AMID THE government's ongoing talks with religious leaders, President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, July 6, launched a fresh tirade against the Catholic Church, as he revealed the alleged four "motives" for the killing of Father Mark Ventura.
In his previous speeches, Duterte publicly showed a document that supposedly indicates possible grounds for Ventura's death.
It was, however, the first time he presented details about the controversial killing of the parish priest.
Following the reported connivance between some Catholic Church leaders and communist rebels to oust him, Duterte was prompted to make public the "confidential" information concerning Ventura.
"'Yung anti-Duterte, lahat ng pari, bishop... Ah, lahat kayo, sige. Pahiram akong kopya [tungkol sa pag-patay kay Ventura]. Alam mo ito kasing Katoliko, every time may namatayan na pari... May namatay na pari, confidential. Pero kung sikretuhin ako, bigyan kita," Duterte said before his audience in Davao City on Friday night.
(Those anti-Duterte, all the priests, bishops... Ah, all of you, fine. Give me the copy [of the document concerning Ventura's death]. You know, every time there's a priest killed... There was a slain priest, it's confidential. If it's a secret, I will tell you about it.)
"Ilabas na natin lahat. Huwag na nating tagu-taguin. Then I will name also yung priests na may mga asawa at kung saan sila nakatira. Of course, I use government because they are reported to be in cabal. Sabi nga daw, [thay have plan to] oust Duterte," he added.
(Let's reveal everything. Let's not hide anything. Then I will name the priests who have wives and where they live. Of course, I use government because they are reported to be in cabal. As they said, [they have plan to] oust Duterte.)
The President made the latest remark against the priests, even after he had formed a four-man panel tasked to hold a dialogue with church leaders, in an attempt to mend the government's ties with the religious groups, especially with the Catholic Church.
His latest verbal tirade against the Catholic Church also came three days before his scheduled meeting with Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines president Archbishop Romulo Valles at MalacaƱan Palace on July 9.
To recall, Duterte presented a matrix of supposed illicit affairs of a slain priest. He did not reveal the priest's identity but the cover page of the matrix was titled, "Shooting to Death of Father Mark Anthony Ventura."
Ventura was gunned down on April 29 after celebrating mass at a gymnasium in Pena Weste village in Gattaran, Cagayan.
In his latest speech, the President said that while Ventura may have been deemed "a very kind person, accommodating, independent, and [had] a strong character," the priest "was a heavy drinker of beer and alleged to be womanizer."
Duterte also claimed that Ventura had a child with "still unidentified woman in Cagayan," based on the government's obtained information.
"Analysis: There's a big possibility that the first motive, the love triangle is the main reason why Father Mark Anthony Ventura was [killed] by still unidentified [assailants] because of so many women who are believed to be linked to him," he said.
Nevertheless, Duterte was not discounting the possibility that Ventura was killed for "discreetly" campaigning for an unnamed congressmen during the 2016 national elections.
Two other motives for Ventura's murder were his being a strong advocate of environmental protection and his being close to a priest who has connections with members of the Communist Party of the Philippines' (CPP) armed wing, New People's Army (NPA), Duterte said.
"However, the possibility of political motive could not be discounted as the losing candidate in the last election also keep on employing organized crime," he said.
"The CPP-NPA motive is perceived to be out of the disputed issue as even the ranks openly condemned the gruesome death. Similarly, the fourth motive is already pulled out when the black sand mining was fully stopped in the region since it's all out campaign fo the government to fight the illegal advocacy," Duterte added. (SunStar Philippines)