Philippine president-elect slams Catholic church, bishops
The Philippines’ President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has harshly criticized the country’s Roman Catholic church for hypocrisy, accusing its bishops of corruption.
In a news conference broadcast on late Saturday, Duterte, who won the Philippines’ presidential election by a sizable margin earlier this month, denounced the country’s dominant Roman Catholic church as “the most hypocritical institution.”
Using expletives, he accused some bishops in the country of corruption for allegedly asking favors from government politicians.
The president-elect also censured some of the church bishops for violating their vow of celibacy by getting married or keeping women.
Duterte pointed to the attempts by bishops to persuade Filipinos not to vote for him in the presidential election on May 9. He nevertheless won by about six million votes.
“Look, were you able to stop me?” he asked, citing his major lead over his rivals.
Back in December, Duterte infuriated the country’s church officials by delivering a vitriolic and obscenity-filled speech directed at the Pope. He later apologized, however.
Duterte, who served for over 22 years as the mayor of the city of Davao in the southern Philippines, has promised to wipe out crime within the first six months of his presidency.
The 71-year-old, who concentrated his campaign on law and order, is accused by rights groups of responsibility for the alleged mass execution of criminals during his mayoral term in Davao.
Duterte, who will take office on June 30, has been likened by the media in the Philippines to US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, who is known for his inappropriate demeanor.
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