. (RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte will have a one-on-one dialogue with Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Romulo Valles, Malacañang said Saturday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, also a member of the four-man panel tasked by Duterte to dialogue with Church leaders, announced this in a statement a day after meeting the Papal Nuncio Gabriel Giordano Caccia in his Malate residence on Friday night.

Other members of the committee are Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella, EDSA People’s Power Commission commissioner Pastor “Boy” Saycon, and Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco.

Evasco, however, was not able to attend the event because he was sick.

Roque said that during the meeting, the panel and the Papal Nuncio agreed that cooperation is needed between both government and Church.

“In my meeting with the Papal Nuncio yesterday night, it was agreed that both State and Church should work together for the benefit of the people,” Roque said in a statement.

He bared that Duterte will have a dialogue with Valles but did not give further details about the schedule of the meeting.

“It was also agreed that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will have (a) one-on-one dialogue with the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines,” he said.

Moreover, Roque said that the Papal Nuncio “welcomes further meetings” with the Chief Executive.

On Wednesday, the Papal Nuncio invited the President to attend the Pope’s Day. However, Roque said that the invitation “came so late” for Duterte to attend the event.

Duterte went to Palo, Leyte to visit uniformed personnel slain and injured in the “misencounter” between the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army in Samar province last week.

Silent for now

Earlier, Duterte said he would keep his silence “for now” and pause from making negative remarks against the Catholic Church.

“And for now, I will keep my silence for I want to see how the nation reacts. I’m shaking the tree. If you would notice me very now and then, either national or local, I’m really shaking the tree,” Duterte said during the 25th Annual National Convention of the Vice Mayor’s League of the Philippines (VMLP) in Bohol on Thursday.

However, Duterte said that he has no plan to apologize for his statements perceived as offensive by some sectors.

“No, I will not do that, definitely. Not in a million years,” he added.