Duterte: ‘I have deep, abiding faith in God’
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2020 04:43:54 +0000
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has declared that he has “deep and abiding” faith in God, even as he has repeatedly lashed out at the Catholic Church.
Speaking during the celebration of the 120-year presence of the Baptist Churches in the Philippines on Thursday night, Duterte believed that God was always with him, especially when he visited war-torn areas in Mindanao.
“I have deep and abiding faith in God. You see me in Jolo, you see me going to war in Marawi. Well, it’s not about bravery. It’s about faith in God,” Duterte said in his speech.
“With the adversities we are facing both here and abroad, we are called, now more than ever, to stand together in faith, prayer and unity,” he added.
Duterte, a Catholic like the estimated 80 percent of Filipinos, has repeatedly been hitting at the Catholic Church and some of its leaders for speaking out against his war on drugs.
He has also described as “stupid” the concept of “original sin” and called for the removal of crucifixes so that people would not be reminded of Christ’s sacrifice.
But in his Thursday’s speech delivered before the Baptists, the President expressed appreciation over the works of God.
“This universal thing, it’s controlled, it cannot be possible without God. If you watch the billions and millions and billions of stars, even how big the space is, the fact that it survived almost four or five billion years,” Duterte said.
“God must have said that His Creation must be there. Almost five billion and nothing happened,” he added.
The President, before ending his speech, recalled how he won the 2016 presidential elections in stunning fashion even as he received criticisms for cursing Pope Francis.
Duterte then cursed at Pope Francis for the traffic jams in Metro Manila during the Pontiff’s visit to the mainly Catholic country in January 2015.
“When the results of the elections came, I got seven, six million over the next (candidate). And so maybe it’s good to bullshit the bishops. It might make you win. Take it from my experience,” Duterte said, drawing laughter from the audience.
The President also said that he could be the first politician to successfully wage war against the Catholic Church.
He also pointed out how the church and its members supposedly turned “silent” amid his repeated tirades.
“You’d notice that they’re no longer complaining even if I said bullshit ‘yang…they don’t respond anymore. That is how to win the war against the Catholic Church. All you have to say, p*******. Panalo ka na,” Duterte said.
Duterte had refused to join any upcoming celebration of the 500th year of Christianization in the country, citing oppression committed against Filipinos during the colonial era.
“Why will I celebrate? Bakit ako mag-celebrate sa p—-g i—g ‘yan? Five hundred years of what? Oppression?” Duterte has said about the commemoration of the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines this year.
“I only have one God. I do not bow to anybody, but I bow to my countrymen out of respect. Hindi mo ako mapabow-bow letse ka,” he added.
It was in 1521 when Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, sailing from Spain, arrived in the archipelago and introduced Christianity.
Despite the President’s aversion to such celebration, he has issued Executive Order 55 forming a steering committee for the commemoration of the quincentennial arrival of Magellan in the Philippines, victory of Lapu-Lapu in the Battle of Mactan, and other historic events from 1519 to 1522.
The order, signed in May 2018, noted that such commemorative activities would promote tourism and highlight the country’s rich cultural and religious heritage. CATHERINE S. VALENTE