President Rodrigo Duterte visits the tomb of his parents at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Davao City on November 1, 2018. PHOTOS by Christopher “Bong” Go
President Rodrigo Duterte made fun on Thursday of the Catholic celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in the country.
“Happy All Saints’…Bakit naman…tarantado talaga itong mga Katoliko ang puta, bakit ba may All Souls’ Day at All Saints’ Day?” Duterte asked during a post-disaster command conference in Isabela.
(Happy All Saints’ Day. Why do we have to…these Catholics are fools, why do we have this All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day?)
“Hindi natin alam kung sino mga santo na ‘yun. Mga gago na iyon, mga lasenggo. Dito na lang kayo. I’ll give you a patron. Get hold of a picture of mine, iyan lagay niyo sa altar, Santo Rodrigo,” he said.
(We don’t even know who those saints are. Those are fools, drunkards. Just stay here with me. I’ll give you a patron. Get hold of a picture of mine. Put that in the altar, Santo Rodrigo.)
The President’s remarks came on the same day Malacañang issued his message for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, calling on Filipinos for a “solemn and meaningful” celebration” and urging the public to “emulate our saints.”
READ: Duterte urges Filipinos to help ‘alleviate the suffering of others’
“Together, let us emulate our saints, pray for the eternal repose of souls and deepen our engagement with our communities as we work for real and lasting change,” he said in his message.
Earlier during the post-disaster briefing, Duterte said everyone has “obligations to the dead.”
“It’s practically part of the culture but more than that, it’s something that’s very important for us to commune with our ancestors,” he said.
Duterte was previously under fire for calling God “stupid” and for questioning the creation story in the bible. /ee