Saycon: ‘Religion is never an issue in removing a president’

Pastor “Boy” Saycon. INQUIRER file photo / LYN RILLON

Pastor “Boy” Saycon, who is part of the four-member committee tasked to hold dialogues  with religious  leaders, has  expressed doubts that President Rodrigo Duterte could be ousted for his “stupid God” remark and his criticisms of the Catholic Church.

“[‘Yung] baka pagmulan ito ng pagkilos eh malayo pa ‘yun. Hindi mo maikukumpara (The possibility that this could start protests is still far. You cannot compare this) because religion is never an issue in removing a president. It was always corruption that removes the president,” Saycon said when asked in an interview over Radyo Inquirer on Thursday if Duterte’s remark could spark destabilization.

“Wala kang mabubutas about corruption sa kanya (You won’t be able to see corruption in him). It’s always the fulcrum of the people’s hatred – corruption, never about religion,” he said.

Saycon said he plans to meet the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines in the coming days to push forward in their conversations with the religious sector.

“Ako sa nakikita ko it’s about time really that the healing process begins. May kahirapan itong gagawin naming trabaho, hindi madali, pero sabi ko our God is a forgiving God,” he concluded.

(What I see is it’s about time really that the healing process begins. This job we will do is kind of hard, it’s not easy, but I said, our God is a forgiving God.)   /muf