Duterte said he is willing to free all political prisoners as long as they will deal in good faith, “I am offering my hand on this in good faith, I do not have agenda, so do not fool me”. About 80 percent of Filipinos belong to the Catholic church.
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Mr Duterte did not say what the bishops had wanted from him.
Duterte then described Filipino bishops as “sons of whores”, as he accused them of being corrupt hypocrites and vowed to expose their “sins”. You ask so many favours, even from me. “The Catholic Church”, he said.
He accused the bishops of asking for money from the government, saying it was another form of corruption.
That the Church is the “most hypocritical institution” in the Philippines.
“Look, were you able to stop me?”
Bishops had assailed him for calling the pope “a son of a whore” and, in April, for joking about raping an Australian missionary woman who was raped and killed in a prison riot in 1989.
He said Duterte’s government was expected to clash more with the Catholic Church not only on population issues, but on the restoration of death penalty, legalization of divorce and planned distribution of contraceptives.
Although Duterte was baptized a Catholic, his spiritual adviser is Apollo Quiboloy, head of “the Kingdom of Jesus Christ”, a non-Catholic religious group based in the southern city of Davao. (His father, former governor of Davao, apparently ignored it or did not believe it because until recently, Duterte did not talk about the actions taken by his prominent family in response-if what he claims is true). He defied conventional political wisdom with his huge win in the presidential elections, after an incendiary campaign that saw his popularity surge on threats to kill tens of thousands of criminals and vulgar tirades against establishment figures.
Until a day before his inauguration as president on June 30, Duterte said he would continue to publicly disclose “the sins of the Catholic church and whether or not you are still relevant”, promising to be more circumspect after his proclamation.
“Medicinal marijuana – yes, because it is really an ingredient of medicine now”, Duterte told reporters in a press conference. I decide for myself.
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Duterte said he would do it as part of confidence-building measures in an effort to finally find a solution to a conflict that has adversely affected the country for decades.
