Offer of vigilant collaboration with ‘Duterte Harry’

An offer of “vigilant collaboration” has been made to the maverick new Filipino President, Rodrigo Duterte (pictured right), by the head of the Philippines Bishops’ Conference.

“We will urge our people to work with the Government for the good of all, and we shall continue to be vigilant so that every so often we may speak out to teach and to prophesy, to admonish and to correct – for this is our vocation,” a post-election statement signed by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas of Lingayen Dagupan said.

Fr Edu Gariguez, Executive Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference National Secretariat for Social Action, said last weekend: “ I am hopeful that the new administration will bring some much-needed change, although we need to ensure that the new president will pursue the pro-people agenda that he is espousing.”

 He told The Tablet that “Duterte has the support of the masses who are dreaming the Government will take on their issues and bring decisive reforms.”

If the bishops are reeling from the election of the 71-year-old mayor of Davao City on the southern island of Mindanao, they are also being pragmatic about having to collaborate with a man whose landslide on 9 May was as huge as it was surprising. Relations between Mr Duterte and the country’s powerful Catholic Church have a history of tension. As mayor of Davao, Duterte – nicknamed “Duterte Harry” or “the Punisher” – supported extrajudicial killings of alleged criminals by death squads. Before the election, Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao, implied that Duterte propagated a “culture of death”.

Known for his hot temper, Duterte cursed Pope Francis last year when his car became clogged in traffic during the papal visit, and drew horrified criticism when he said in a campaign speech that he should have been first to rape Jacqueline Hamill, an Australian Pentecostal missionary who was gang-raped and murdered during a 1989 prison riot in Davao.

Yet, during the election campaign, the Catholic bishops did not endorse or reject any candidate, although in a pre-election statement on 1 May they did advise voters to desist from “supporting a candidate whose speech and actions ... show scant regard for the rights of all, who has openly declared indifference if not dislike for the Church, especially her moral teachings”. It is likely the bishops failed to see Duterte as a serious candidate until a late stage in the election.

Duterte’s success has been put down to the frustration felt by millions of Filipinos over the way that a handful of families control almost all of the country’s wealth, and to the fact that a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. One church source told The Tablet that “the angry voters of 2016 identified with Duterte’s unorthodox manner ...  and bragging that he will fill Manila bay with corpses of corrupt people and criminals”.  

At campaign rallies, Duterte mocked privileged politicians, promising to punish corrupt legislators, spread prosperity and end the domination of “imperial Manila”. The message went down well with millions of ordinary Filipinos who could not wait any longer for the country’s economic growth to “trickle down” to them.

Two priests who have expressed public concerns about Duterte include Redemptorist Fr Amado Picardal who heads the bishops’ commission for basic ecclesial communities. Fearing “dark prospects” for The Philippines, he says Duterte “has been accused of being a criminal and as corrupt as other politicians”. Columban missionary Fr Shay Cullen said during death squad activity in Davao 132 children were among over 1,000 victims. He hoped that “as president, Duterte will follow the rule of law, and respect human rights and the constitution”.  

President-elect Duterte is now talking of building bridges with the Church, including travelling to Rome to meet Pope Francis. He is to be sworn into office on 30 June for a six-year term.