MANILA (PHILIPPINES)
UCA News
June 21, 2018
Philippine president’s tirades against clergy prompted series of clerymen murders, critics say
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has hit back at critics and claimed he respects the Catholic Church despite his tirades against bishops and priests whom he has repeatedly accused of corruption and illicit affairs with women.
Rights activists and church groups say the president’s verbal attacks against church leaders have emboldened some people to attack members of the clergy in recent months.
Duterte denied persecuting priests this week, saying that his administration “does not have a policy against priests” and he could not order the killing of church leaders.
“As a matter of fact, I respect the church,” the president said in a speech in Iloilo province on June 20. “The truth is, I cannot order the killing of priests, women, and children,” he said.
While the president was speaking in the town of Cabatuan, church bells tolled as part of a daily symbolic protest against drug-related killings in the country.
Hearing the bells, Duterte stopped talking and waited for the ringing to stop.
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