Duterte attacking the credibility of the Catholic church — CBCP

An official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said on Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte attacked the credibility of the clergy with his recent remarks.

"Kung anuman ang motibo ng pangulo sa kanyang ginagawa... I cannot actually telegraph his mindset. Pero malinaw naman dito na gusto niyang i-weaken, alisan yung kredibilidad ng simbahan," said Fr. Jerome Secillano, CBCP Public Affairs Committee executive secretary in an interview on Unang Balita.

"I don't want to exceed further kasi baka naman maging unfair tayo. Basta itong ginagawang ito... ikaw, pag nagsasalita ka against sa isang tao, so that means to say na nais mong sirain yung taong iyon. Bakit mo nais siraan yan? Para mawalan ng credibility sa mata ng iba," he added.

Duterte has denied that he persecuted priests after Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles said his verbal tirades on the clergy "can unwittingly embolden more crimes against priests."

Valles pertained to the string of attacks on priests, three of which — Fr. Marcelito Paez, Fr. Mark Ventura, and Fr. Richmond Nilo — were fatal.

Prior to Valles' remarks, Duterte said Ventura was slain for his alleged illicit affairs with women and said he was holding back from exposing more wrongdoings committed by church officials.

Duterte said he gave a matrix that showed Ventura's supposed affairs to the "chairman" of the CBCP, inferred to be Valles, the incumbent CBCP president.

"Malamang makakatulong din sa amin 'yan dahil malalaman rin namin kung saan kami lulugar," Secillano said.

In an earlier speech, the president also berated the church for pretending to be blameless even as the latter criticized the government for the killings allegedly related to the government's war on drugs.

On Thursday, Secillano said he chose not to interpret this as an insult or a threat and opting to advocate for the end of killings of clergymen.

"Masyado nang magulo sitwasyon. At kung patuloy pa tayong magaganyan, yung attitude natin, eh baka masyado pang lumala ito," he said.

"Ngayon, lumalabas na parang napakalala yung issue dahil pari yung pinapatay, but we want also to pick up the cudgels for those people who were killed... Sana ihinto na natin yung patayan na 'to, magkaroon naman tayo ng konting respeto sa buhay," he added. — Rie Takumi/BAP, GMA News