These are Duterte's false and unfair tactics against the Bishops of the Catholic Church whenever they humbly assert their moral duty and their Magisterium, as Apostles of God, against his plan to reimpose the death penalty (this time, by hanging, at that):
(1) Ad Hominem - Attack the honor, character and integrity of the Catholic Church and its Bishops.
(a) That he was an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a priest 50 years ago when he was 10.
(His father, a former Davao Governor, apparently ignored it or did not believe it because Duterte has not discussed the actions taken by his prominent family at that time, if it was true);
(b) Some Bishops received vehicles and financial supports from ex-Pres. Arroyo.
(They returned the vehicles to the Govt during a Senate inquiry, as an act of spiritual detachment to material things, despite their great need for mobility and accessibility, considering their multifarious field pastoral work to serve millions of Catholics in far-flung areas);
(c) That by virtue of the constitutional doctrine of "separation of church and state", the Church is "absolutely" prohibited from receiving government collaboration and assistance for the social action programs of the Church that benefit the poor and the oppressed.
(This claim is wrong. According to many Supreme Court decisions, the Constitution allows "collaboration" between Church and State for the general welfare and that reasonable supports by the State to the Church do not constitute as violations of the doctrine of the "separation of Church and State");
(d) That the Catholic Church is the "most hypocritical institution" in the Philippines.
(Duterte, of course, skips the raging issues about his multi-million unexplained wealth deposited in the BPI, his dubious SALNs, the inveterate inconsistencies, if not lies, in his speeches during the campaign [his positions on issues changed from time to time, depending who is the listener], his secret meetings with Chinese officials and the Sultan of Brunei during the campaign, his false allegation of poverty, his dishonest allegation lack of campaign funds [belied by his multi-million TV and radio political advertisements], his secret big-time financiers from mining, rice trading and other business sectors, and many other inconsistencies amounting to gross dishonesty, irresponsibility and hypocrisy).
(2) Diversionary tactic. - Ignore the merits or demerits of the main arguments. Shrewdly shift the attention of the public to irrelevant or collateral issues to ignore the merits or demerits of the main issues.
(a) The UN and its agencies urge Member-States to reject death penalty as a policy;
(b) The 2nd Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Convention prohibits death penalty since the 1970s, mind you;
(c) The current international norm rejects death penalty, except for a few States, e.g., USA, China, Sinapore, et al.
In closing, sometimes I am tempted to conclude that Duterte's very close, if not fanatical, relationship with and deep ideological indoctrination by top-ranking Communists since the 1960s up to now, has quietly converted him to an Atheist, the "religion" of hardcore Communists cadres.
Conclusion
Whenever I listen to Duterte, I always get the feeling that his mind is not only agitated by hate and ego but is also closed to reason and diversity of opinions because he listens only to himself and his alter egos and believes his own lies.
