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	Rape Cases vs Danao Priest Dismissed Belcina Still Faces Child Abuse Raps By Nilda Gallo and Suzzane Salva-Alueta Cebu Daily News [Philippines] June 23, 2006 http://globalnation.inq7.net/cebudailynews/news/view_article.php?article_id=6197 The Cebu City prosecutor's office threw out three rape charges against Fr. Jose "Joey" Belcina. But because the Danao City priest had sexual relations with the complainant, a parish scholar who was 17 years old at the time, he was held liable for violation of a special law that protects children from abuse. "We find that there was no force, threat or intimidation when the sexual intercourse happened between them on this day (July 22, 2005)," a panel of three prosecutors said in their June 19 resolution. Belcina was found liable for violation of Section 5, Article III of Republic Act 7610, the law on Special Protection of Filipino Children. The case was endorsed for filing in the Danao Regional Trial Court. Thankful Belcina's lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu said her client was "happy" with the resolution. "We consider it a major victory. Fr. Belcina is thankful for the result," she told Cebu Daily News after speaking to the priest by phone at 4 p.m. shortly after getting hold of the resolution. Dalawampu said the offense was lower compared to the original charge of rape in relation to R.A. 7610. She said she was still weighing whether to seek reconsideration of the resolution. Asked about the prosecutors' finding that the priest had sexual relations with the complainant, a teenager whose college studies Belcina was partly supporting, Dalawampu said she was not worried. "I am not concerned because they do not have basis, no proof that they had intercourse. They can not prove that. You cannot convict a person on the supposition or suspicion," she said. Unlike rape, which is not a bailable offense, violation of RA 7610 still allows an accused person to post bail of P200,000 for his temporary freedom. If convicted, the priest faces a jail term of 14 years to 40 years. Section 5 Article III of RA 7610 provides that "Children, whether male or female, who for money, profit or any other consideration or due to the coercion, or influence or any adult, syndicate or group, indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct, are deemed to be children exploited in prostitution and other sexual abuse." The 36-year-old priest was relieved of his duties as a parish priest in Danao City when the case broke last February. Loyal parishioners held prayer rallies to express their support and would visit him in his new quarters in the SPFY Center in the Archbishop's Palace in Cebu City. Yesterday, his lawyer said Belcina begged off from talking to the media and was "in prayer". Powerful The Provincial Women's Commission (PWC) will convene today to discuss its next move in the case. Provincial Board Member Agnes Magpale, a PWC member and chair of the committee on women and children, said Chezie Demegillo, the girl's lawyer, would still report to the PWC about the prosecutors' resolution. The complainant had sought help from the office of Magpale when she filed the case. "Only God knows what happened, and the two parties," Magpale told Cebu Daily News. She said that from the start, they knew they were up against a "powerful person" but wouldn't elaborate. The complainant in her original affidavit claimed that she was sexually abused three times in the priest's bedroom in the parish convent in Maslog, Danao City — on July 22 and December 25, 2005 and on January 28. Prosecutors said they were convinced that no rape took place. The girl's conduct during and after the alleged rape was found unusual. She never shouted for help or struggled with the priest while he was undressing her "when she obviously had ample time to do so." "The degree of resistance offered by complainant to respondent's advances while the alleged rape was going on also renders her claim that she was forced or intimidated into having sexual intercourse with the respondent doubtful," the prosecutors said. "What is most telling that there was in fact no rape is the behavior of the complainant right after the alleged incidents." The girl said that right after the alleged rape, she went out with her boyfriend, Justin, to the plaza but never told him about what happened. She also continued hearing Mass officiated by the priest two days after the first incident of July 22, 2005 and went on receiving her allowance from Belcina. The prosecutors couldn't see why the girl didn't report the incident right away. The first person she talked to about the alleged attack was her homeroom adviser in school months later. "For someone who has allegedly undergone such a traumatic experience as rape, complainant's reaction and behavior after the alleged incident is too casual and nonchalant, to say the least. Consequently it is hard to believe that she in fact had been raped by respondent," the prosecutors said. "If indeed she had been raped before by this man, why would she willingly place herself at a great risk of being raped again by entering his room all by herself," they said. Cebu City Assistant Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane signed the resolution with Asst. Prosecutors Mario Edgardo Montenegro and Lineth Lapinid.
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