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	Don't Drop Case Vs Fr. Ben, Fiscals Asked By Nilda Gallo Cebu Daily News October 17, 2007 http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view_article.php?article_id=94999 STUDENTS who accused Fr. Benedicto "Ben" Ejares" of acts of lasciviousness have asked the Cebu City Prosecutor's Office to reconsider its resolutions dropping the case against the diocesan priest. They said he should be indicted for violations of child welfare rights. To strengthen their complaint against the priest, lawyers Gerardo Carillo and Alvin Butch Canares attached to their motion the transcript of the interviews of the seven students of the Abellana National School. The interviews, which were conducted by city social workers, described the trauma suffered by the students when the priest allegedly touched their arms, backs and shoulders, the lawyers said. A psychological report on the students would also be submitted as soon as it becomes available. The psychological evaluation report was not included in the original complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) because the agency thought that the affidavits of the complainants was enough to establish probable cause. In the resolution dismissing the complaint, prosecutors said they did not believe that Ejares had malicious intent when he touched the seven teenagers. They said "it would require an unreasonable overstretching of one's imagination" to conclude that the priest's gestures — touching the arms, backs and shoulders of the girls – were done with "lewd designs." Prosecutors, however, were asked to reconsider dropping the case against the priest because his actions "caused more serious and lasting psychological and emotional trauma" to the students. "The effect of the respondent's toying with their bra straps or touching their shoulders or asking them if they had experience, which they took to mean sexual experience, resulted in their reactions of shock and tearful avoidance of the respondent," the motion read. The girls' reactions could not simply be taken as a misunderstanding of the intentions of the priest. Carillo and Cañares also asked Assistant Prosecutors Alexander Acosta and Fernando Gubalane to inhibit from resolving the motion for reconsideration. Acosta recommended dropping the case for acts of lascivious against Ejares and recommended the filing of unjust vexation instead. When the case was reviewed by Gubalane, he dropped the unjust vexation case citing the lapse of time within which to file the case. The lawyers said they wanted Cebu City Prosecutor Nicholas Sellon to resolve the motion for reconsideration. "An impartial determination of the merits of this motion can be expected from the Honorable Cebu City Prosecutor himself," the motion said. The complainants asked Sellon to indict the priest for violation of Section 10 (a) of Republic Act No. 7610 or the Child and Youth Welfare Code. They emphasized a provision in the code that says, "every child has the right to protection against exploitation, improper influences, hazards and other conditions or circumstances prejudicial to his physical, mental, emotional, social and moral development." The lawyers said that there is no debate about the nature of the office of the priesthood, "but this office is not infallible." Priests, "being a creature of man, must therefore stand scrutiny under the laws of mankind. The exercise of the duties of his office, whether we like it or not, has a profound effect on the spiritual, emotional and psychological well-being of its followers who are themselves citizens of the State," the motion for reconsideration read.
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