Church-Duterte ceasefire a two-way street – Palace

If the Catholic Church wants a ceasefire with President Rodrigo Duterte to stop his tirades against the church, it should understand that it’s a two-way street, Malacañang says.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that men of the cloth could not expect the President to keep silent because he was only responding to the church’s criticisms.

“It’s not just the President who should be told, that as we hold this dialogue, there should be a ceasefire. It should also be told to some leading Church leaders as well,” Roque said in a press briefing in which he confirmed that the President would meet with Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles in Malacañang on July 9.

The dialogues were an offshoot of the President’s remarks against God which have earned him the ire of religious groups.

Roque said that in the past two years, the President had taken the Church’s criticisms of his ways and policies in stride.

He cited Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo’s recent statement that God did not ordain the President to lead the country.

“I think it’s always bilateral. If there’s going to be cessation of hostile language, I think it has to be from both institutions,” Roque said. —Julie M. Aurelio