DESPITE the government's efforts to mend ties with the religious groups, President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, August 14, took a swipe anew at the Catholic Church leaders.
This time, Duterte quoted Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., a former rebel priest, as saying that the Catholic Church was the "most hypocritical institution."
"Is there any bishop there? I want to kick your ass. And the priests. I tell you, the most hypocritical institution in the Philippines is the Catholic Church. My statement? No. Coming from Secretary Evasco. The Cabinet Secretary," the President said in a speech delivered in Palace's Rizal Hall.
"Is he (Evasco) here? Evasco was a priest," he added.
Duterte made the remark even as his four-man presidential panel tasked to negotiate with the religious groups has yet to hold a dialogue with the Catholic Church leaders.
Duterte's committee is composed of Evasco, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr., Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella, and self-proclaimed civic leader Pastor Saycon Jr.
In a fresh tirade peppered with profanities, Duterte slammed the leaders of the Catholic Church for criticizing the government without realizing that they are also allegedly committing abuses.
"So the Catholic Church is strict about the behavior of workers of government because we spend the people's money. But may I ask now, you collect not even taxes. But there's a bag of money, they go around collecting," he said.
"They say, 'These collections are part to maintain the Church.' Now, there's a second collection, [they say], 'Please be generous because the second collection is for my family. I have two children to...' P***** i** mo (You're a son of a b****)," the President added.
Duterte, who maintained that he does not believe in the "stupidity of religion," also criticized the Catholic Church for worshipping around "7,000 saints."
He then reiterated his joke that the public could instead join his proposed religious sect, which he would call "Iglesia ni Rodrigo."
"Me, I'm not a Roman Catholic Church member. That's why I showed you. If you want, there is a new religion in town. It's called Iglesia ni Rodrigo," he said.
"My religion does not limit anything. All you can do is... Do not believe in hell. When you die, you are just a piece of carcass and that's it. There's no more hell," he added. (SunStar Philippines)