Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson disagreed with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte when she appealed to the public not to take the words of her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, on the Bible’s creation story seriously.
Duterte insulted Christians in publicly condemning the Bible’s creation story and calling the religious and God “stupid.” He also called the Catholic Church, the religion of the majority of Filipinos, “full of shit.”
Following condemnations from church groups, his daughter said on Instagram:
“Please do not listen to him interpret the bible or quoran, he is not a priest, a pastor or an imam. He is the President, listen only when he speaks about his work. And criticize him on his work not on his ‘talkkalese.’ (sic)”
Lacson, who is supportive of many of the administration’s policies, did not think Sara’s advice is “applicable” since her father holds the highest position in land. The senator said that the older Duterte is bound to be listened to by the public.
In a statement Lacson released on Twitter, he said:
“When he talks, Filipinos listen for different reasons — some are waiting for his mistakes so they can have a field day criticizing him; others want to be informed, so they will learn and be guided by his policy statements; the rest may simply want to be entertained, and make their day.”
He added: “In any case, we all listen.”
The senator previously noted that any president succeeding Duterte would be “boring,” citing some of the latter’s decisions on crucial matters.
The president was also included in TIME Magazine’s list of contemporary strongmen last May, indicating that his influence has certifiably caught the international community’s attention as well.
