Palace now claims Church officials could back ouster plot

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 11:16 p.m.) — Some members of the Catholic Church could back an ouster plot against President Rodrigo Duterte, the Palace now says.

Just days after he denied that the Catholic Church is part of an ouster move against Duterte, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said some of its members could partner with Maoist rebels to topple the popular president.

Roque claimed that some members of the Catholic Church could not accept the defeat of their preferred candidate, whom he did not name.

"The criticisms of the Church started when its candidate lost during the elections. Let's be frank: Many in the Church could not accept that their candidate was a loser," he said in a media conference from Southern Leyte, a province south of Manila.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines did not endorse a particular candidate, but reminded Catholics to "cast their votes as an act not only of citizenship but also as a public declaration of faith."

Malacañang on Thursday distanced itself from comments by Pastor "Boy" Saycon, a member of its four-member panel directed to talk to Church officials to find a common ground, that some members of the clergy could be behind efforts to remove Duterte from power.

Roque said that there were no Church efforts to oust Duterte despite its critical stance on many of his policies and actions.

When asked if the Palace shared Saycon's suspicions, Roque answered in a press briefing in the Palace, "No, no. In the first place, the president is secure with his faith. The church is secure with its mission in the nation. We just want the two institutions to serve our society better."

Roque claims Catholics might join CPP-NPA vs Duterte

However Roque was singing a different tune in Southern Leyte on Monday.

He said "it's not far-fetched that some of them will join the CPP-NPA to oust President Duterte," he said.

The Catholic Church has a worldwide history of anti-communism and in its Catechism of the Catholic Church holds that it "has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modem times with 'communism' or 'socialism.'"

In a clarificatory statement sent on Monday evening, Roque said he was only speaking speculatively, but "it was dangerously presumed that I was implying a 'connivance' between the Church and the communist group to overthrow the duly constituted government."

He said that what he said was he was "not discounting the possibility that in the near future some religious leaders might join the clamor for the president’s ouster."

Roque also repeated claims of some sectors that Duterte may have been cheated and could have gotten more votes during the 2016 presidential elections.

He said that the date of the planned dialogue between the Church and the Palace could be announced soon following Foreign Undersecretary Ernesto Abella, Saycon and his meeting with the papal nuncio to celebrate the Pope's Day on Friday.

"We agreed that both the Church and the State have the same mandate of serving the nation. It's better if we have a closer relation in serving the nation," he said.