Butuan bishop urged to act on rape case vs priest

MANILA, Philippines - Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz yesterday said a parish priest who was accused of rape by his 18-year-old helper, should be immediately tried before criminal and Church courts so as not to taint the image of the Catholic Church.

Cruz also urged Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos to act immediately on the rape complaint filed against Fr. Raul Cabonce, a parish priest in Agusan del Sur.

“He should be tried before the criminal court. If guilty, he should serve life sentence. He should also be tried before the Church tribunal. If proven guilty, he should be dismissed from clerical Church state,” Cruz said in a phone interview.

A priest can be dismissed from the clerical state as a penalty for serious offenses.

Cruz, who has served as judicial vicar of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ National Tribunal of Appeals, said the allegation against Cabonce “is causing scandal and embarrassment to the Church.”

“If the bishop concerned will not take this matter seriously, his other priests would learn the wrong way of being priests,” he said.

Cruz said Cabonce should be tried before the Tribunal of First Instance of the Diocese of Butuan before the case is elevated to the National Tribunal of Appeals.

“The National Tribunal of Appeals may not interfere unless asked,” the former CBCP president said.

“If the victim is a minor (below 18 years old), the Vatican is the only one to handle the case to show its gravity,” Cruz said.

Pueblos refused to comment on the rape charges filed against Cabonce.

“I am not the person you have to ask. We have a couple of speakers, not me. Bye,” he said in a phone interview.

Two counts of rape, child abuse in relation to Republic Act 7610, and acts of lasciviousness were filed against Cabonce last Thursday before the Agusan del Norte provincial prosecutor’s office.

But Cabonce has previously denied the allegations.

The complainant said Cabonce had offered her a scholarship in exchange for her services as a “convent girl” who would serve his household needs.

The complainant alleged that she was first groped last September in the priest’s St. Anne’s parish convent room when he asked her to give him a massage.

Other sexual assaults allegedly occurred on Feb. 27 and March 3 and 14 this year, with rape allegedly taking place on the last date.