Palace blames Duterte critics for death threats on bishop
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 06:10:03 +0000
Detractors of President Duterte are to blame for the alleged threats received by Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David since they would “manipulate” the President’s jokes to be taken seriously, Malacañang said yesterday.
“If there is one to blame, it is the critics and detractors of the President and this administration who have been constantly painting a different picture by manipulating PRRD’s statements and making them appear to look bad and malicious,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
Panelo defended Duterte anew following criticisms that his strong statements against the Catholic Church, including joking about robbing and killing of bishops living in luxury, caused the death threats.
He insisted that Duterte’s negative remarks against the Church “were done in jest” and that the opposition was again attempting to “bespatter the President’s popularity” by blaming him for David’s alleged death threats.
“To reiterate what I previously said, a joke is a joke is a joke. The President’s remarks on some members of the clergy were done in jest or were made using figure of speech or hyperbole,” Panelo said.
Panelo stressed the opposition meant to “confuse” the public by converting the President’s jokes into marching orders to damage his reputation.
“A joke perceived to be a joke by Filipinos are converted by these haters into a grave and serious marching order so as to confuse the public and at the same time put themselves in a position where they can criticize the President,” he said.
He noted that grave threats could even be done by pranksters, or by anti-Duterte trolls or by the personal enemies of the bishop.
However, he said, Filipinos are already used to Duterte’s “out-of-the-box” style of delivering messages and know when he is joking or not, since this has been his way even before he assumed the presidency. (PNA and Argyll Geducos)