Amid his controversial statements on God, President Rodrigo Duterte said he stopped being a Catholic because of a “terrible” incident — when he allegedly suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a priest.

This prompted him to create his own concept of a supreme being, who stood for his values of fairness and justice, Mr. Duterte related on Saturday night.

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“Something terrible happened when we were young. It’s not really that serious. While confessing, we were being fondled,” the President said in a speech in Davao City.

He added: “So when I graduated, I was no longer a Catholic. I was no longer a Catholic at that age. I was not even in politics then.”

The President made the remarks during the inauguration of Malayan Colleges Mindanao in Davao City.

During confession

It was in apparent reference to his earlier claims that he was molested by the late Fr. Harry Falvey while in high school at Ateneo de Davao University.

The alleged incident supposedly happened while he and his classmates were confessing to the priest.

After the incident, he stopped being a Catholic and decided to create his own notion of a supreme being.

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