Duterte warns vs Church’s ‘creeping influence’

MANILA, Philippines — After lambasting the teachings of the Catholic Church, President Duterte is now fulminating over its “creeping influence” on the people.

In remarks at the anniversary celebration of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) yesterday, Duterte cited the Church’s vociferous opposition to artificial family planning methods even in the face of the steadily rising population amid poverty.

“It’s because of the influence dito sa taas. And that is why one of my reasons I do not like this – the creeping influence of faith – is that they sometimes run counter to what government believes to be good for the people,” he said. “At least in this temporal life, OK na ‘yan sa heaven.”

His remarks came ahead of a scheduled meeting on Monday with Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles.

Due to the Church’s strong opposition to the use of artificial birth control methods, Duterte said the government feels helpless in controlling population growth. Poverty is often associated with families who have a large number of children who are unable to get enough support from their families for lack of livelihood opportunities.

“We cannot do anything. We have breached the 100 million mark. It’s now 105 or 10 (million) depending on your statistics. Where are we headed?” the President asked, referring to the country’s population.

Duterte again called for the need to implement family planning methods to address the social ills of the nation.

“The truth is, family planning, with due respect, I don’t want to quarrel with anybody… It has something to do with the objection of religions, not all,” he said, without directly referring to the Catholic faith.

“I would not mention the faith because again I would not want to quarrel with them. Wala ka man makuha dito sa mga gago ‘to puro salita lang,” the Chief Executive said. The Philippines is predominantly Catholic.

As a longtime mayor of Davao City, Duterte said he had long advocated family planning methods to ensure that the state will be able to provide for the basic needs of every Filipino family.

Duterte said he has always encouraged mothers to use birth control pills to avoid unnecessary pregnancies, and reward them with at least P5,000 each for choosing to control their pregnancies.

He added he had directed the local social welfare office to monitor the situation of families that cannot afford to give their children basic needs.

Duterte mentioned that his longtime friend and classmate, now Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez, used to give him between P500,000 and P700,000 a month for the city hall program.