Bishop David belies Duterte’s ‘stealing’ accusation vs. him

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during the inauguration of the Cavite Gateway Terminal in Tanza, Cavite on November 22, 2018. TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David belied the claim of President Rodrigo Duterte that he is stealing from mass offerings, saying that his parents did not raise him to do such act.

“My parents never taught me to steal,” Bishop David said in a Facebook post on Friday, November 23.

In a speech in Tanza, Cavite during the inauguration of the Cavite Gateway Terminal on Thursday, Duterte said a certain prelate named “David” was pocketing Church donations for his personal use.

“Ikaw, David, tumahimik ka ha. Sige ka lang hingi ng contribution diyan sa mga… Saan ang pera ng mga tao? Ang g*** sige lang hingi, may second collection pa (You, David, be quiet. You keep asking for contributions…

Where is the people’s money? This fool just keeps on asking, he even has a second collection),” he said.

“Alam mo totoo lang, sabihin ko sa inyo, iyong mga offerings, iyong mga pinya, mga avocado, saging, saan napupunta’yan? Gusto ninyong malaman? Gusto ninyo ng video? Ibigay ko sa inyo. Doon sa pamilya niya (You know, I tell you people, those offerings like the pineapples, avocados, bananas, where do they go? Do you want to know? Do you want a video? I will give it to you. To his family),” he added.’

Responding to Duterte’s tirade, Bishop David said the President may have mistaken him for someone else.

“I am the only Bishop ‘David’ in the CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines),” the prelate stressed.

“You see, people who are sick sometimes do not know what they are talking about, so we should just bear with them,” he continued.

Bishop David earlier this month urged Filipinos to pray for the President, whom he called as “a very sick man.”

This, after Duterte, on All Saints’ Day, branded saints as “gago (fools)” and “lasenggo (drunkards).”

“I think it should [be] obvious to people by now that our country is being led by a very sick man. We pray for him. We pray for our country,” he previously said.

[READ: Bishop David urges Pinoys to pray for Duterte for he is ‘a very sick man’]