Downplaying the latest attack of President Rodrigo Duterte against the Church, Malacañang on Thursday, December 6, said it was only “hyperbole” when the Chief Executive told the public to “kill” Catholic bishops critical of his administration.
“I think that’s only a hyperbole on the part of the President. We should be getting used to this President. He makes certain statements for dramatic effect,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.
Stepping up his criticisms against the Church, Duterte on Wednesday said “useless” Catholic bishops who only criticized his administration should just be killed.
[READ: Duterte blasts Church anew, says ‘useless’ bishops should be killed]
Asked for a comment, Panelo stressed that Duterte did not actually want the bishops to be killed but he merely wants them to stop criticizing the government and just help them by giving “constructive suggestions” to address issues in the country.
“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 were supposed to support, like the Church,” he said.
Panelo added that he agrees with his wife’s comment regarding the issue, saying that the President wants to kill his critics with “kindness.”
The spokesman also noted that Duterte used his experience of sexual harassment when he was young when he said the Catholic Church is the “most hypocritical institution in the entire Philippines.”
“He has been a victim of harassment, sexual harassment, when he was a young boy, remember. He keeps on telling us that,” Panelo said.
“That is a basis. When priest gives us the teachings of God and yet to [sic] the opposite,” he added.
Panelo also did not believe that Duterte’s remark will prompt killings against members of the clergy as majority of Filipinos have been used to Duterte saying such statements.
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) earlier raised alarm on Duterte’s recent verbal attack as it could “embolden” violence against priests and other religious persons.
It also called on the government to take the concerns of its critics as “valid challenges from the ground as meant to improve, rather than degrade, protection of human rights of all.”
In a meeting held last July, Duterte and Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles both agreed to a “moratorium,” in which the Chief Executive vowed that he will not issue strong-worded statements against the Church anymore. But a day after he said this, the President broke his promise.
[READ: Duterte denies breaking moratorium of stopping tirades vs Church]