CBCP probes sex raps versus priest

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said yesterday the Diocese of Antipolo was investigating a priest accused of molesting a freshman coed in Tanay, Rizal.

Meanwhile, nine out of 10 Filipinos surveyed said priests in their localities "never" take sexual advantage of children and "never" have a mistress, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Both Catholic and non-Catholic Filipinos believe that a priest who sexually abuses a youth should be immediately expelled and not given a second chance, the SWS survey said.

Monsignor Hernando Coronel, CBCP secretary general and spokesman, said the case of Fr. Aladin Alisbo, assistant parish priest of Tanay, has been referred to the Antipolo Diocese headed by Bishop Crisostomo Yalung.

In an interview, Coronel said that Yalung "would have to take action on this case."

Alisbo, 35, has been criminally charged by police for allegedly sexually molesting a 19-year-old coed.

The victim told police that she was molested while on board the priest’s car at 12:20 a.m. Monday. Alisbo was charged with "acts of lasciviousness" and posted a P12,000-bail.

The two reportedly worked on a church project until early Monday morning and that she agreed to his offer to take her home.

The victim said she sought the help of her relatives through the sending of text messages upon sensing trouble because the priest was driving aimlessly.

Police caught the priest in the act of kissing the victim’s lips and neck while fondling her breasts.

Fr. Larry Paz, Diocese of Antipolo spokesman and parish priest of St. Jerome Parish, said the sexual misconduct allegation was the first for Alisbo.

"There were no complaints against Alisbo in the past. Let the court decide," Fr. Paz said. No sanctions have been imposed on Fr. Alisbo and there were no plans to transfer him in another area, he said.

"Alisbo is a priest of good moral standing...We would support our brother priest and we are praying for him," Fr. Paz said.

One percent of respondents to a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said priests in their localities "often" take sexual advantage of the youth, while two percent said priests in their area "often" have mistresses. The remaining 97 percent said priestly sexual misbehavior "rarely" happens in their areas.

The SWS survey polled 1,200 statistically representative households from May 17 to June 3, 2002 for an error margin of plus or minus 3 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

The CBCP did not sponsor nor request for the survey.

In a statement about the survey, the SWS said the proportion of Filipinos favoring Catholic church priests to get married has grown slightly to one out of four, compared to one out of five in 1996.

"Filipinos are the most conservative Catholics in the world, on the matter of allowing marriage for priests," the statement said. — Sandy Araneta