Duterte: Cursing the line

For many devout Catholics, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has really crossed the line when he cursed Pope Francis during the proclamation rally of the PDP-Laban last Monday. The mayor – who after months of drama and suspense and despite having repeatedly declared on various occasions that he had no intention of running for president – was trying to fire up his crowd of supporters by complaining about the traffic jams that have been getting worse.

Saying he was stuck in traffic going from his hotel to the airport because some roads were closed during the visit of Pope Francis last January, Duterte proceeded to describe how he wanted to call the Pope and tell him to just go home. His supporters and officials of the PDP-Laban are now asking for “understanding” saying the mayor’s words were “taken out of context,” but no matter how Duterte’s supporters try to explain it away, it was clear from the video he actually uttered an expletive directed at the Pope whom he blamed for the traffic. If he was really so angry about traffic, then he could have cursed all the 21 APEC leaders who came here during the summit and caused traffic that lasted for five days – not five hours – not the Pope.

Duterte is known for being rough, tough and blunt, and nobody can accuse him of mincing his words, but I think this time, he really hit a very sensitive nerve because Filipinos – Catholic and non-Catholic alike – respect Pope Francis and still remember his visit last January to console the victims of Typhoon Yolanda, braving the rains to comfort the afflicted. The fact is, this Pope is probably the most popular ever and is admired all over the world, even in Muslim countries.

Nobody is surprised the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has come out with a very strongly worded statement, denouncing Duterte’s “vulgarity,” and also lambasting the people for finding it funny.

“When a revered and loved and admired man like Pope Francis is cursed by a political candidate and the audience laugh, I can only bow my head and grieve in great shame. My countrymen have gone to the dregs,” Bishop Socrates Villegas, who issued the statement as CBCP president, said.

Judging from the feedback we have been getting, many found Duterte’s words “disgusting.” What also makes it worse is he even flaunts his two wives and mistresses, even showing off by having female supporters kiss him and sit on his lap – turning off many women and women’s groups in the process. People who like his strong-arm tactics and those who are tired of the peace and order situation in the country may find him fascinating, but when it comes to their faith, majority of Filipinos are very sensitive. Many actually admitted to me that this issue has come out as very negative against Mayor Duterte.

Claiming he was abused by a priest when he was a young boy studying at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao, he has also threatened to come out with an exposé that would “destroy the church” and many priests – which is really ironic because it is Pope Francis who is trying to correct that kind of situation, openly admitting that such abuses have occurred, and apologizing on behalf of the Catholic Church.

“Before God and his people I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you. And I humbly ask forgiveness,” the Pope had said. 

For cursing the Pope, Mayor Duterte may have crossed the line that may just cost him his candidacy even before the Commission on Elections gets to decide whether he can run for the position of president or not.

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Speaking of the Comelec, the Second Division has ruled on the disqualification case filed against Sen. Grace Poe supposedly for not meeting the residency requirement for presidential candidates. Interestingly, the senator’s camp noted that a few hours before Comelec issued the disqualification order, Liberal Party spokesperson and Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice had unerringly predicted Poe’s disqualification during a radio interview, making many wonder how Erice was able to obtain the information even before the subject of the disqualification received the order.

Sen. Grace, however, will appeal the decision before the Comelec en banc, confident she has met all the requirements, including the question on whether or not she is a natural-born Filipino – with her supporters hoping her name will still be included in the list of candidates to be released by the poll body.

Legal luminaries like former Supreme Court Chief Justice Panganiban had earlier issued their opinion that the lady senator is a natural-born citizen, and that she met the residency qualification. Explaining the concept of domicile (the country treated as one’s permanent home), Panganiban said that when Poe moved back here after her father’s death in 2004, she made the Philippines her domicile of choice as seen by her return to the country in the first half of 2005 and her physical presence, plus other acts such as the enrolment of her children in June 2005, her purchase of property in 2005 and construction of her home in Quezon City in early 2006.

Residency is not interrupted by the taking of an oath of renunciation of a foreign citizenship as held in Japson vs Comelec wherein it was determined that a former Filipino who was naturalized abroad may choose to reestablish his residency prior to the reacquisition of citizenship, Panganiban pointed out. Cordova vs Comelec also held that even foreigners may establish domicile here. Poe’s renunciation did not divest her of her natural-born citizenship and residency when she ran for the Senate in 2013, the former chief magistrate said. Neither will this disqualify her from running for higher office in 2016, Panganiban added.

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