Following the concerns raised by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle that priests have been receiving death threats from people claiming to be working for the presidential family, President Rodrigo Duterte warned impostors to stop it or face him.
He made the statement remark during the campaign rally of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan in Cebu City on Sunday night.
“Either Muslims or Christians, they have nothing to do with us. Do not do it. Do not try to do it. Religious [leaders] have nothing to do with the vagaries of life. Lay off! Stop threatening them or you’ll have to face me,” Duterte said.
Meanwhile, Duterte on Sunday also said Catholic priests, even those who are gay, should be allowed to marry.
“Priests should be allowed to marry. That’s the only solution there,” Duterte said during the distribution of cash grants in Cebu.
”Even the gay ones, allow them to marry, same-sex marriage. I am in favor of that so the problem will end.”
Duterte cautioned the impostors using his name and urged them to leave the religious leaders alone since they had “nothing to do with politics.”
“The moment you touch nuns, priests or Imam…don’t touch them. Those are religious people,” he said.
Duterte read to the public the message he received from Tagle about some priests receiving death threats.
“Good day po, greetings from Rome,” Tagle said in his message.
“I was informed that Bishop David and some priests got death threats from someone claiming to be working for the President’s family. Just to let you know. Perhaps someone is trying to damage the President’s reputation. Thanks, we pray.”
Tagle is in Rome to attend the recently-concluded four-day Vatican summit on sex abuse by priests.
Duterte said former Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go had also assured Tagle that the administration had no hand in sending those death threats.
“There is no such thing, Cardinal. Thank you. Just to let you know that there are persons using the name of the President and his family,” Duterte said.
Meanwhile, Duterte reiterated his accomplishments halfway through his term, including a “harsher” drug war.
He also thanked the Cebuanos for helping him garner more than a million votes in the 2016 presidential election and urged them to support PDP-Laban’s candidates in the midterm elections.