Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani Jr. said on Thursday that he is willing to give President Rodrigo Duterte P10 million if the chief executive could prove that he has “two wives.”
In an interview over Radyo Veritas, Bacani asked where did the President obtain the information and said that he will even borrow money if “he can produce even just one wife of mine, I will give him five million pesos. and if he can produce two, he will have ten million.”
The Novaliches prelate said President Duterte should be careful of his words because he’s the president and even quoted a verse from the Bible that says that “the truth will set you free.”
“He’s a president and not just an ordinary gossipmonger and when that happens, he is degrading his leadership, the people will think lowly of a president who is a gossipmonger, with gossip that is not even true,” Bacani said.
Bacani is one of the four leaders of the Catholic Church who claimed that they will not stay silent against the government’s continues war campaign against illegal drugs because of the increasing human rights violations in the country and the rising number of deaths.
Bacani, together with Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said they can’t talk about mercy without talking about life itself.
Arguelles said the Church, with all its imperfections and weaknesses, will continue to teach the Gospel of life because they have a crucial role to play for their flock.
“Churchmen are not perfect. Nevertheless, they are supposed to proclaim what is right and proper even if they themselves fall short of what they teach,” the Lipa prelate said in a statement.
“The fault of some should not be blamed on all,” Arguelles added.
The archbishop was responding to President Rodrigo Duterte’s fresh attack on the Catholic hierarchy for criticizing his “war on drugs” which had claimed thousands of lives in nearly six months.
The recent 4th World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM 4) was dominated by talks on President Duterte’s war on drugs as cases of extrajudicial killings keep escalating.
Even if Duterte continue to unleash tirades on the bishops for criticizing his drug war, the prelates said they can’t stay silent in the face of increasing human rights violations in the country.
Arguelles compared the Church’s moral teachings to a sick doctor, who is still expected to cure the sick.
“Even a sick doctor must still try to cure ailments of others, and, of course, his, too,” said Arguelles.
But the prelate added that this should not be seen as the Church defending those who committed wrongdoings.
He said the Church is determined to police its ranks and will continue to express indignation and sanction erring priests.
“Bishops and priests, who hide serious misdeeds, are harming the Church by their infidelities. If anyone has concrete evidence of misdeed, the authorities better know it and clean the ranks,” said Arguelles.
For his part, Cardinal Cotabato admitted that he admires Duterte’s determination to end criminality in the country. “Those are good intentions,” but said the killings of suspected drug offenders and other lawbreakers without providing them due process of law is simply wrong.
Police data showed that more than 6,700 people have died in the government’s drug war.
“What kind of police force do we have that cannot catch the killers of 4,000 people? We ask that. And in the name of God’s mercy, we ask that,” Bacani said.
Meanwhile, Bishop Pabillo called for a for forceful denunciation of drug-related killings from the country’s Church leaders and from the faithful.
He said Christians should not be reined in by fear when confronting the crisis.
“If we are true to our call to be Church of the Poor, we cannot as Church keep silent on these issues,” said Pabillo, who chairs the bishops’ Commission on the Laity.
