Don’t be a dictator, Duterte told

DAVAO CITY—As power may be intoxicating, do not “become a dictator” or “a monster.”

Ateneo de Davao president Fr. Joel Tabora offered this piece of unsolicited advice to presumptive President-elect Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, even as he expressed understanding of the longtime mayor’s unorthodox ways and foul language, and largely supported his challenging stance towards the Catholic Church.

In a press conference, Tabora, a prominent member of the clergy and highly regarded academic, said anyone—including Duterte and himself—could prove vulnerable to falling by the wayside if given absolute power.

The tough-talking mayor has been linked to death squads and is known for imposing strict edicts here as his anti-crime approach.  During the campaign, political adversaries had cautioned against Duterte’s tyrannical tendencies.

“I hope that he remains true to his word that he will respect the laws of the land, he will not work outside of the law, that he will not work with death squads on a national scale, and therefore become a dictator that in hubris and excess may become a monster,” Tabora said.

“Because once you feel you don’t need the law and you have so many followers, that power becomes very dangerous as we’ve seen in the past,” he said.

He was, however, tolerant of Duterte’s ways that had invited criticism from the Catholic hierarchy, saying his stance towards the Church is an opportunity for the hierarchy to reflect on itself.

“He’s saying I’m not a saint, but you’re not saints either. So I think he’s saying “I have a love for the poor, maybe instead of knocking me down, maybe we should work together. Because if you continue to knock me down, I’m going to knock you down. I’m going to knock you down more,” said Tabora.

Extolling Duterte as “clearly a man of the poor,” Tabora said the Church could take after his stance towards the impoverished.

“I think beyond the colorful words we get from Mayor Digong and his expletives, I think Digong has shown himself to be a man of the poor. I think that was what the people admired on him so greatly,” said Tabora, calling Duterte by his nickname.

“The message I think is that the poor, the excluded, the marginalized have to be taken seriously, and that the Church which proclaims itself to be the church of the poor may have fallen short of expectations in serving the needs of the poor,” he said.

Hypocritical institution

Duterte recently called the Catholic Church “the most hypocritical institution,” saying bishops were known for asking favors from politicians.  Duterte even taunted the Church hierarchy for his landslide victory despite their call not to vote for him.

He has also issued policy statements that run against Church dogma, including the reimposition of the death penalty and state-endorsed birth control.

Earlier in the campaign, Duterte had also cursed the Pope but later apologized.

Tabora said despite Duterte’s abrasive stance, the Church should look at supporting Duterte on “how can we best help each other to serve the poor, how can the Church under this circumstances complement the efforts of the President.”

He said the Church should listen to the people’s voice, considering that “a great number of people who voted for him are Catholics” despite the Church’s campaign against him.

“The hierarchy has to listen to this. What is the people of God saying in their choice of leader who was so very different from the bishops? So I think that this President is ushering in for us all who are Catholics a period of deep reflection on what we are saying about ourselves, and how we are actually implementing it,” Tabora said.

As to Duterte’s policy pronouncements, Tabora said his proposition for a three-child policy was merely “recommendatory.” On the revival of the death penalty, the priest expects the Church to fight it.

In Quezon province, a Franciscan priest from the Prelature of Infanta sided with Duterte in his  criticism of Church leaders in the country.

“What [Duterte] said about the Church and the poor is true and it is a very  powerful wake up call for the Philippine Church to implement what Pope  Francis asked last year,” Fr. Pete Montallana said on Tuesday.

Montallana, president of the environmental advocate, Save Sierra Madre  Network Alliance, hoped that Church leaders would look at Duterte’s criticism “as a call to be converted to the poor,”  in line with Pope Francis” call for the Church “to be a poor Church for the  poor.” With a report from Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon