Linking Duterte to Cagayan priest’s death unfair —Palace

Malacañang on Thursday cried foul over insinuation that President Rodrigo Duterte's harsh words against the Catholic clergy had something to do with the killing of priests, including Father Mark Ventura of Cagayan province.

Ventura was gunned down on April 29 last year after Sunday Mass in Gattaran, Cagayan. Police investigators looking into the crime said Ventura had liaisons with several women, prompting Duterte to conclude that the latter's affairs caused his death.

"To attribute the killing of Fr. Ventura to his pronouncements is not only unfair but uncalled for, considering that the felony was committed way back in April 2018," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.

Panelo said personal grudge was the motive behind the crime "as it was confirmed that the late priest supposedly had illicit affairs with at least eight women,” based on the information gathered by the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) formed by the Philippine National Police.

"We wish to reiterate that the Palace has nothing to do with his death, or that his murder has something to do with his duties as a man of the cloth," he said.

Panelo also said there is no connection between Ventura's killing with the alleged death threat against Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, a critic of Duterte's war on drugs who has been subject of the President's tirades. 

"Let us not put one and one together. They are altogether two different cases," the Palace official said.

Critics have accused Duterte of emboldening clergymen-killers through his criticisms of the Catholic Church.

The Palace, however, assured members of the Catholic hierarchy that the President meant no harm.

The President, who has wished death on bishops on more than one occasion, recently asked the public to spare members of the clergy from harassment. —NB, GMA News