Children’s message to President Duterte
(This is a letter written for President Duterte by Grade 12 students in reaction to his “God is stupid” statement on live television--Opinion Editor)
We, senior high students, want to first and foremost, thank you for expressing your opinion on the story of Adam and Eve in your speech last June 22, 2018 during the National Information and Communications Technology summit. However, we were disheartened by certain statements that were in your speech.
As students and citizens of a predominantly Catholic country, we first want to know the context behind the words that you have spoken before arriving at a conclusion. We understand that you previously had a negative encounter with a priest when you were younger, so you may have an unfavorable outlook on them. However, it is important to know that one priest or one individual does not represent the whole religion.
You have raised questions which also remain a mystery to us Catholics. However, we hope you know that it does not entail the disrespect and unprofessional attack that you directed towards the Filipinos who believe in it.
You may question us as to how we continue to believe in our religion despite all the mysteries that we cannot fully understand. The answer is that only through faith, as well as reason, are we able to fully accept what has been taught to us.
We understand that you are exercising your rights to religious freedom of speech, although we do not understand why you had the need to insult a religion in such a derogatory manner.
In addition, we would like to explain to you what original sin is in order for you to understand more and to gain a new perspective on the first sin. Original sin is the tendency to sin, innate in man, in consequence of the Fall of Man. However, this original sin is eventually washed away in the Sacrament of Baptism.
Aside from this, we disagree to what you said on how man is perfect. Man is not perfect. Despite the washing away of original sin, man has already become prone to temptation and may become a slave of sin.
Similarly, for every drug a person intakes, there will certainly be repercussions. From spending time in jail to death, man can still fall under the temptations of drugs. However, while there are confession and baptism to redeem us from sin, there are also rehabilitation centers that redeem those from drug addiction.
Thank you for your time and we hope that we have not only understood each other’s positions further, but also met each other eye-to-eye about this issue. We hope that your administration will continue to steer our country in the direction most prosperous.--Claire, Sofia, Phoebe, Selina, and Pamela
Prayers our only recourse
The killings that are happening in Cebu almost everywhere is indeed worrisome. But we could not do anything about it except for praying for the killers’ nelightenment.--Diego Devero, Cebu City