PRRD tirades vs. Church have nothing to do with Jolo blast

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech after leading the ceremonial turnover of housing units to wounded police officers and soldiers at the Pleasant View Residences in the City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan on January 10, 2019. REY BANIQUET/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA — The remarks made by President Rodrigo R. Duterte against the Catholic Church and its members have nothing to do with the twin explosions that happened inside and outside Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu on Sunday, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

“If you say that the President’s criticism of them would embolden others to disrespect the Church, I don’t think so,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace press briefing when asked if the Jolo bombing has something to do with the President’s tirades against clergymen.

Panelo explained that it was not the President’s words, but the perpetrators’ disrespect for the Roman Catholic religion, which convinced them to launch the bomb attacks.

“Those who will attack places of worship especially with the Catholics are doing it because they do not believe in that religion. In other words, they are disrespecting precisely the religion,” Panelo said.

“It’s directed against—to my mind, apart from challenging the capability of this government to secure the safety of the citizenry, it is also showing its utmost disrespect to this religion,” he added.

Despite Duterte’s verbal attacks against the Church, Panelo reiterated that the President was “outraged” by the incident, noting that he even declared war against them and all enemies of the state.

“The President is outraged. He’s so angry that they have not respected a place of worship – that’s why he declared war against all these perpetrators,” Panelo said.

Panelo further said Duterte’s criticism against the Church were meant to cleanse the institution of its erring members.

“The President was not actually criticizing the institution – it was criticizing certain hypocritical acts of the members of the Church, especially those who wear the cloth,” Panelo reiterated.

“The idea is to let them know that these hypocritical acts will not go unnoticed,” he added.

While Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, in a pastoral statement, admitted that members have their “share of failures and shortcomings”, Panelo said that this will not stop the President from waging a word war against sinful clergymen.

“It’s still part of the freedom of expression. I said, he is not attacking the Church – he is just criticizing certain immoral acts of some members of the Church,” Panelo said.

“Nobody can stop him from saying his mind on certain matters that he feels are wrong,” he added.

He also noted that the Palace could not do anything about CBCP feeling as if its members were being alluded to but acknowledged their effort to admit their mistakes.

“The charges of the President go to the specific priests who committed the acts – not necessarily even with the CBCP members. Now if they feel alluded to, we cannot do anything about that. If they admit their guilt, then well and good,” Panelo said.

Meanwhile, Panelo urged members of the clergy anew to pray that the President succeeds in his endeavors instead of speaking negatively about him.

“What is important is this President doing his job as President of the country, whose job is one, to serve the people and two, to protect them,” Panelo said.

Prior to the CBCP statement released on Jan. 28, three bishops have spoken against Duterte’s strong remarks against the Church.

They were Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani Jr., Balanga, Bataan Bishop Ruperto Santos, and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas.