In an interview this morning with television show Unang Balita, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque defended Philippine President Duterte after the latter was attacked by his critics for saying God is “stupid.”
Said Roque in Filipino: “That is the president’s personal belief. Our freedom of religion includes one’s freedom not to believe in anything. I think our president has his own version of spirituality but that’s his, and no one needs to interpret it.”
During a speech in Davao City last week, Duterte retold the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible’s book of Genesis and said: “Adam ate it [the forbidden fruit that God created] then malice was born. Who is this stupid God? That son of a whore is stupid if that’s the case.”
But while Roque said there was no need to interpret Duterte’s beliefs, he couldn’t resist to come up with a theory on why the president acts the way he does.
He said in Filipino: “But I think the president’s pronouncements stems from his bad experiences when he was a child when he said he was allegedly abused by a priest.”
Three years ago, Duterte said he and his classmates at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao University were allegedly molested by the late Fr. Paul Falvey S.J. Duterte said it was “a case of fondling … he did during confession, that’s how we lost our innocence early.”
Last year, Duterte attacked members of the Catholic church and called them “full of shit” and “full of corruption.”
During his presidential campaign, Duterte also infamously cursed at Pope Francis, calling him a “son of a bitch” for causing traffic during his visit to Manila.
Loyal to his boss, Roque used the opportunity to call on the Catholic Church to make reparations to alleged victims.
“What needs to be done is to give reparations, an acknowledgment that it happened on a large scale. [The Catholic Church] needs to ask for forgiveness from its young victims like President Duterte.”
When asked by host Connie Sison if the president needs to be careful with what he says in public to avoid unnecessary interpretations from Roque, the spokesperson said he was not “interpreting anything.”
“That’s the president’s personal beliefs. And he’s always been like that. He didn’t hide the fact that he uses that type of language — we all know that and that’s how the public knows him,” Roque said.
He defended Duterte further: “I don’t think he would have been popular if he were the type who holds back. We should accept that’s really how he is. When he asked for the people’s mandate, he didn’t hide his [personality].”
Looks like we just have to live with it.
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