DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Philippines
presumptive president Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte blasted the Catholic
church Sunday, May 22, for hypocrisy, saying the bishops who had condemned him
during his campaign had been asking favors from the government.
Rodrigo Duterte, who won the May 9
presidential elections by a landslide, caused an outrage in the church
hierarchy in December after rambling and cursed the pope.
Duterte, who has since tumbling
between defiance and remorse over the remarks, directed his anger towards the
bishops who had criticized him.
“You sons of whores, aren’t you
ashamed? You ask so many favors, even from me,” addressing Catholic bishops,
accusing them of benefiting from public money while the poor cannot even afford
to eat or buy medicine.
“You know the most hypocritical
institution? The Catholic church,” he said, in an ABS-CBN report.
The Catholic Church also said to
oppose Duterte’s plan to reinstate the death penalty.
Although Duterte was baptized a
Catholic and once mentioned his mother to be tight with the religion, his
spiritual adviser is Apollo Quiboloy, head of “the Kingdom of Jesus Christ,” a
non-Catholic religious group based in the southern city of Davao.
Duterte’s reign in Davao as longtime
mayor had previously boasted of links to vigilante death squads that had killed
more than a thousand suspected criminals in the city.
Duterte, who takes office on June 30,
has largely remained out of public sight during the past week, meeting with
prospective cabinet member and foreign dignitaries.
He also told the reporters that his
controversial choices were entirely his own. “I do all the vetting. I decide
for myself. I never consulted anybody,” Duterte said.
Source: Rappler Google News
ABS-CBN News Japan Times
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