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	Filing of Rape Charges Vs Compostela Valley Priest Ordered By Ben O. Tesiorna Sun.Star September 6, 2011 http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2011/09/07/filing-rape-charges-vs-compostela-valley-priest-ordered-177778 DAVAO CITY -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered the filing of rape charges against a parish priest based in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley for raping a 21-year-old college student in 2006. The victim, then a third year BS Office Administration student of Assumption College of Nabunturan, elevated her complaint before the DOJ after a local prosecutor dismissed it as well as her appeal. Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos. In a latest resolution, Justice Undersecretary Leah Tanodra Armamento reversed the provincial prosecutor's dismissal of the complaint filed by the victim. The resolution ordered the provincial prosecutor of Compostela Valley to file the information for the crime of rape against Father Melvin dela Cuesta before the regional trial court. Records show, the victim met Fr. Dela Cuesta when she worked as part-time clerk in St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Nabunturan town. The alleged rape happened on July 23, 2006 when the priest allegedly asked the victim to wait for him at the convent. In support of her complaint, the victim submitted a medical certificate dated August 2, 2006 that confirmed she had been sexually abused and suffered genital injury as a result. The provincial prosecutor however dismissed her complaint after a witness said the victim admitted to having sexual intercourse with her boyfriend several times on the day she claimed she was raped by the priest. The prosecutor also denied the victim's motion for reconsideration, prompting her to file a petition for review with the DOJ. The DOJ in its resolution cited a Supreme Court decision that says, "no woman in her right mind would openly acknowledge the violation of her person and allow the examination of her private parts if she has not been raped." "Classmates of the victim declared (that) complainant appeared to them looking devastated and down-trodden and intimated to them that she would not like to go back to the convent, and even looked terrified as they passed by the convent with respondent (Fr. dela Cuesta) in sight, giving them the idea that she was sexually molested," the DOJ resolution also stated. The DOJ resolution was, meanwhile, welcomed by Compostela Valley Governor Arturo Uy who said that the truth can only be known in court. He said it is essential for the priest to clear his name in the proper court. "Let the wheel of justice roll. He should defend it in court if he is innocent," the governor said. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
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