Denying persecution of priests, Duterte lashes out anew at Church leaders

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday lashed out anew at the Catholic church even as he denied persecuting priests.

His statement comes after Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas said his verbal attacks on the clergy "can unwittingly embolden more crimes against priests” in the wake of the killings of Fr. Marcelito Paez, Fr. Mark Ventura, and Fr. Richmond Nilo.

"Sabi ng nabasa ko, 'stop persecuting priests.' Wala naman akong sinabi," the President told newly-promoted uniformed personnel at an event in Malacañang.

Duterte issued the denial amid a looming Senate investigation into the spate of killings and attempt on the life of Catholic priests as proposed by Senator Risa Hontiveros, an administration critic.

Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution 764 asking the Senate to direct the chamber’s public order and dangerous drugs committee to probe the killing of the three priests. She also wants the committee to get into the bottom of the assassination attempt against Fr. Rey Urmeneta on June 6.

All four incidents happened in the span of six months or from December last year.

Duterte earlier presented to the public a matrix to show that Ventura, an anti-mining advocate, could have been killed because of his alleged illicit affairs with women.

On Wednesday, Duterte said he did not give further details about Ventura's death because it would not look good for the Catholic Church.

The President said he gave a copy of the matrix to the "chairman" of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). He did not say the name of the official of the CBCP although the organization is currently headed by Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles.

"Sabihin ko ikaw pari kabitin mo yung asawa ng sundalo kabitin mo ang asawa ng mayor mamamatay ka talaga. Sinupress ko 'yun di ko pinalabas. But if these guys keep on shouting there, ilalabas ko yun," Duterte said.

He added priests are no better than him because they too have liaisons with women.

Duterte also slammed the clergy for pretending to be "saints" and painting the government, soldiers, and policemen as "demons."

Church leaders have repeatedly criticized the rising death toll in Duterte’s war on drugs. The President, in turn, hit back with diatribes, bringing up supposed misdeeds of priests and bishops. —JST, GMA News