Palace: Dialogue with Catholic Church still on

Malacañang on Thursday said the dialogue between the government and the Catholic Church is still a go.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said they are awaiting notice from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on the composition of the group that would talk to the four-man government panel that included himself.

"It’s not taking a backseat, except that, you know we were all involved in the SONA [State of the Nation] preparations. So, parang tumigil iyong mundo namin sa Malacañang for the SONA. But now that the SONA is over, we will resume particularly this dialogue," Roque said at a news conference in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Duterte created the panel that would dialogue with the Catholic Church and other religious groups following his scathing remarks about God, creation story in the Bible, and the concept of original sin.

On July 9, Duterte met with CBCP president Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, during which he agreed to stop his rhetoric against the Church.

Duterte appeared to have broken his promise, as he reiterated in a speech in Clark, Pampanga on July 10 that his critics should not use God in their attacks against his administration.

The President repeated his vow to resign if anyone could prove the existence of God with a selfie. He also expressed doubts on the concept of heaven and hell.

He later clarified that his remarks had nothing to do with his agreement with Valles and the moratorium would not stop him from speaking the "truth."

After the event, Duterte had a two-and-half hour meeting with evangelist Brother Eddie Villanueva in Malacañang during which he apologized to his “all-forgiving God." — BM, GMA News