A PRIEST from a parish in the southwestern town of Aloguinsan, Cebu is accused of sexually molesting a 16-year-old girl.

Shirley (real name withheld) said the incident happened last Christmas Eve, when she was a trainee at the church choir.

Before the incident happened, the priest told her to get fruits inside his car. She obliged.

After she entered the car, the priest followed suit, she said.

Massage

“Iyaha kong gigunitan ug iyaha kong gipalingkod sa iyang paa. Mao tong nihangyo siya mo-kiss nako (He held on to me and asked me to sit on his lap. Then he asked me if he could kiss me),” Shirley said in radio dyHP report.

The girl said she refused his advances.

Her two cousins and an altar boy allegedly saw the priest hugging her.

After Shirley and the priest got out of the car, the latter allegedly told the girl he would pay her to massage him inside his room in the convent.

Shirley said she and her two cousins massaged the priest.

However, he would intentionally touch her private parts the entire time, she said.

Afterwards, he gave each of them P100, she said. “Gidawat namo kay ingon man siya pinaskohan man kuno (We accepted it because he said it was his Christmas gift to us),” Shirley said.

The priest told her cousins to leave the room because he had other tasks for her.

Shirley said she begged them not to, but the priest had already closed the door. He then allegedly embraced her and kissed her on the lips.

‘Afraid’

After that, she left. Together with her cousins, she said they ran out of the convent.

“I was trembling. I couldn’t believe what he just did. I was afraid. Why would he do something like that to me?” she said in Cebuano.

In a related development, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma ordered Monsignors Rey Penagunda and Daniel Sanico, his vicar generals, to investigate the incident.

In an interview yesterday, Palma said the vicar generals are required to report their findings to him.

While he urged the public not to judge the priest immediately, Palma also reminded members of the local clergy about the rules governing priests.

“We follow the law of Christ, we don’t subscribe to a law that is contrary to the law of Jesus,” Palma said.