Duterte’s Easter message: Despite adversities, there’s hope of better, new beginnings

April 12, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte told Filipinos that the Lord’s resurrection proves there is always hope of better and new beginnings despite adversities as the country faces the threat of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

In his Easter Sunday message, Duterte said he joins the whole Christian community in this celebration.

“The triumph of the risen Christ presents us all with hopeful assurance that, even as we face adversities, there is always hope of better and new beginnings. In this time of renewal, we are reminded of the grace that comes from selfless love that is able to transcend diverse cultures, faiths, backgrounds and even circumstances,” Duterte said.

The President hoped this occasion will be filled with gladness and enable the people to find solace and strength in the narrative of resurrection.

“I trust that its message of forgiveness will inspire us to live our days with gratitude and humility, with further acts of kindness and charity to our families, friends, and to those who are most in need,” Duterte said.

“Let this day bring us all profound happiness and purpose as we join hands in shaping a better and brighter future for the entire nation,” he added.

In a separate statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Christ’s resurrection symbolizes the truism that after going through pain and suffering there will be healing, that after a storm a new dawn beckons, and that after this pandemic of a disease there is a new tomorrow that awaits the Philippines and the world.

“As we struggle to overcome the worst calamity we face as a nation, let us still thank the Almighty for sparing the rest of humanity who will, like the Phoenix, be reborn from ashes and build a new order of love and peace among mankind, coming from what it seems to be a spiritual cleansing that we are all undergoing,” Panelo said.

“Love one another’ was what the Redeemer had taught the Christian world, and this is the most fitting time that we embrace and practice this teaching, that even the non-Christians and the agnostics can relate. For it is only in loving one another can we protect each other from this scourge of a disease,” he added.

Not only the Philippines but also the other countries were affected by the global pandemic diseases with death toll already exceeding 100,000 mark, with Italy having the highest recorded of 19,000 deaths.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), there are already 1.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in 213 countries, areas and territories. Ella Dionisio/DMS