Unshaken by a blessing from Pope Francis, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has hit back at priests and bishops critical of his war on drugs, accusing clergymen of homosexuality, child molesting, hypocrisy and corruption. “You asked for it,” he said.
“You expose me, fine. I expose you. Why? When you commit mistakes it’s OK, but when we do, no? Bullshit. That’s stupid,” the president said during a speech to newly-promoted police officers at Malacañan on Thursday.
Duterte, who revealed in 2015 that he was molested by a priest when he was young in an act of “sexual awakening,” but did not file a complaint for fear of “what would happen,” said Catholic priests had their skeletons in the closet.
“You asked for it. If you want a showdown, then let’s have a showdown. You mend your ways. If you cannot even give justice to the small boys that you have molested in the past, you do not have that moral ascendancy to lecture [me] on what to do. Sanctity of life? You’re enjoying your worth,” he said, as quoted by The Philippine Star.
“When we were young, I talked to cabinet members. When we were making confessions to you, we were being molested,” he added.
As if this wasn’t enough, Duterte mentioning alleged homosexual acts taking place inside seminaries.
“What will you do with the homosexuality in your seminaries? What have you done to the children there?… Mga le**e kayo [You fools],” he said.
“You are in palaces while your faithful are in squatters areas and then you talk about sanctity? Look at your mirror.
“What is your moral ascendancy in the Philippines? Religion? What is the meaning of it? You do not help us. You just keep on talking,” he added in Tagalog.
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