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	Priest Ruling Draws Protest Sun.Star October 5, 2007 http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2007/10/05/news/priest.ruling.draws.protest.html THE Cebu City Prosecutor's Office defended itself from the criticisms after clearing Fr. Benedicto Ejares of acts of lasciviousness, child abuse and sexual harassment. The Crusade Against Violence (CAV) described the resolution as "unfair." "So what happened to the testimonies of the children? Just because he is a priest they will not charge him? This will follow the case against Fr. Jose Belciña where the victim just accepted payment. We respect the Catholic Church, but the church should also respect justice," CAV Visayas head Thelma Chiong said. Fr. Belciña, former parish priest of Barangay Maslog, Danao City, was accused of raping an 18-year-old girl. But a panel of prosecutors resolved to file only a case for child abuse because consensual sex happened between the two. The complainant was only 17 at the time of the first incident. There were reports that Belciña paid the girl P300,000 to drop the case. City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon told Sun.Star Cebu that his being a former seminarian did not influence the outcome of the complaint. "How can that influence me when I was a seminarian 35 years ago? Wa mi mag-abot sa seminaryo. I do not even know him (Ejares)," Sellon said. Assistant Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane, for his part, said "the resolution was based on evidence and existing jurisprudence." Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal was "happy" over the decision of the City Prosecutor's Office. "I'm happy about the turnout of the case pero malooy pud ta sa mga bata," the cardinal said in an ABS-CBN TV Patrol Central Visayas news report. The prelate revealed that the seven complainants, all minors, did not visit him regarding the case, which was filed last April. "They did not come to me. They did not ask what should be done," he said. Up to parents The principal of Abellana National High School, meanwhile, said he will respect the decision of the prosecutor's office. "If the children demand a re-investigation of the case, it is up to their parents to decide. The school will still continue its measures to protect and secure the students," Ernest Jacel told Sun.Star Cebu. He said that the seven female third year students who filed the complaint against Fr. Ejares have been required to regularly visit the school's guidance office for counseling. Values teachers have also been encouraged to help them. After what happened, Jacel said no Life in the Spirit seminars will he held "for now." Instead, they have Christian Living teachers who conduct catechism in school. Jacel hopes these efforts help the students cope with the trauma. Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, consultant of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7, said they will have to explain to the students the implications of the decision. Carillo said the ruling is contrary to the provisions of Republic Act 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law. "What is important is the viewpoint of the child, not that of the adult. If it's normal for an adult ang paghikap-hikap o ang labtik-labtik, that's beside the point," Carillo told Sun.Star Cebu in a mobile phone interview yesterday. At least 20 students complained that Ejares touched their arms and toyed with their bra straps during a Life in the Spirit Seminar last Nov. 14. Only seven filed affidavits to support their allegations. Next move Carillo will meet with representatives from the DSWD and the National Bureau of Investigation to plan their next move. But initially, Carillo said they will be filing a motion for reconsideration. DSWD 7 Director Teodolo Romo told radio dyLA that he will also sit down with the agency's legal department to review the prosecutors' resolution. Romo is also considering filing a petition for review before the Department of Justice. Carillo said that a motion for inhibition is an option but the decision will only be made after he talks with concerned agencies. In the meantime, DSWD will continue the complainants' counseling and stress-debriefing. Immediately after the incident became public last year, DSWD 7 provided "psychosocial intervention" for the complainants. According to the agency's assessment, some of the students don't want to go to confession anymore since they could not separate their perception of the priest from their view of the church. Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña was dismayed by the junking of the complaint against Fr. Ejares, saying the children were robbed of a chance of getting justice for the alleged abuse. The mayor said the City Prosecutor's Office should have corrected any error in the complaint filed against Ejares early on so the priest could be held liable for the charges against him. Child abuse But the Children's Legal Bureau understood why the case was dismissed. Lawyer Joan Amit said, "Murag layo ra ang acts of lasciviousness considering that the act happened in a public place, child abuse hinoon." A source who asked not to be named disclosed that if only the NBI attached the result of the psychological evaluation of the victims they could have pinned down Ejares for child abuse. "That is granting that the psychologist will say that the child was traumatized by what happened," he said. In its complaint, the NBI attached only the sworn statements of the victims and their pictures. Ejares was charged with seven counts of acts of lasciviousness punishable under the Revised Penal Code, child abuse covered by RA 7610 and sexual harassment under RA 7877. In an interview, Assistant Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane said that the resolution did not say that Ejares is the alter ego of Jesus Christ. "The context was, in Catholic teachings, priests in general are considered the alter ego of Jesus," he said. Gubalane approved "en toto" the resolution of investigating prosecutor Alexander Acosta, who said that there is no sufficient evidence to establish probable cause. "From what can be gathered from the sworn statements of the complaining victims, it reasonably seems that the respondents' style of hearing the confession of the penitents, that is putting his arm around their shoulders, touching their arms and back or toying with the strap of their bras with his fingers, was just a matter of routine or habit coupled with the fact that these parts of the body being touched are not even 'private parts' as ordinarily understood," the resolution read. "Besides, we are not dealing here with an ordinary human being. With due respect to the other religious sects, priests of the Roman Catholic Church are considered as an 'alter ego' of Jesus Christ when (they) perform confession and draw his power and authority to do so from the biblical passage "then he breathed on them and said, receive the holy spirit…" it said. Ejares could have been charged for unjust vexation but the period for filing such a case has already elapsed.
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