The tirade of Du30 which included the sins and crimes of the Catholic clergy might be true but it does not justify in anyway the taking of innocent lives in the war against illegal drugs.
Du30 mentioned horrible crimes and sins like pedophilia, womanizing, etc., which, over the centuries had been levelled against people of the Catholic Church which apparently, up to now, were not squarely dealt with by Church officials. Protecting the clergy appeared to be the reaction whenever such accusations surface. Either the suspect clergy members were transferred to other stations or otherwise dealt with with mere slaps on the wrist.
And so very bad jokes are circulating, just the way they did for hundreds of years, one of which is that the Church builds orphanages to accommodate the children resulting from priests’ dalliances.
Du30 is of course not the first Philippine president to make an in-your-face accusation against the Catholic Church for its officials’ crimes and sins. The late President Ferdinand Marcos did it so many times in the 70s and early 80s. When he was being attacked by Catholic priests and bishops, he got back at them by saying things to the effect that if there was any failure in the running of Philippine society, it was the Catholic clergy who were the most guilty. Therefore, according to his logic, they did not have any right to point any of their fingers to him and his cronies.
This latest accusation of Du30 against the Church should drive home the fact that Church officials must face up to such accusations and do something about these. Running away from the issues without solving the root causes would make the controversies survive for many centuries more. They will fester and become even bigger until the institution, God forbids, becomes irrelevant.
So while a few think that Du30 might be a blessing to the country as he is now facing the illegal drug problem squarely, he might also be considered also a blessing to the Catholic Church.
God must really work in mysterious ways.**