Duterte ‘shaking religious beliefs’ when he labeled the Holy Trinity as ‘silly’ —Panelo

After President Rodrigo Duterte’s scathing remark against the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity, Malacañang on Wednesday said the public should instead welcome such “narratives to strengthen the believers’ faith.”

Believing in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit was “silly,” Duterte said in a speech in Kidapawan City, Cotabato on Saturday,  Dec. 29, 2018.

“The latest controversial remarks of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on the Church is his way of shaking long held religious tenets and beliefs that instead of molding them into being righteous individuals make them cling to religion as an opium,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

“Rather than the Church and its believers being offended by such unorthodox narratives, they should welcome it as a process to strengthen further their faith or enlighten those who seek the truth of what they have embraced,” Panelo added.

Duterte was “unmindful” of the consequences of his remarks including the possible “erosion of his public support,” the Palace official noted.

“His intention being to initiate an intellectual discussion for the faithfuls’ enlightenment and spiritual awakening which could lead them to thread the path of uprightness so necessary in the moral regeneration of a nation so abundant with religiosity but wanting in spirituality,” Panelo said.

In such instances, the Chief Executive is only setting “... the limits of the freedom of expression to a notch higher than its common use,” he added.

“The President endeavours to be creative, using means that may be unnerving to the conservatives unused to his ways of governance but effective in putting across message he wants to convey to the majority of the people who, surveys show, approves of his maverick methods,” he said.

In his speech, the President also harangued believers who pray to a God and as well as the saints.

“Isa lang ang Diyos. There’s only one God, period. You cannot divide God into three. That’s silly,” he said.

Duterte has repeatedly criticized the Catholic Church and its teachings to the extent that he even called God “stupid.” —Anna Felicia Bajo/VDS, GMA News