By Genalyn Kabiling
President Duterte believes in God but does not want to be “saddled with religion.”
President Rodrigo Duterte (ALBERT ALCAIN / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The President, who previously lashed out at the Catholic Church for alleged abuses, this time argued that some church teachings are unacceptable to his "God-given common sense.”
“May Diyos po ako . I just don’t want to be saddled with religion. In a matter of a universal being there beyond the clouds elsewhere you look saan, it cannot be na walang Diyos ,” Duterte said during the TESDA event Tuesday.
"But it is not a religion that is tied to an organization or sometimes their ex cathedra or dogmas are simply not acceptable to my God-given common sense,” he added.
Duterte admitted that he has been at odds with some priests for a long time but has decided not to dwell on such conflict anymore.
"Well anyway, I will not dwell on it. That is something which is --- it’s either water under the bridge or in honor of my mother, I will just accept the things," he said. "Pero sabihin ko sa inyo, life is never fair," he added.
The President previously launched stinging rebuke of the Catholic Church after some bishops have criticized his brutal war on illegal drugs.
Duterte claimed the church was the most hypocritical institution in the country, accusing some priests of corruption and other abuses. He has called the god of his critics as stupid and questioned some church doctrines including the story of creation and the Holy Trinity.
In a recent television interview, Duterte said he considers himself a “deeply religious” man despite his conflict with some Catholic prelates. Duterte, educated in Catholic schools when he was young, said he considers the Bible as his "guiding light.”