Duterte did not incite attack against the church —Panelo

Malacanang parried the views of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that President Rodrigo Duterte's harsh words may have incited violence against the church, following the deadly blasts at a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo, Sulu on Sunday.

"Oh definitely not," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said. "In fact, the President is outraged. He’s so angry that they have not respected a place of worship – that’s why he declared war against all these perpetrators."

In a news briefing Tuesday, Panelo said Duterte's verbal criticisms were directed only against certain members of the Catholic Church.

He said the attack against the church was done by those who do not believe in the religion.

"Those who will attack places of worship especially with the Catholics are doing it because they do not believe in that religion. In other words, they are disrespecting precisely the religion," he said.

"It’s directed against, to my mind, apart from challenging the capability of this government to secure the safety of the citizenry, it is also showing its utmost disrespect to this religion," he added.

In a pastoral statement Monday, the CBCP said decried the "culture of violence" that they said have prevailed in the country, a day after the bombing of the cathedral in Jolo, which killed 20 people and wounded over 100 others.

"For the past few months now, we have observed how the culture of violence has gradually prevailed in our land. The recent bombing of the cathedral of Jolo where scores of people were killed and several more were injured is a further evidence to the cycle of hate that is destroying the moral fabric of our country," the statement read.

Panelo said the President was not attacking the Church, but "criticizing certain immoral acts" of some of its members.

"It behooves them to explain to the President the validity of the doctrines that are being taught to us, Catholics," he said.

He added that "nobody can stop him (Duterte) from saying his mind on certain matters that he feels are wrong. —LDF, GMA News