Malacañan on Sun asked religious leaders of the Catholic Church to give the tough-talking President Rodrigo Duterte a break after he launched a tirade against bishops and priests, calling them “sons of bitches” and “monkeys” on nationally televised speeches.
“I challenge you now. I challenge the Catholic Church. You are full of shit. You all smell bad, corruption and all,” the 71-year-old President supposedly said in at a meeting with the families of police commandos killed in the 2015 Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao province.
In a report by ABS-CBN News, Communications Assistant Secretary Ana Maria Banaag said that “she hopes that the shortcomings of Duterte in his language are compensated for by the work he does as president.”
“The President is just human, right? He is a working President. He works hard, he gets tired. Sometimes he gets annoyed,” Banaag said in an interview on public broadcaster dzRB.
Duterte recently accused prominent Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani of having two wives.
In response, Bacani promised PHP10 million reward if Duterte can prove his claims.
The Church has been vocal in criticizing the drug-related killings which they attributed to the current administration.
Banaag also asked the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to give solutions on how to deal with reported killings.
