MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte's critics, not his rhetoric, should be blamed for the threats against Catholic clergymen, Malacañang said Tuesday.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the opposition made a big deal out of Duterte's "hyperbole" that drug addicts should rob and kill moneyed bishops.
"If one is a drug addict, it doesn't matter to him who endorsed. You know, drug addicts are crazy... Their brains have been affected so there is no need for encouragement from anyone to do something bad against a person," presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing.
"If it's a hyperbole, then it's not an encouragement. It is only the opposition, the critics who make it so. That is precisely why they should be blamed for that, not him," he added.
READ: Duterte changes tune, now warns those threatening to harm priests
Last month, Duterte, whose bloody war on illegal drugs has been criticized by Catholic clergymen, encouraged drug addicts to rob and kill bishops, whom he described as "useless."
But Duterte had to clarify his remark when he was informed by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle that a bishop and some priests had received death threats from people who claimed to be working for the president's family. The president warned drug addicts that he would be their "enemy" if they harm bishops and priests.
Panelo said the president's remark was just a "criticism."
"That is precisely why he warned those who will harm the priests. And he's serious on that because this president is outraged by any kind of irregularity or violation of any law or any threat made against any person," the presidential spokesman said.
READ: Barbs and the Bible: The continuing clashes between Duterte and Bishop David
Asked if he thought Duterte should refrain from making such "hyperbole" to avoid endangering lives, Panelo said: "Our countrymen have been used to this president's style of delivering his responses, his remarks, so I don't see any problem with that."
"When he says that that, we know that he is in a hyperbolic mode. Now, if the critics and the opposition use that, certainly, it will encourage other people," he added.
'Healthy criticism'
Duterte has claimed that his tirades against the Church was his response to a priest who allegedly wished him dead. He has also warned priests against using the pulpit to criticize his administration, saying it goes against the separation of Church and State.
Separation of church and state bars the state from establishing a national religion and interfering in the free exercise of citizens' religious beliefs.
READ: 'Santo Rodrigo': Duterte pokes fun at Catholic 'All Saints Day'
While some argue that the principle prohibits clergymen from meddling with government affairs, the 1987 Constitution recognizes the spiritual dimension of citizens.
The Constitution required educational institutions to "teach the rights and duties of citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal discipline."
Panelo maintained that Duterte is discrediting "certain men of the cloth," not the Church.
READ: Duterte attacks church again, this time over money donations
"I think that's a healthy criticism. It will help the Catholic Church cleanse itself and purge itself from those who are not deserving to be there," Panelo said.
"He (Duterte) believes in God. He prays. He invokes God. You're just referring to certain men in the cloth (who) violated their own vows. Even the pope has become the number one critic of the Catholic Church," he added, referring to Pope Francis' tirades against clergymen involved in sex abuses.
Asked why Duterte was chiding priests who use the pulpit to hit the government even if he was using the presidential podium to slam the Church, Panelo replied: "There's a difference there. When the priest uses the pulpit, that means he's serious. Priests do not use the pulpit to crack jokes with respect to praying for someone to die. That's a different story."
"When a priest gets out of the pulpit and make and crack jokes that's okay. But when you use the pulpit to destroy a person, you are violating your own vows. That is a different story. What's the vow? The vow is to be very good image of the God that they believe in," he added.
READ: Duterte violates moratorium on anti-Church tirades in just a day
Pressed if he thought Duterte could use his position to criticize the Church, Panelo replied: "In the first place, his style was already that even before he assumed the presidency so you cannot be saying that he's using that position. He has been doing that ever since even when he was still a prosecutor."
Last Monday, Duterte predicted that the Catholic Church would disappear in 25 years because of the sex abuse scandals involving clergymen. Panelo claimed Duterte was just expressing an "opinion."