PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte apologized to a “generic” God in a meeting Tuesday night, July 10, with evangelist and Jesus is Lord Church Worldwide founder Eduardo “Eddie” Villanueva.
In a five-minute video uploaded Wednesday morning, July 11, by the Presidential Communications Operations Office on its official Facebook page, Duterte could be seen sitting beside Villanueva.
"And I said, if it's the same God, I'm sorry. That's how it is. Iyan ang sinabi ko. Sorry, God. I said sorry God. If God is taken in a generic term by everybody listening, then that's well and good,” the President said.
But before he said he was sorry, he talked about the difference of his God from the God of other religious groups.
He later said his God is all forgiving.
"I only apologize to God, nobody else. If I wronged God, then He would be happy to listen to my program. Why? Because my God is all forgiving. Why? Because he does not remember past hurts. Why? Because God created me to be good and not to be bad," he added.
The apology was made just hours after he again lashed at a God who must have been stupid to create hell.
In his speech in Pampanga earlier Tuesday, the President also took a swipe anew at church leaders who criticize him from the pulpit.
The President’s latest tirade against the Catholic Church was made a day after the Palace announced that Duterte had agreed, during a meeting with Davao Archbishop and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president Romulo Valles, to a moratorium on statements about the Church.
Explaining his supposed anti-God rhetoric to Villanueva, Duterte said he could not accept the "improper" behavior of religious leaders who are using the pulpit to criticize him and his administration.
"There is a separation of church and state. Do not use God to attack government. That is not proper. And God, I'm sure that is not what God wants," he said.
"Never, never use a name of God as a front to attack government because that is not the proper way to do it," the Chief Executive added.
To recall, Villanueva urged Duterte in June to say sorry for calling the God of the Catholics “stupid" and shooting down the creation story in the Bible. (SunStar Philippines)