Panelo downplays death threat vs. Bishop David; possibly fabricated

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Wednesday downplayed the death threats allegedly received by Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, a critic of the government’s war on drugs.

“Dapat imbestigahan iyan kung totoo. Pero ako, tingin ko gawa-gawa lang iyang mga threat na iyan,” Panelo said in an interview on Dobol B Sa News TV.

Panelo expounded on his point in an interview on News To Go.

“Puwedeng hindi totoo na may threat. Puwedeng may nagloloko lang sa kanya. Or puwede rin naman na sa kalaban [ng administrasyon] nanggagaling ‘yan,” he said.

David said he started receiving death threats  from unknown people two weeks ago. He is one of the main targets of criticism by President Rodrigo Duterte who once urged bystanders to rob and kill bishops.

Duterte later warned the public to stop using his name to intimidate religious leaders, including priests, after Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said that some clergymen including David were receiving threats from "someone who claims to be working for the President's family."

Panelo told News To Go that he does not believe that Duterte supporters took seriously the President’s scathing words that suggested infliction of violence on priests and bishops.

The Palace official also said the killings of some priests over the past months had nothing to do with the President’s remarks.

He cited the case of slain Cagayan priest Father Mark Ventura as police investigators that looked into the priest's killing in April last year said that Ventura had liaisons with at least eight women.

Duterte had said the priest’s affairs with women were the likely reason Ventura was shot to his death. —LBG, GMA News