Duterte ‘curses’ at Pope Francis, Lacierda fires back

PRESIDENTIAL aspirant and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte took a swipe at the Roman Catholic Church and even cursed Pope Francis in jest.

During his proclamation as the official standard-bearer of Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) on Monday, Duterte said that the Catholic Church should institute reforms.

“The Roman Catholic Church must reform to prevent it from being extinct,” Duterte said.

He said that he is not afraid to air his thoughts against the Church because he is not deterred from losing votes.

“Yung ibang presidente takot kasi kapag nagkampanya ang mga pari, talo na sila,” he added.

On the Church’s stance against population control, the tough-talking mayor said that the Philippines must control its population.

“I would like to challenge them. The Philippines needs to reduce its population because our resource have decreased,” Duterte said.

He even cursed at Pope Francis because of the inconvenience his visit brought to travelers last January.

He said that it took him five hours to get to the airport.

“Sabi ko, ‘Bakit?’ Sabi sarado na [ang daan]. Sabi ko, ‘Sinong darating?’ Sabi si Pope. Gusto kong tawagan, ‘Pope, p——- ka, umuwi ka na. ‘Wag ka nang bumisita dito,” he said in jest.

Not everyone was amused with the expletive spewed by Duterte against Pope Francis, though.

On his Twitter account, Palace presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said: “Mayor Duterte, you can say all you want about politicians but you don’t  curse my Pope Francis! #defendthepope”