Palace to bishops: Shed ‘holier than thou’ attitude

Catholic Church officials in the Philippines invited blistering counterattacks from President Duterte when they criticized his war on drugs from their “moral high horse,” Malacañang said on Thursday.

Defending his antinarcotics campaign, the President said earlier this week that the Catholic Church in the Philippines was “full of shit” and accused priests of womanizing, corruption and other excesses.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said  instead of being antagonistic toward the President, Church officials could have sought a dialogue to air their concerns about the crackdown on the illegal drug trade, particularly the thousands killed in the campaign.

“While the government is open to criticism, I think it would appreciate it if it were not adversarial, coming from a moral high horse,” Abella said in a press briefing.

Abella said Mr. Duterte’s statements were “reactions” and “responses” to public criticisms from church officials.

“Basically what he is saying is,  ‘Hey, we are all sinners here, right?’” Abella said.

The government and the Church could work together, “but not from a place where somebody else is saying,  ‘I’m better than you,’ ‘I am holier than you,’” he said.

In one of his strongest accusations against a Catholic Church leader, Mr. Duterte said retired Novaliches Bishop Teodoro Bacani, one of his critics, has two wives.

In response, Bacani offered to give the President P5 million for each one he finds.

In an interview with the Catholic Church-run Radio Veritas on Thursday, the 77-year-old prelate said he would give the money to Duterte even if he had to borrow it.

“If the President could produce even just one wife of mine, I’ll give him P5 million. If he produces two wives, our President will have P10 million,” he said. “I’ve been accused of many things, but never of having a wife.”