The detention of former president Rodrigo Duterte at the Hague is a special grace, Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon said in his homily on Sunday, March 23.
“We can understand why the loyalists of Duterte are moving heaven and earth to get him out of prison. What drives them is, to use their own words, their love for their Tatay Digong,” the bishop said.
But true love should seek the good of the beloved, he said.
“If they truly love their Tatay Digong, they will do well to leave him in peace where he is now. I strongly believe that his detention in The Hague is a special grace. This could be the last chance for him to return to God,” he said.
He said Duterte is nearing 80 years old, “which means that he lives on a bonus and borrowed time, pointing out that the scripture says that the lifespan of a man is 70, and 80 for those who are strong.
“Prison time is a powerful time, more power than any spiritual retreat”, he said.
The bishop said former senator Ninoy Aquino was totally transformed during his years of isolation in Laur.
“It was there he found God and realized that his obsession to become president of the Philippines was all vanity and that his higher call was to give his life for the liberation of his people,” he said.
St. John of the Cross was unjustly thrown in a dungeon in Toledo where he was subjected to solitary confinement, mean nutrition, regular flogging, putrid clothing and lice, Buzon said.
It was in those dark months that he entered a deep mystical experience of God which he committed to writing in what is his now immortal masterpiece, “The Spiritual Canticle”, Buzon said.
“If Duterte’s loyal followers profess undying love for him, they should know that God loves him infinitely more. Duterte is, after all, a child of his”, he said.
God wants him to be saved for “God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked rather than that he would turn from his ways and live”, the bishop pointed out.
“The greater lesson is for all of us who are caught in the turmoil of the present political upheaval. It is time to put our love of country above any political loyalty lest we all perish,” he said.
“Blind fanaticism is tearing us apart as a people. The destruction wrought by the barrage of fake news, disinformation, deception and lies that roll out from the pernicious machinery of political trolls affects not only the mind but the very soul of our people,” he said.
They have become veritable victims of Satan who is ”a liar and the father of all lies”, he added.
A survey shows that in the Philippines more than half of our people find it difficult to spot fake news in media platforms, the bishop said.
“We need to be more discerning and learn to fact-check news information specially from social media. We need to promote media literacy and encourage critical evaluation of online content lest we perish,” he said.*