Don't deny your faith by your vote, Archbishop Villegas says in video post hitting Duterte

As the campaign period for the May 2019 polls heats up, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas posted a video on Facebook where he criticized President Rodrigo Durterte and at the same time reminded the people not to betray God with their vote.

The eight-minute video posted on Tuesday contained a compilation of clips of Duterte’s popular soundbytes of his criticisms and curses on God, bishops and priests.

Villegas posted the video

The video started off with a text flashed on screen, “I believe…therefore I reject!”

In the video, Villegas was shown reading several Bible verses in between controversial clips of Duterte’s speeches.

After a roll of video clips showing Duterte calling God stupid, the video cut to Villegas holding a Bible and reading the Psalms 14:1.

“’Wala namang Diyos!' ang sabi ng hangal sa kanyang sarili.  Silang lahat ay masasama, kakila-kilabot ang kanilang mga gawa. Walang gumagawa ng mabuti, wala na nga, wala!" Villegas read.

The bishop read more Bible passages such as in Matthew 16:18 which ends with, “Ang kapangyarihan ng kamatayan ay hindi magtatagumpay laban sa kaniya.”

Critics has been calling out Duterte for his "bloody drug war" since he assumed office.

The bishop again read passages from Proverbs 6: 16-19 which tackled the seven things that are detestable to God—haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Villegas also read the passage from Revelation 3:15-16, “Nalalaman ko ang mga ginawa mo. Alam kong hindi ka malamig ni mainit man! Higit na mabuti kung ikaw ay malamig o mainit. Ngunit dahil sa ikaw ay maligamgam, hindi mainit ni malamig, isusuka kita!”

After reading Bible texts, Villegas asked the viewers while quoting Luke 22:48 if they will betray God with their vote.

“The Lord said, ‘Are you betraying the son of man with a kiss.’ My dear brothers and sisters, are you going to betray God? Are you going to deny your faith by your vote?” Villegas said in the video.

Duterte is backing the bid of several candidates in senatorial race.

The Ministry of Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan, which Villegas heads, was credited at end of the video. —LDF, GMA News