Duterte denies breaking moratorium of stopping tirades vs Church

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte interacts with his supporters during the National Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Summit 2018 held at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Convention Center (ACC) in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga on July 10, 2018. KARL NORMAN ALONZO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The President defended that he did not break his promise to stop his criticism of the Church.

“I’m not attacking the Church. What I said that if you use religion as a format and I was not referring to any religion, kung makita mo wala akong binanggit na relihiyon (as you can see, I did not mention any religion),” President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said in an ambush interview with reporters after his speech on Tuesday, July 10 during the National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Summit 2018.

Saying that he was only being “spontaneous” during the said speech, Duterte further said that he will not apologize for his comments about God.

On Monday, the President had a meeting with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, and according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr., both leaders agreed to a “moratorium” with Duterte vowing to stop his strong-worded statements against the Church.

Despite this, the next day, Duterte insisted on his previous controversial statements about religion.

“You are a Filipino, fine. But do not ever, ever include God in your platform to attack me. You know why? There is whale of difference when it comes to governance. There is a separation of power between any church and state,” he said.

The Chief Executive then added, “Huwag mong isali ang Diyos mo doon sa (Do not include the name of God in the) platform of your criticism on your attacks because when I answer, pagka isinali mo sa (if you include the) issue — isinali mo ang Diyos, p****** i** patay ‘yang Diyos na ‘yan (if you include God, mother****, that God is dead).”

Duterte went on and said that “his” God is forgiving and is not cursing.

“And then when you use God to say that I’ll go to hell. You know my God never created hell. Because if He created hell, He must be [a] stupid God. My God is not stupid to create man just to burn him to — in hell. Hindi ako naniniwala ng ganun eh (I do not believe in that). I do not believe in heaven,” he said.

Duterte insisted that hell is “fiction.”

He then revealed who his God is.

“’Yan ang Diyos ko (They are my God). The six million Filipinos plus the others who voted for me,” Duterte said then added, “Sila ang Diyos ko. Hindi ko man nakikita, gusto ko man tumulong d’yan sa Diyos na ‘yan, wala naman akong magagawa, hindi ko man siya nakikita (They are my God. I may not see Him, even though I want to help that God I cannot do anything).”

Though Duterte said that hell is fictitious, he said that he can see hell in this world.

‘Sorry, God’

Though he mentioned earlier that he will not apologize, during a dinner with Bro. Eddie Villanueva on Tuesday, Duterte said “sorry.”

“If it’s the same God, I’m sorry, that’s how it is. Sorry, God. I said sorry God. If God is taken in a generic term by everybody listening then that’s well and good,” he said as captured in a video.

“I only apologize to God, nobody else. If I wronged God, he would be happy to listen. Why? Because my God is all forgiving…Why? Because God created me to be good and not bad,” he added.