MANILA – Sen. Leila de Lima finds it suspect that President Rodrigo Duterte distributed copies of “Altar of Secrets” to overseas Filipino workers in South Korea.
Authored by the late veteran journalist Aries Rufo, the book published in 2013 exposes alleged abuses committed by Filipino bishops and priests under the Catholic Church.
Calling it “highly suspicious,” de Lima believes the distribution of the copies of the book was “aimed at discrediting it (Catholic Church) and besmirching the reputation of its clergy.”
By giving out a book about alleged corruption in the Church as an official gift to Filipino workers abroad the President was being “maliciously and recklessly incendiary,” she said.
“It is obvious that he wants to undermine the very institution that continues to speak out against injustices happening in this country, as well as prompt the citizenry to form negative opinions against the Church,” de Lima added.
As part of his three-day official visit to South Korea Duterte on June 3 distributed copies of “Altar of Secrets” to overseas Filipino workers in exchange for a kiss on the lips.
This was not the first time Duterte encouraged the public to read the book.
In a January 2017 speech, he promoted the book as he accused Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani, former head of the Diocese of Novaliches, for having two wives.
According to de Lima, Duterte was “willing to go the extra mile if it means destroying the people and institutions that remain critical of his administration.”
She also described the President’s kissing of a married Filipina in South Korea as “very un-presidential” and “sickening.”
“To defend his act of machismo, Duterte referred to the kiss as something that should not be taken seriously because, according to him, it was ‘just a gimmick to make the people happy,’” she said./PN
