Some church leaders may be conniving with Reds to oust Duterte—Roque

(Updated at 7:46 p.m.) Some church officials could be conniving with the communist rebels to oust President Rodrigo Duterte, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday.

“Baka marami nga sa kanila (Catholic Church leaders) eh hindi nila tatanggapin si Presidente. Kaya nga hindi malayo na magkaisa ‘yung ilan sa kanila diyan sa CPP-NPA na patalsikin si Presidente Duterte,” Roque said in a press briefing in Maassin, Leyte.

(There may be a lot of them who won’t accept the President. That’s why it’s not impossible that some of them may join with the CPP-NPA to oust President Duterte.)

He said the criticisms of the Church against Duterte started in 2016 after their preferred presidential candidate did not win.

He, however, did not identify the candidate.

“Alam niyo naman talaga ‘yung patutsada ng Simbahan, eh nagsimula naman ‘yon nung natalo ‘yung kandidato nila noong eleksyon. Tapatan na, Kristiyano naman tayo, bakit pa tayo magpapaligoy-ligoy. Marami po talaga sa Simabahan hindi matanggap na ‘yung kandidato nila talunan,” he said.

(You know the Church’s criticisms, these started when their candidate lost the elections. Let’s be straight to the point, we’re all Christians, why should we beat around the bush? There are a lot of people in the Church who can’t accept that their candidate lost.)

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) had earlier denied that the Church was involved in any destabilization plot against the President.

READ: No destabilization plot, say bishops

“There is no truth to that, definitely not true,” said Imus Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista, chair of the public affairs committee of the CBCP.

However, in a statement hours after his briefing, Roque clarified his statement, saying his remarks were “taken out of context by some news outlets.”

“The transcript will bear me out that what I was in fact saying is that I am not discounting the possibility that in the near future some religious leaders might join the clamor for the President’s ouster,” he said.

“I was not talking about the Church in general but only referring to those members of the Church who remain unhappy with the election of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” he added.

The Palace official said he was disturbed and disappointed that his statement was taken out of context.

“I take it that the members of our Fourth Estate are well aware of their sacred responsibility to always report the truth and to practice responsible journalism,” he said.

“On this note, I express my deep disturbance and disappointment that my statement was taken out of context and it was dangerously presumed that I was implying a ‘connivance’ between the Church and the communist group to overthrow the duly constituted government,” he added. /je