Philippine president slammed for calling God 'stupid'

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Philippine president slammed for calling God 'stupid'

2018-06-26 11:27 Last Updated At：11:27

The Philippine president, notorious for having cursed the pope and world leaders like former U.S. President Barack Obama, has sparked new outrage by calling God "stupid" in Asia's largest Catholic country.

Opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV shot back Monday by describing President Rodrigo Duterte as "one evil man" and his remarks as "very much consistent with the deceitfulness, heartlessness and ruthlessness of his policies." Even some of Duterte's political allies were critical.

A Catholic Bishop, Arturo Bastes, called the president a "madman" and urged Filipinos to pray for an end to Duterte's "blasphemous utterances and dictatorial tendencies."

"Duterte's tirade against God and the Bible reveals again that he is a psychological freak, a psychopath, an abnormal mind who should have not been elected as president of our civilized and Christian nation," Bastes said.

Another bishop, Ruperto Santos, said the president had crossed a line.

Duterte questioned in a televised speech Friday the Biblical story of man's creation and asked why God created Adam and Eve only to allow them to succumb to temptation that destroyed their purity.

"Who is this stupid God? This son of a bitch is then really stupid," said the 73-year-old leader, known for his rambling public statements. "How can you rationalize a God? Do you believe?"

Duterte lamented that Adam and Eve's sin in Christian theology resulted in all the faithful falling from divine grace. "You were not involved but now you're stained with an original sins ... What kind of a religion is that? That's what I can't accept, very stupid proposition," he said.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief, said he has often backed Duterte's policies, but after the president's utterances against God "to whom I pray every single day and with whom I've found solace and comfort in all my difficult times, I don't even have to think of my choice."

"May my God forgive him and make him atone for all his sins," Lacson said.

Duterte's spokesman defended his remarks, saying the president has the right to express his opinion on religion and cited his previous disclosure that he was once sexually abused as a student by a priest.

Duterte stressed that right in another speech Monday. "Why do you bind me with something very stupid? I was given my own mind by God."

Duterte shocked Filipino Catholics in 2015 when he cursed visiting Pope Francis for having triggered a monstrous traffic in Manila. He later apologized, but has repeatedly lashed out at bishops and the dominant Catholic church, which has criticized his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs.

Obama, who also raised alarm over the drug killings under Duterte, was also a target of the Philippine leader's tongue-lashing. He once said the American leader should "to go to hell."

The former longtime city mayor has repeatedly declared he does not care about human rights and has threatened drug dealers and other criminals with death. He warned he would withdraw the Philippines from the United Nations after its human rights experts called for an independent investigation into extrajudicial killings under his rule. He described the world body as hypocritical for failing to prevent genocides worldwide.

Panama's new president-elect, José Raúl Mulino, was a late entry in the race

2024-05-06 19:50 Last Updated At：20:00

PANAMA CITY (AP) — José Raúl Mulino said he was practically retired from politics just over six months ago.

Now, he’ll be Panama’s president for the next five years.

Standing before a pack of supporters Sunday night, Mulino said: “I never imagined this.”

In a historic and tumultuous election, preliminary results put Mulino on top to lead the normally sleepy Central American nation through a moment of political tension, historic migration and a struggling economy.

The 64-year-old lawyer, whose last position in politics was as minister of security in then President Ricardo Martinelli's 2009-2014 administration, was initially tapped by the popular former leader to be his running mate after Martinelli’s wife declined.

But then Martinelli was disqualified from running after he was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for a money laundering conviction. Mulino took his place, and ended up winning Sunday’s presidential election with 35% of the vote and a nine-point lead over his nearest opponent after dodging constitutional challenges to his own candidacy.

The president-elect got there with strong support from Martinelli, arguably the most important tool in Mulino’s campaign as he rode the fiery ex-leader’s popularity to victory.

While he lacks Martinelli’s charisma, the economic boom seen under his ally pushed many voters to support Mulino at a time that Panama’s economy has lagged.

The former president, who has been sheltering in the Nicaraguan Embassy since February after receiving political asylum, said his trust for Mulino dates back 30 years.

“Mulino seems a little tough, but he is a good guy, serious, and is the only one prepared to take on this great challenge and knows how the economy works to lift the country,” Martinelli said in a video broadcast to supporters at Mulino’s campaign close.

A maritime law attorney who graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans, Mulino became known as a private business leader who took part in a civil movement against the dictatorship of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, who was ousted by an American invasion on Dec. 20, 1989.

He acted as vice minister of foreign affairs in the 1989-1994 administration of President Guillermo Endara, who took office after the fall of Noriega and the end of the Panamanian military regime. Mulino later remained in charge of the country’s international policy in the last part of that administration.

Mulino remained active in politics and more than a decade later backed Martinelli in the election that the supermarket magnate won in 2009. Mulino was appointed minister of the interior and justice, later taking the reins of the public security office.

Mulino says one of the achievements during that time was to “recover” a swath of Panama on the border with Colombia, known as the Darien Gap, which “was in the hands of the narco-guerrillas” of the neighboring country.

As president, he has promised to stop soaring levels of migration through the Darien jungles, where more than a half million people crossed last year, though experts question the viability of his plan due to the sheer quantities of vulnerable people traveling through the passage.

“I will make the effort to end this migratory crisis in our territory with respect for human rights and with sincere international participation,” Mulino said at the closing of his campaign last week.

As security minister, he was also the target of harsh criticisms following police repression of a protest of Indigenous banana growers in the northern provinces of Bocas del Toro and Chiriqui in 2010. The crackdown left two dead and more than 100 injured by pellet shots, among them some with eye injuries.

“He was quite severe in controlling social protests,” Panamanian political analyst Rodrigo Noriega told The Associated Press before the election. “There are a lot of unknowns about him.”