Bro. Eddie hopes Duterte would apologize over 'stupid' God tirade or face prayer rally

Evangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva expressed hope Wednesday President Rodrigo Duterte would issue a public apology for his tirade against God, or religious groups would be forced to organize a huge prayer rally.

Villanueva said the Philippines for Jesus Movement, which he leads, sent a letter to the President expressing their displeasure over his "stupid God" remark and asking him to apologize publicly not to them or any religion but to God.

He believes the President would hear their plea.

“We are representing 10 million people. I don't believe the President will ignore this because once he ignores the collective wisdom of the body of Christ, this may lead to a kind of huge prayer rally designed, first, to intercede and for spiritual warfare. And worst I hope it will not lead to the imprecatory prayers,” he said in an ANC interview.

The letter stated that while the group understands that questions on faith do plague even the best of human beings, they see it unacceptable that the President who is the highest official of the land would speak of the One considered to be the highest of all.

“Mr. President, you are no simple citizen. You are the President of this land and your words and statements do affect the whole of the Philippines. Thus, we see such statements as highly inappropriate and insensitive towards the faith that we, the majority of Filipinos, believe in, hold on to, and uphold,” the letter read.

“In this context, Mr. President, the leaders of the different church groups under the PJM, ask for a public apology from you—not to us, or any religion. But to publicly apologize to God who—in many instances in the past—you acknowledged you believed in. We heard you so many times that you may not believe in any religion, but you believe in God. As a man who believes in retributive justice, we look to you to not allow the offended to remain offended,” it added.

The leader of Jesus Is Lord Church warned that Duterte’s cursing and mocking of God would invite curses to the country.

“To insult God, to us, it is a kind of blasphemy in the highest order. The Bible is very clear, when you slander or curse God, you are inviting curses not only for yourself but the entire nation, calamities and disasters,” he said.

He said the impact of the President’s tirade is so tremendous as far as the general welfare of the Filipino people is concerned, the destiny of the nation.

“I can sense that curses will continue to visit and even be multiplied and the thing is he might be destroyed,” he said.

Villanueva said Duterte needs to be rescued.

“Filipino people should pray for him and if possible have a heart to heart, sincere explanation about this thing. Cursing God, mocking God, you can mock the modern Hitlers of the world but never the Creator,” he said.

He added the President, amid his bad experience with a Catholic priest, needs counseling.

“So as a Christian, I believe the President needs really a real counseling on this matter,” he said.

Duterte on Friday lambasted not just the Catholic Church but also God Himself and the creation story in the Bible.

"Who is this stupid God? Estupido talaga itong p***** i** kung ganun. You created some—something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work," he said in a speech in Davao City during the opening of the 2018 National ICT Summit. —KG, GMA News