(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte said he believes in God and that it was the god of the Catholic priests whom he did not believe.
Speaking to members of the Filipino community in Israel on Sunday, Sept. 2, the first day of his four-day visit in Israel, Duterte clarified earlier news reports that claimed he did not believe in God, apparently referring to his previous speeches where he had criticized Catholic priests for their sexual abuse cases and their alleged “hypocrisies.”
“Sinabi ko lang ayaw kong maniwala sa diyos mo,” he said referring to the Catholic clergy who had been critical of him.
“You know when you attack me in public, using God as a platform, picturing me as a devil, you open the issue to debate.”
The President said that he believes in the “Supreme God” as what he had been taught to him by his parents.
“Intriga lang yun, pulitika lang yan na hindi ako naniniwala sa Diyos.. .Those are politics,” he said.
Duterte also revealed that that he was so moved in his visit to Israel, the Holy Land. He is the first Philippinre president to visit Israel.
“Alam mo bihirang bihira ako umiiyak. I remember maybe the times that I cried when my father and mother died. But rare, Very rare. Ito lang ang bisita ko, na maybe I will do it again. I really do not know,” he said at the start of his talk to some 1,200 Filipinos who gathered inside the Ramada Hotel in Jerusalem on Sunday night, Sept. 2.
“Maybe because nandito rin ako sa Holy Land,” he said.
After his visit to Israel, the President will proceed to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan which is home to nearly 48,000 Filipinos. He is set to meet with King Abdullah II. His Jordan visit will be from September 6 to 8.