Malacanang said on Saturday President Rodrigo Duterte was expressing his "sentiments against some Church leaders who are living in luxury, contrary to their teachings,"

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte was stressing ''the failure of some bishops to empathize with the poverty-stricken masses while they are living comfortably in their rectories.''

"If only these detractors do not turn a blind eye to the context of the President's speeches and momentarily suspend their incorrigible biases, they will be one with the majority of the Filipinos in comprehending what the president means," Panelo said.

Panelo made the statement after the some church officials criticized Duterte's latest remarks.

He said Duterte ''respects the Christian faith'' as shown by the signing of Republic Act No. 11163 or the National Bible Day Act. The act aims to recognize the value of the Holy Bible "as the core of Christian faith, and of its reading, as a communion between Christians and their Creator."

Panelo also mentioned Duterte's message "where he joined all Filipino Catholics and devotees of the Black Nazarene in commemorating the annual Translacion.''

He said Duterte's acknowledgement ''on the importance of religion and his belief towards the Divine and Black Nazarene, it becomes the duty of the President to subject some of (the Church's) leaders on their hypocritical practices, especially so when some of them commenced the adverse narratives against him using the pulpit and even wishing the president's demise."

"The president shows that he recognizes the fundamental role of religion in the lives of the Filipino, all with its rich cultural, social and ethnic diversity," Panelo said.

"If the men of the cloth can unleash tirades against the president then they should be able to receive some lashes from him to return the favor," he added. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS