Palace: Duterte not using Church as smokescreen for failings

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang has denied that President Duterte’s tirades against the Catholic Church were meant to divert attention away from his administration’s shortcomings. 

Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo qualified that Duterte’s criticisms against the Church were the President’s personal views and had nothing to do with his performance. Panelo stressed that the President has already accomplished a lot compared to some of his predecessors. 

“He has been in office for only two years. If you compare him with his other predecessors, he has achieved far more than they did,” Panelo said in an interview.

Last week, Duterte advised Roman Catholics to stop going to churches as he accused Church leaders of making money out of masses and baptisms. 

He also claimed during a recent speech in Tanza, Cavite that a certain Bishop “David” has stolen Church donations given by the public to offer to his family. While he did not completely name the prelate, the public was quick to associate this to Caloocan Bishop Pablo David, one of Duterte’s most vocal critics.

Detained Sen. Leila de Lima chided Duterte for what she described as a desperate bid to besmirch the name of David, who is also vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

She said it is “very typical” of Duterte to resort to destroying the good name and reputation of individual critical of his administration’s policy every time he tries to silence them. 

 “Duterte’s attack on Bishop Pablo ‘Ambo’ David is nothing but slanderous. It is vintage Duterte. He destroys the reputation of those who oppose him and those who fight for the victims of his rule. Bishop Ambo is his latest victim,” she said in a statemeant from Camp Crame.

De Lima said that aside from tending to the relatives of EJK (extrajudicial killing) victims in his diocese, David drew the ire of Duterte for his rebuke on the President’s latest attacks on the Catholic religion and the Church.

 For his part, David said the President has probably confused him with someone else. He wrote on his Facebook account that “people who are sick sometimes do not know what they are talking about, so we should just bear with them. My parents never taught me to steal.”

The senator said she remains proud of religious leaders, like David, who continue to have the courage and fortitude to defend the poor from the EJKs perpetrated by the government.

“It takes a different kind of courage to stand up against the powerful, and a psychotic tyrant at that, and to fight for the powerless. This is the kind of courage that continues to give hope to our people, and by doing so will deliver them from the evil that envelops the country,” she added.

She urged the Filipino Catholic faithful to stand behind David and all men and women of courage who remain steadfast in fighting for justice and human rights.

Worrying phenomenon

Meanwhile, Malacañang yesterday welcomed Pope Francis’ statement that governments should combat illegal drugs, which he described as a “worrying phenomenon.”

The pope, speaking to participants of a three-day conference on drugs in the Vatican, urged the governments in the world to fight those who “deal in death.” 

He said the victims of drugs are lured to exchanging their freedom for slavery. The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics also noted that the Church is working with various groups to address the problem through prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration projects.

For Panelo, the pontiff’s message was relevant to the Philippines’ situation. 

“We consider Vatican’s remarks as a boost in our campaign as we battle the twin evils of crime and drugs. This is precisely the rationale behind the President’s war on illegal drugs in the Philippines: to save the young and future generations of Filipinos from the drug scourge,” he added. 

The administration, he also said, has achieved laudable developments in the anti-drug campaign despite the “noise” coming from the “loud minority” composed of the Duterte’s critics here and abroad.

The Catholic Church in the Philippines has been critical of President Duterte’s war on drugs, which has left more than 4,000 drug suspects dead. Human rights groups have also expressed concern that the campaign is encouraging EJKs and other abusive practices.

Officials have denied this and maintained that the crackdown was meant to protect the young from the scourge of narcotics. They have also claimed that arresting officers are only allowed to use violence if drug suspects fight back.– With Paolo Romero