Duterte ‘stupid’ rant targets theologians, not God: Panelo

President Rodrigo Duterte was criticizing theologians, not God, when he found fault in the

Bible’s creation story, his chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo said Tuesday.

Duterte on Saturday questioned why God allowed his “perfect” creation to be ruined by letting

Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit.

“Who is this stupid God? Estupido talaga itong p***** i** kung ganun. You created some — something

perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work,” he said in a speech.

Panelo said the account of creation was a brainchild of scholars, not God himself.

“It’s not God who gave us the story. This hypothesis of creation is made by scholars of the Bible, not

God himself. He didn’t descend and reveal to us this is my hypothesis of your creation,” he said in an ANC meet.

Duterte’s remark an assault on the Catholic Church

“When he was asking, ‘Who is this inept God?’, he was really alluding to the individuals who pushed

or clarified the hypothesis of creation, and that alludes to the authors of the Bible and in addition

the scholars,” he included.

Nor was Duterte’s remark an assault on the Catholic Church, said Panelo.

“When you question one’s hypothesis of a specific gathering, you don’t assault, you are simply

scrutinizing the rationale. He needs clarification, at that point it’s for that religion to clarify that idea,” he said.

The President, he included, “isn’t against the establishment, he is against the corrupt and tricky pastorate.”

Duterte and the Catholic chain of command in the Philippines have been exchanging reactions since

the decision time frame in 2016.

The previous Davao City chairman has blamed the Church for being the most two-faced organization.

A few individuals from the pastorate, including Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, have decried the organization’s bleeding war against unlawful medications. The administration has demanded that it doesn’t support killings.