PHILIPPINES
Rappler
[EXCLUSIVE] This marks the first time that a formal complaint about sexual abuse has been put on record with the Society of Jesus’ Philippine Province
Chay F. Hofileña
MANILA, Philippines – The Society of Jesus in the Philippines is facing its first sexual abuse scandal after a former student in one of the Jesuit high schools recently surfaced and alleged he had been sexually abused by a Jesuit 30 years ago.
Now 46 years old, the alleged victim who was born and raised in Zamboanga City said he converted from Islam to Roman Catholicism upon the invitation of a Jesuit seminarian then teaching at the Ateneo de Zamboanga. A 15-year-old boy at the time, Lucas (not his real name) said he was sexually abused “a few hundred times” from 1984 to 1987.
His complaint, which reached the Office of the Provincial of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus on October 15, is now the subject of a “preliminary investigation” that seeks to verify the allegations.
This marks the first time that a formal complaint about sexual abuse has been put on record with the Society of Jesus’ Philippine Province.
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