President Rodrigo Duterte speaks at the PDP-Laban campaign rally in Batangas City on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo from a PTV video)
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said on Holy Wednesday that he believes in God and he fears karma.
“I assure you, I believe in God. And I’m also afraid of karma,” he said in his speech at the PDP-Laban campaign rally in Batangas City.
Without elaborating, the President said that he feared karma because it had already worked against him “twice over.”
In a speech in Cagayan province, just a day before, the President again criticized priests and mocked the Catholic Church and its teachings despite the advent of the Holy Week.
He also said that it would be “useless” for him to seek God’s forgiveness because he would only repeat his sins every day.
READ: Duterte says seeking God’s forgiveness ‘useless’ for unrepentant
The President has frequently drawn flak for mocking the clergy and teachings of the Catholic Church, the dominant religion in the Philippines.
He once sparked outrage for saying that God must have been stupid for letting temptation corrupt his work.
He also called the Catholic Church — whose leaders had been critical of his brutal drug war – “hypocritical.”
Born a Roman Catholic, the President said that he was just getting back at religious leaders who used the pulpit to criticize him.
/atm