That Duterte is a demon disguised as a human being, who brings out the worst in people leading to the ruin of their souls, is a subject of much discussion among Catholics. That he appears to be demented and cursed with an uncontrollable profanity-laced mouth, which generates awe, anger, and opposition, is also much discussed.
The evil spirit expresses itself by using Duterte’s mouth to spew out abominations, curses, and mockeries against God. No amount of twisting, cover-ups, denials, and alterations by his apologists and propagandists can change what Duterte meant against God and Catholics. He will not apologize for his statements because he cannot. He is unable to control his mouth to hide dark secrets because he is cursed to reveal his alliance with the Devil. This is beyond his control.
God so loves the Filipino people that in this very important time in history, He is exposing Duterte and enabling them to see the full reality of the existence of the Devil. By exposing Duterte’s connection to Satan — the enemy of Jesus Christ and their enemy who craves and lusts for the possession of souls — God is giving all men and women the opportunity to save their souls. By praying to our Lord Jesus Christ and to our Blessed Mother, who is designated from the beginning of time to destroy and crush the head of Satan, those steadfast in their fidelity to God will prevail.
INQUIRER FILE/Ariel Endaya
Satan succeeds when he is able to convince men and women that he is not a reality and that he does not exists. He smiles when people think of him as a mere subject of jokes and figment of their imagination.
The Devil’s existence is a fact. Jesus Christ Himself and sincere Catholics affirm his reality. Jesus was tempted three times in the wilderness by Satan and thrice He rejected him. In his masses and talks, Pope Francis tells us that the devil is a reality, “a personal being who assails us.”
He adds: “We should not think of the Devil as a myth, a representation, a symbol, a figure of speech or an idea. This mistake would leave us to let down our guard, to grow careless and end up more vulnerable.” We need to be always aware of his enmity and hatred for God and for us.
The murders of over 21,000 people under Duterte is a manifestation of demonic activity. The undeniable reality is that they would still be alive if Duterte had not been president. The legal principle res ipsa loquitorclearly applies here, which means “The thing speaks for itself.”
The 56% popularity rating of Duterte among unthinking, zombied Filipinos despite the thousands he has murdered and the constant lies he spews reflects the grave danger he poses to millions of Filipino souls. Those who identify themselves as Catholics, when their thoughts, words and deeds betray and show that they are not, should be alerted to the very real danger of losing their souls. They cooperate with the Devil when they give their seal of approval to Duterte’s serial murders, his constant lies, and filthy mouth and when they applaud his demonic policies with their smiles.
Only Satan himself and his demons hurl all kinds of profanities, insults, and mockeries against God. People who express their approval or just remain silent about Duterte’s thousands of extrajudicial killings and constant lies, or who express their sentiments in the polls or in private are siding with the Demon and against God.
Being a true Catholic, sincerely loving God above everything else, obeying His command to love one’s fellowmen and showing respect for human life, is irreconcilable with supporting Duterte’s serial murders and deceitful policies. Neither are his hateful insults and mockery of God reconcilable with the love and honor which we rightly give to our Lord.
We cannot have it both ways. You either choose Duterte and be on the Devil’s side, or you choose to sincerely be on God’s side, committed to what is true and good, showing love to our fellowmen and helping and protecting them when needed.
God will judge us according to the free choices we have made. Good and evil are irreconcilable realities. Love is not the same as hate. In the end, the goats will be separated from the sheep. God cannot be a brother to Satan. Division is inevitable.
God is giving Catholics a choice. Choose God, choose Jesus Christ, or choose the Devil and lose your souls. This very serious matter involves a choice and we cannot avoid it. Ignoring it is a decision for the Devil.
As Catholics sincerely seeking to love God and fellowmen, the war we are in is between good and evil. It’s not about politics because good and evil are found in all political parties. From our Lord Jesus Christ Himself:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
With his deceptions, his use of violence, fear, money, and power to draw people to him, Duterte now controls the majority in Congress, the Supreme Court, and people in the various levels of the Executive Branch. He controls the police and military who do the killings for him.
Look at the quality of the characters of those in government and in the private sector that have allied with Duterte and clearly see their intellectual and moral dishonesty. You can instantly sense that they are not on the side of God no matter how much they pretend to be. They are not there for the people or for God but for themselves. They are not even there for love of Duterte but for the advantages they can get from him and because of fear. They defend Duterte and cover up for his lies. They will be the first to abandon him when he is no longer useful.
Pity these poor creatures who exchange worldly illusions of power, money, security for their souls. All will amount to naught when one’s life on this planet is over. But if we remain faithful to God to the very end even at the risk of our lives, the ultimate victory is ours. We will be with God forever.
The illusion that is Duterte is nothing and his time is almost over. What really counts in the ultimate end is the salvation of our souls. Fear nothing. Trust completely in God’s love and mercy.
———o———
Fear is an effective weapon. To silence his critics and opponents and to keep them under his control, Duterte kills thousands of people, using policemen and military elements and those disguised as vigilantes. He advises his killers to plant guns on victims to make it look that they were fighting back.
One sector that Duterte finds difficult or even impossible to intimidate and silence are those sincere Catholics and Christians courageously committed to God’s truth and righteousness even at the risk of their security and lives. He now seeks to silence them by using the same fear- inducing methods of murder, harassment, and intimidation. Expect more priests and committed Catholics to be killed and harassed in the attempt to silence them. Many will face martyrdom.
Recently, he personally targeted for deportation a frail 71-year-old missionary nun who has been working with poor farmers in the Philippines for 28 years now. He fears this kind of people even if they may be frail and old because they are willing to expose his demonic alliance without fear. He ordered her arrested and deportation, but her lawyers are doing what they can to assert her due process rights. Whether or not the Bureau of Immigration will renew or cancel her missionary license this September is at this point uncertain. She has done nothing that is in violation of her Constitutional free speech rights. The widespread national and international protests to prevent her deportation has held off deportation, pending her court hearing.
Fr. Richard Nilo, Fr. Mark Anthony Ventura, and Father Marcelito Paez. These three priests who have been gunned down and murdered since Duterte sat in office have one thing in common: They are all outspoken critics of Duterte.
Duterte has openly waged war against Catholics and our God. He has openly mocked and insulted God calling Him stupid, cursing Him with “putanginas” and saying that the Catholic God will kneel before him. He refers to the apostles of Jesus Christ, who sat with Him in the last supper and died as martyrs, as fictitious saints. He has initiated this war against the Catholic Church whose founder is Jesus Christ. The outcome is predictable: Satan and Duterte will lose. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Catholic Church.
Duterte says that his god is superior to the Catholic God. He does not reveal who he considers his god. But he cannot hide his hatred for the Catholic God, which reveals that his other god can only be Satan. Prior to becoming president in 2016, Duterte already exhibited demonic manifestations and proclaimed: “God will weep if I become president.”
Duterte has generated much emotional heated reaction and anger among Catholics whom he cursed and their God whom he insulted and mocked. Many understandably are inclined to fight fire with fire. They know that thousands will continue to be murdered and killing in the Philippines has now become the norm. These are very unusual times. Many express their frustrations at their Catholic Bishops because of their peaceful non-violent Christian approach towards Duterte. In many gatherings, many openly wish him to be struck dead or be assassinated.
But hating others is not consistent with Catholic principles. The Catholic religion is about constantly loving and forgiving others. We are all sinners even if in good faith, we try our best to be saints. I have to go on the basis of my faith and live and love accordingly.
Understandably, everyone has a legitimate right to self-defense, and the memory and lessons of the more than ten million helpless Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals slaughtered by Hitler’s Gestapo, SS, military, police, and other units are still ingrained in the minds of many. Only about 80,000 Nazis were arrested and convicted after World War II for participating in the mass murders. More escaped.
Just like Hitler, Duterte will never run out of killers. Many of these will readily kill for him in exchange for money, power, and privilege. Some even identify themselves as Catholics. In reality, they are not. Many go to church simply because of superstition, thinking that they will suffer bad luck if they don’t go.
Those nominal Catholics who express support for Duterte and his extrajudicial murders and lies are no different from those belonging to the 90% of German Catholics and Christians who supported Hitler, who was very popular. Popularity in these situations means nothing. It does not make moral what is immoral. But the 56% popularity rating of Duterte says much about Filipino Catholics who openly express support for him. They are not true to their faith and face the very real danger of losing their souls. God is not a fascist or a Nazi. He certainly is not a Duterte. For if He were, as soon as Duterte even thinks of insulting or mocking Him he would be struck dead.
God is in control. He has a reason for everything including using demons and evil people for higher purposes. This includes allowing Duterte to be President where all Filipinos are put to a test — to choose God or to be with Satan and Duterte. Iglesia ni Duterte is a very real choice for some who will choose his religion over God, in fact, over anything. Money, power, and security on this earth fuel their loyalty to Duterte. Very sad.
In true humility, many Catholics know that even with the best of intentions, as human beings, we are inclined to sin. But our good faith commitment to try and be truly good, loving and forgiving human beings must always be there and for us to be humble and trust completely in God’s love and mercy.
The Catholic Church provides for 50 % of the world’s private social services: health care, housing, medical services, education, and help for older people. It will continue to provide for these.
After his attack on God, Catholics, and the Catholic Church, Duterte appointed three of his representatives to smooth things over with the Catholic clergy leadership. The Catholic Church must use all of its resources to protect innocent victims of whatever faith from threats of violence and coercive measures especially the helpless poor among whom thousands are being slaughtered.
Note: Ted Laguatan is a San Francisco Bay Area based human rights lawyer and also the only Fil-Am lawyer officially certified continuously by the California State Bar as an Expert-Specialist Lawyer in US Immigration Law for 28 years now. Email [email protected] Tel 650 6348668
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