MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, November 1, the day of the Catholic “All Saints’ Day,” joked that Christians should take a picture of him and display it on an altar instead of celebrating “drunkard” saints.
The hugely popular Duterte has repeatedly locked horns with the Church — which has a significant political and social clout in the predominantly Catholic Philippines — amid mounting deaths in the government’s bloody war on drugs.
In what could be his latest verbal attack against the Catholic faith, Duterte said in jest that the Church should just recognize him as a patron saint and stop observing the All Saints’ Day.
The firebrand leader made the remarks during the situation briefing in Isabela province after Typhoon Rosita (international name: Yutu) battered northern Luzon early this week.
“These f*cking Catholics, why do they observe All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day? We don’t even know who those saints are. Who are those stupid saints? They’re just drunkards,” Duterte said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“Just stay with me. I’ll give you one patron saint so you can stop searching for one. Get hold of a picture of mine and put it on the altar — Santo Rodrigo,” he added.
Duterte, who is known for his crude language, earlier sparked public outrage in Asia’s biggest Catholic nation after he called the Christian God a “stupid son of a bitch” for creating Adam and Eve only to allow their purity to be destroyed by temptation.
Amid simmering backlash, Duterte vowed to immediately resign if Christians can prove that their God exists through a selfie. He later issued a public apology and told religious workers to “never use the name of God as a front to attack government.” — Ian Nicolas Cigaral