By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS
PRESIDENT Duterte finally hit the highest target: God.
After taking on the holiest of the living figures – Pope Francis; the president of the world’s superpower – U.S. President Barack Obama; and the Secretary General of the United Nations – Ban Ki Moon, he had ran out of adversaries.
The leader voted by “the National Aeronautic and Space Administration as the best president in the solar system”- a title Duterte fanatics applauded and shared in social media, went beyond earthly realm and questioned the existence of God.
This happened last Monday in Malacañang during the induction of the Malacañang Press Corps, Malacañang Cameramen Association, and Presidential Photojournalists Association.
As usual, he talked about the flak that he was getting because of his war against illegal drugs.
He shared his observation that Filipinos do not seem to fear the law. That’s why, he said, he wants the death penalty restored.
Death penalty was abolished under the 1987 Philippine Constitution written after the ouster of strongman Ferdinand Marcos. It was restored during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos, a former military officer.
The first and only execution under the restored law was under the administration of Joseph Estrada, a former movie actor who played toughie roles on screen.
Executed was a house painter, Leo Echegaray, convicted for raping and killing his 10-year old stepdaughter.
Death penalty was suspended by President Gloria Arroyo in 2006.
Duterte said death penalty was not effective as a deterrent to crime because it was not imposed. “Every president along the way would just say: one, because of the Catholic Church; second, the bleeding hearts, because only God can kill.”
He said he has a problem with that argument: “ Ang problema niyan, I ask you, what if there is no God? So you allow the criminals, and yet because there is a God in all… karamihan sa atin dito, eh ngayon kung walang Diyos and we are here in this Earth, in this planet supposedly made by God? So where is now God? “
He cited the case of an 18- month- old baby “taken from the mother’s arm, brought under a jeep and raped and killed.”
“So, where is God?” he asked.
He didn’t say where the incident happened. He cited the atrocities committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“So, where is God? My God, where are you? I believe in God, but that is my perpetual question to him. Where were you when we needed you?” Duterte lamented.
He further said, “It’s not enough to say, at the end of the day, at the end of the world, He shall come to judge the living and the dead. What will be the purpose of all of that, if the heartache, sorrows and agony have already been inflicted upon the human beings in this world?
He remarked about the general attitude of Filipinos that, “Ganoon ang buhay – that everything begins and ends with God. So therefore God knew at that time when he created this planet that these things will happen. “
Like many Christians, my faith in God includes not being able to fathom his design for this world. Like why did you give us President Rodrigo Duterte?
