In the Philippines, Wolves Amidst the Sheep?

A conviction over a sex abuse scandal more than 20 years ago continues to hound an American Catholic priest who was ordained in and continues to serve in the Philippines.

[Joseph] Skelton was ordained in the Philippines, with Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak ordaining him without knowing about his conviction.

Here’s my reaction to the sex abuse Catholic priest found in the Philippines: not surprised.

I’m only surprised that our local media hasn’t caught on to the Filipino priests who have been accused of sexual abuse within our borders.

Based on this comprehensive (but almost outdated) 2004 report by the Catholics for Free Choice and Likhaan, no priest accused of sexual abuse in the Philippines seems to have been successfully prosecuted.

Most of them have overcome their cases in different ways: settled out of court, acquitted, or moved to other parishes by their superiors, or have cases pending but are quietly reinstated to pastoral duties.

After acquittal, settlement, or a wait of a year or so, the priests mentioned in the report have mostly been reintegrated into active ministry within the Catholic Church.

Here’s a brief run-down of the priests mentioned in the report, and the results of a morning’s Googling of their names. Assuming the search hits reflect the same people mentioned in the Likhaan report (insert margin of error here), it’s my opinion that the Catholic hierarchy’s actions show a tendency to minister to the wolves at the expense of the sheep.

AGUSTIN CUENCA

According to the CFFC/Likhaan Report:

On 1 August 1990, Fr. Agustin Cuenca, OFM, a parish priest assigned to the Our Lady of the Abandoned Church in Sta. Ana, Manila, was accused of sexually molesting two of his teenaged acolytes. The complaint alleged that his accusers, 15 and 16 years old, were abused sexually for a period of two years starting in December 1988 until June 1990 by Cuenca.

A certain Agustin Cuenca OFM is attached priest at St. Anthony Padua Shrine in Sampaloc, Manila. As of 2006, Cuenca was the director of the Franciscan Missionary Union. Claretian Publications lists a Fr. Cuenca as the house bursar of St. Gregory the Great Friary in Quezon City. Here’s a Flickr image of a Fr. Agustin Cuenca blessing a privately-owned icon of St. Anthony.

MACARIO APUYA

According to the CFFC/Likhaan Report:

In the city of Dagupan, north of Metro Manila, Fr. Macario Apuya, SVD of the Saint Therese Parish, was accused of two criminal charges, one charge of rape and one of child abuse as defined under R. A. No. 7610.... The case had historical significance since it was the very first time that a priest was being prosecuted for pedophilia in the Philippines.

A priest with Apuya’s name is seen here celebrating the Jubilee Mass for the Divine Word Missionaries. A Macario Apuya is currently serving in Mary Consolatrix Convent in La Union – if it’s the same Apuya who was accused of raping underage girls, is it wise to have him running loose in a cloistered convent?

POLIENATO BERNABE

According to the report’s overview of reported cases of sexual abuse by priests: “Florida officials issued a warrant for the arrest of Fr. Polienato Bernabe, 61, a native of Pangasinan, who had been charged with sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl more than two decades ago in Gulfport, Florida.” Bernabe took shelter in the Philippines and died – avoiding  trial to the end – in 2006.

ARWYN N. DIESTA

The overview cites that Fr. Diesta was the subject of a request from a US lawyer regarding an accusation that Diesta had abused him when he was a boy. Another report, issued by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, maintains that “Plaintiff reports that he was sexually abused by Fr. Diesta from approximately 1982-88.”

A certain Fr. Arwyn Diesta is still active in the Parish of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Sorsogon. Other Google search hits turn up a Fr. Arwyn Diesta who said a funeral mass in 2008. A Father Diesta is also mentioned as an English professor. A priest named Arwyn Diesta is seen here celebrating a Mass in Sorsogon in 2006 – the blog entry shows a clear picture of Fr. Diesta.

APOLINARIO MEJORADA

The overview cites the case of Fr. Apolinario Mejorada, who was accused of sexually abusing altar boys in Cebu between 1995 and 1998. “About a week later, Mejorada’s superiors admitted he was involved in some ‘transgression’ and paid Php 120,000 pesos in settlement.” Where is Mejorada today? All we know is that a certain Apolinario Mejorada is currently a parochial vicar somewhere in San Pedro, Laguna.

The following priests were involved in cases that went public AFTER the CFFC/Likhaan report was issued.

JOSE BELCIÑA

In 2006, Jose Belciña was charged with rape and child abuse – the rape charges were later dropped for lack of evidence, but the child abuse charge was allowed to stand. Belciña laid low for a while – to quote SunStar columnist Bong Wenceslao: “When asked by the authorities on the whereabouts of Fr. Jose Belciña, Msgr. Achilles Dakay answered: I am not his custodian. Reminds me of Cain’s answer when asked about the whereabouts of his brother Abel: Am I my brother’s keeper?”

As of 2008, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has restored Belciña to pastoral duties in Minglanilla, southern Cebu – a move that has stirred up more controversy.

BENEDICTO EJARES

In 2007, Fr. Benedicto Ejares was accused of sexually harassing teenage girls under his charge in a “Life in the Spirit” seminar in Cebu. Despite orders not to publicly say Mass, Ejares did so in a government building in 2008. Ejares has contested a ruling finding probable cause in charging him with child abuse.

22 comments

  1. The bible talks about the wolves among the sheep which talks about people who deceive christians

    it is not all about priest who commit sexual immorality by raping you children and woman

  2. "Once a priest is always a priest" – Something my favorite religion teacher told us. Even when they leave the priesthood and marry, he will still be given that special rite on his deathbed.
    In this statement a priest's vocation have strong justifications, even when he "commits mistakes".

    As that old fucking poster recruiting seminarians write: "you may not marry, but you will be filled with Love!"

  3. Thank you Michael for this article!

    I was wondering why RP hadn't had any similar reports of sex abuse by priests in Germany and Ireland – it seems I just wasn't looking in the right places.

    Honestly, I wonder why the local media hasn't tried bringing these cases into light – this will make wonderful ammo the next time the grumpy old men of the CBCP try to play the morality card again.

  4. I dont think a pedofelia police or so is the solution, cause one cannot stop it and no country can put officials everywhere. I think what is nessesary to educate kids as early as possible to be strong and learn how to defend themselves and beeing able to say "no" if they dont want that kind of sex. Kids must have the knowlege that they are not without rights and protection. Kids should have a place to turn too without fear. … By the way, could that not be a project for the Filippinofreethinkers in the future? Human and social help via a emergency phone number or an office to go all organised by the Freethinkers.

    • Just don't leave kids alone with strangers or someone who acts strange because they might have some mental illness. Well predators can act normal too but it's better to be safe. It's the responsibility of the parents to protect their children. Priests are not the only people capable of inappropriate behavior. Who knows how many of these incidents occur. Just watch the news on Tv.

      It's the faith the parents in Jesus Christ and His priests that caused this. In the US and in other countries they have a Sex Offender Registry. Maybe the Philippines can implement this but I don't know if we have the resources to pull this off.

      • If I may add to my post after the 3rd sentence. "Priests are just people like any other" only they seem to do God's will. Some priests are actually good for the community unlike the missionaries. The better priests include comedy in their Homily's but I just can't stand going to church.

    • potential problem here is that priests are respected members of the community. maybe it should be stressed, if children are to be taught, anyone at all that touches you wrong say no!

  5. Nice article!

    If the government is really tough on crime here. They should form a commission like an Anti-Pedo/Abusive Priest police commission or something. That will go after these Abusive-Priests.

  6. It's sad to read that the church has been pretty consistent in its actions. Do you think they will do anything now that more of these cases came to light? The Pope is promising change, but is it an empty promise?

  7. Of course the catholic church has to cover up as much as possible because they have to protect their so named "good reputation" and their picture of beeing "innocent" and "good". Now that their facade is cracking they have to admit that they are just a human beeing based institution…but now they are getting durty by saying that "homosexuality" is the cause of all the sex scandal, whilst pedofelia has nothing to to with homosexuality and why are they ignoring that even more men abuse small girls…so is the cause heterosexuality then? Let me give a big laugh for the winding snake called church.

  8. This is Awesome Mike! I want to say something calous about the parents involved, but I think their communities and the media bear more of the responsibilities.
    On High and Mighty Bishops and Priests fighting the right to choose and accomplices to these monsters. It makes my blood boil.

    • While trying to think, what you wrote kinda reminded me of Nepotism. That's how it is in the Philippines. People in high positions in this country will appoint people based on how closely related they are to a person. And they make decisions without consideration for anybody outside their circle. Maybe they think they're being loyal to a friend by doing this but then there won't be any progress or they just want to hold on to their position of power longer by keeping it within themselves, their families and their friends. The Ampatuans' incident comes to mind.

      But with the elections coming up, i realized that there are many rival groups trying to gain a spot in the coming administration. I don't know who are working together or not.

  9. Thanks for the thoughtful comment Jungleboy. Napaisip nga ako – the higher ups have assumed the responsibility to take care of their flock – whether the higher ups are the government or the Church – but time and again take care of each other instead. This is true not just of the government, but of the Catholic hierarchy as well.

  10. Great post, Mike. I advise our readers to check out the Likhaan report you linked to. I was horrified at the part where they said that since bishops had a "father-son" relationship with their priests, they should handle discipline in these matters privately, that is, not telling the police. It clearly shows that even in the Philippines Crimen Solicitationis is followed.

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