Mr. Duterte and the Catholic Church: Can They Work Together?

By: Bob Boyer

 

Guess whose picture is on the front page of most recent (July 4-11, 2016) “America: the National Catholic Review,” the widely respected Jesuit publication in the U.S. Right: Rodrigo (‘Rody’) Duterte. That surprised me at first, but it shouldn’t have. When I was an exchange professor at UP Diliman in Quezon City, word had it that among the top choices for university were UP for Political Science, Santo Tomas for Medicine, and Ateneo de Manila for Law. In the Philippines the Jesuits call their schools Ateneos, “meeting places for learning.” There are Ateneos around the country, including Davao where Duterte served as mayor for twenty years.

I knew relatively little about Duterte. “America” I hoped would give me some insights. The author of the article, David T. Buckley, has recently completed a book, about to be published, called “The Religious Politics of Democracy in Ireland, Senegal, and the Philippines.” I figured he should know what he is talking about. He does. Here are some highlights.

First of all, I was delighted to read that “Mr. Duterte rejects comparisons with Donald Trump.” Buckly, however, is quick to add, “but there is at least a rhetorical resemblance.” In fact, Buckley entitles his article, “Duterte’s Tough Talk.” Another positive is that Duterte has received “enthusiastic” support from Protestant and Muslim leaders. Still, the majority religion is Catholic (80 percent), and the leaders of the Catholic Church, lay and clerical, have clashed with Mr. Duterte, notably the “Bishops- Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development.”

And there’s the problem. Buckley worries that if the Catholic Church and Duterte cannot resolve their differences and work together for the common good, the people will suffer. The divide is great. Duterte calls the Catholic leaders hypocritical and in league with the wealthy and the governing elites who are corrupt and have not shared the economic upswing of recent years with the masses.

For their part the Catholic leaders and some others have attacked Duterte for a range of issues (not just his “foul mouth”). They worry that Duterte will “undermine” the Church’s moral teachings. Clearly, however, the major issue, according to Buckley, is Duterte’s “ambiguous relationship with groups known as the Davao Death Squads during his two decades” as Mayor of Davao City. “From 1998 to 2015 the squads were responsible for the extrajudicial executions of 1,424 individuals, most of whom were young, poor and involved in the drug trade at low levels.” These executions have been documented by the head of “the bishops’ Committee on Basic Ecclesial Communities . . . in conjunction with human rights organizations.” They are not saying that Duterte authorized the Death Squads but that he could have stopped them. A U.N. report notes that “the Mayor of Davao City has done nothing to prevent these killings, and his public comments suggest that he is, in fact, supportive.”

Buckley fears that Catholic leaders may opt out of public life and that the Catholic Church may lose its strong voice for the people under Duterte. This would be “a loss to both the church’s mission and Philippine society.” He hopes, however that Catholics, lay and religious, adopt what Archbishop Villegas called “vigilant collaboration” with Duterte. Such a collaboration is necessary for three reasons: “preserving the institutions of democracy in the Philippines,” guarding against Duterte’s “troubling lack of respect for human life” (Buckley quoting Eleanor Dionisio, a Catholic sociologist), and “furthering peace and integral development of the island of Mindanao.” That final collaboration is one that Duterte can well champion with his connections with the Muslim communities of Mindanao.

Buckley concludes his article by recognizing Duterte’s popularity among the masses. He hopes that, like Pope Francis, Duterte “knows the smell of his sheep.” On the worrisome side, when I googled the “PhilStar Global” yesterday (Aug. 2, 2016), I encountered the following front page poll: “Duterte told the military to show surrendering criminals ‘no mercy.’ Do you agree? Click here to answer.” Not quite Francis’ message of mercy.

Contact Bob Boyer at Robert.boyer@snc.edu or <www.anamericaninmanila.com>.