BishopAccountability.org
	City Hall Men Accused of Molesting Orphans By Bobby J. Mahadali News Today September 24, 2008 http://www.thenewstoday.info/2008/09/24/city.hall.men.accused.of.molesting.orphans.html BACOLOD CITY — Some innocent boys are said to be victims of sexual molestation at the Bacolod Boys Home (BBH) and affidavits of the victims are in a possession of a known lawyer in the city and also by Fr. Fernando Peralta of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The sexual molestation is said to be committed by some people assigned by City Hall at the said orphanage in Brgy. Granada, Bacolod City. Mr. Henry Streegan, a former corporate secretary of BBH, revealed recently the sexual abuse being committed by some assigned City Hall employees against the orphaned boys there. Streegan in a press conference said seven to eight orphaned boys who were victims of sexual molestation are being kept now by Fr. Peralta, BBH's acting director. "The boys executed affidavits and will only be made public when necessary protection is being provided to them," Streegan said. Fr. Peralta, on the other hand, said that only one of the victims executed an affidavit and the case is now being investigated by the City Government of Bacolod. Though the priest said he's hoping that with the affidavit he has in hand now, more cases of sexual abuses within the BBH will be uncovered soon. He, however, explained that they are just moving slowly in pursuing the case because they don't want to handle the situation in a drastic manner, "because we're also considering 'sensitivity' of the situation involving children inside BBH, and we're also determining right now the veracity of the complaint." At present, BBH has about 80 orphaned boys aged 10 to 18, housed in six cottages. The orphanage was founded by the late Fr. Gratian Murray in 1960 for his great love and concern to boys who are orphaned or abandoned and got into trouble with civil authorities because of poverty and parental neglect. BBH is now 45 years old. When Fr. Murray died on December 12, 2000, BBH was turned over to the supervision of Bro. Gus Boquer, president of the University of St. La Salle-Bacolod for the continuance of the program for the orphaned boys. The issue of sex scandal surfaced after BBH was dragged into controversy involving the plan of the City Government to take over its full operations from the Bacolod Boys Home Foundation, Inc., presently chaired by Mr. Joey Ledesma. Mayor Evelio Leonardia appointed Alex Coloso to temporarily manage BBH and ordered that all foreign and local donations to BBH should be coursed through the City Hall for proper receipts. Some foundation's officers, however, objected to the move of the mayor, thus, they sought the intervention of Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra. They then exposed some irregularities happening at BBH allegedly being done by Leonardia's men. The BBHFI officers, in their May 24, 2008 letter to Bishop Navarra, said that three City Hall employees were detailed at BBH but they do not report everyday. They even considered those employees, whom they refuse to name yet, as "ghost employees." They also nixed the City's act of allocating P1.2 million out of the P3.3million budget for BBH just for the salaries and wages of City Hall people, including the three alleged ghost employees. They also scored the mismanagement leading to the disappearance of some valuable items inside BBH. The BBHFI officers said that a welding machine, iron bars (grills), and other scrap materials like the old typewriters, television sets and computers were reportedly lost but nobody can be held accountable. They also said a certain Mr. Allan de la Vega, also a noted "man" of Leonardia had borrowed P500 from BBH fund but until now has not paid it back. Worse, they said, most of Leonardia's men are taking food at the storage without asking permission from Fr. Peralta, while some of them are only playing Bingo at the Plaza Mart Mall at the downtown area during working hours. BBHFI officials also told Bishop Navarra that the green multicab vehicle intended for use of BBH is now being used by City Hall people for their personal purposes. They added, the telephone bill at BBH reached to P5,000 in just a month due to unauthorized long distance calls by the City Hall people. Bishop Navarra had already called the attention of Mayor Leonardia Sunday and asked the mayor to probe these complaints. Leonardia reportedly promised to do so. Streegan however said that the best thing Bishop Navarra should do is to expose the sexual molestation happening inside the orphanage. "Bishop Navarra and Fr. Ding should do like what Pope Benedict XVI did in Vatican, where he exposed all the priests' wrong doings," Streegan said, adding, "If not, then sexual molestation at the orphanage will just be like a secret hidden under the rug.' "And worst, if this will continue to persist, this is tantamount to desecration of the memory of the late Fr. Gratian Murray," stressed Streegan.
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