Duterte urges Filipinos: Pray for frontliners and each other
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged Filipinos to pray for healthcare frontliners and each other as they commemorated All Saints Day and All Souls Day.
In a statement, the president expressed "full trust" that the country would "brave these trying times and emerge as a stronger nation."
"As we follow the example of the saints and pray for our loved ones who have passed on, let us also pray for each other, especially during this pandemic," he said.
"We pray for those who have died because of COVID-19 and we also pray for those who have sacrificed life and limb to save more lives and keep us safe."
Duterte's history with 'crazy Catholics'
Whether for healthcare workers or Catholic Saints, the president has not always shown the same reverence in his public pronouncements.
At a public meeting to discuss the impact of Typhoon Rosita in Isabela in October 2018, the chief executive questioned the Catholic commemoration and openly cursed the saints.
"Bakit naman, sa bagay ito, tarantado talaga itong mga Katoliko, puta. Bakit may All Souls' Day tapos may All Saints' Day. Hindi nga natin alam 'yung mga santo, na kung sino mga gago na 'yun, mga lasenggo," he said then.
(Why even, at this point in time, these Catholics are crazy. Why is there All Souls' Day and then still an All Saints' Day, son of a bitch. We don't even know those saints, who those fools are, those drunkards.)
Duterte held a different tone in his statement Monday, saying: "This centuries-old tradition of honoring those who have come before us and led virtuous lives, as well as remembering our dearly departed, is a strong pillar of our faith and identity as a people."
"This occasion offers us a time to reflect and be grateful for the gift of life and the promise of eternity...May we all have a blessed and meaningful observance," he also said.
President lashes out at doctors' distress call amid COVID-19
Earlier in the coronavirus pandemic, the president also swore at healthcare workers, claiming they were staging a "revolution" for the sake of "spectacle."
This came after medical collectives in August 2020 urged the government to implement another enhanced community quarantine to give frontliners a "time-out."
"I don’t give a fuck if you gather 1,000 or 2,000 [signatures]. But bear in mind that if I ask you to take over, I will even pay you. Let’s see how you will fare. We are not incompetent because we are not doctors. You should do the soul-searching, not us. You could be helping but all you do is complain," he said then in mixed English and Filipino.
In the same public address, he went on to taunt and challenge frontliners to mount a revolution against him and give him an excuse to exercise presidential powers to quell it.
"That’s more dangerous than COVID-19. If you mount a revolution, you will give me a free ticket to stage a counter-revolution. How I wish you would do it," he said.
To date, health officials have recorded 2.77 million coronavirus cases around the country, 50,630 of whom are still classified as active cases who have neither recovered nor passed away. — Franco Luna
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