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| Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte |
‘Molested when we
confessed’:
Duterte fires up at Catholic priests over pedophilia, corruption
20 Jan, 2017
Unshaken by a blessing from
Pope Francis, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has hit back at priests and
bishops critical of his war on drugs, accusing clergymen of homosexuality,
child molesting, hypocrisy and corruption.
“You asked for it,” he said.
“You expose me, fine. I
expose you. Why? When you commit mistakes it's OK, but when we do, no?
Bullshit. That’s stupid,” the president said during a speech to
newly-promoted police officers at Malacañan on Thursday.
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Duterte, who revealed in
2015 that he was molested by a priest when he was young in an act of “sexual
awakening,” but did not file a complaint for fear of “what would happen,” said
Catholic priests had their skeletons in the closet.
“You asked for it. If you
want a showdown, then let's have a showdown. You mend your ways. If you cannot
even give justice to the small boys that you have molested in the past, you do
not have that moral ascendancy to lecture [me] on what to do. Sanctity of life?
You're enjoying your worth,” he said, as quoted by The Philippine Star.
“When we were young, I talked
to cabinet members. When we were making confessions to you, we were being
molested,” he added.
As if this wasn’t enough,
Duterte mentioning alleged homosexual acts taking place inside seminaries.
“What will you do with the
homosexuality in your seminaries? What have you done to the children there?...
Mga le**e kayo [You fools],” he said.
“You are in palaces while
your faithful are in squatters areas and then you talk about sanctity? Look at
your mirror.
“What is your moral
ascendancy in the Philippines? Religion? What is the meaning of it? You do not
help us. You just keep on talking,” he added in Tagalog.
Last week Duterte banned a
number of X-rated websites in the country as part of a crackdown on child
pornography. Sites including Pornhub and XVIDEOS are now reportedly
inaccessible.
During his speech to police
officers, Duterte also lambasted the failure of the Church to truthfully
explain how donations in the country – in which about 80 percent of the
population are Catholic – had been used.
“What did the church do? The
Catholic Church earns millions every week all throughout the Philippines. There
are many churches. Where is the money of the people?” the president
wondered.
“We explain how we use our
funds to the people. You? Priests and bishops, you wear fancy clothes, you have
vehicles. Do you have a house, even with just five rooms, for rehab? What did
your church do?
“You count money instead of
going around the neighborhoods, explaining to the people why they should not be
in that industry because they will die. Now you want the killings to end? All
you have to do is to preach because most of the people here are Catholics,” he
continued.
Duterte mentioned bishops who
allegedly asked former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to provide them with
posh cars.
“Remember you asked vehicles
from Gloria? Knowing full well that the policemen have no vehicles. You had
[Mitsubishi] Pajero, you sons of b*****s,” the president said.
“You were given vehicles
knowing that there is a principle of separation between Church and State. It
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was sheer, purely graft and corruption because you did not deserve it. You
cannot use property or money for your comfort. That is not for you but for the
government but you had the gall,” he added.
Earlier this week, Duterte
lambasted the Church for its opposition to his war on drugs.
“The Church really doesn’t
understand. They know [the drug problem], they know that it is worst, and yet,
they said that extrajudicial killing is not good,” the president said,
according to Sun Star Manila newspaper. “So other priests should use shabu so
they would understand [that the drug problem worsens]. I recommend one or two
of the bishops take it also.”
Shabu is a Philippines slang
term for the highly addictive crystal methamphetamine which is the most popular
illegal drug in the country.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis
blessed the Philippines and its president. According to Presidential Adviser on
the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, Duterte asked the pontiff to bless the country,
and Francis replied that the president would get his blessing as well.
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