Palace defends Duterte over “blasphemous” words vs God

June 25, 2018

Malacanang defended on Monday President Rodrigo Duterte over his "blasphemous" statements against God.

In a press briefing in Cagayan de Oro City, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte was just expressing his "personal belief."

"Individuals are entitled to their personal beliefs. That is the nature of freedom of religion," he said.

In a speech during the 2018 National ICT Summit in Davao City on June 22, Duterte called God as "stupid" when he was narrating based on his understanding the creation story in the Bible.

He also questioned the belief of Christians regarding the "original sin" even before they were born because of the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve had eaten.

In further justifying Duterte's statement, Roque urged the Catholic Church to accept the reality about some priests who were engaged in molesting the youth, citing what had happened to Duterte when he was studying at Ateneo de Davao.

In several speeches, Duterte had said that he was molested by an American priest when he was still in high school.

He said this could also be the time for the Church to ask for forgiveness to the victims of molestation.

"We hope that this problem will be given a solution, to have reparation, to have admission and forgiveness," he added.

In a separate statement, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, on the other hand, denied that Duterte called God as stupid.

"He didn't call God stupid. What he said was the theory of creation as expounded by the writers of the Bible is a stupid proposition. In other words, he is questioning the logic behind the theory of creation as advanced by the theologians," he explained.

"The president is not blaspheming God," he added. Celerina Monte/DMS