Compostela judge dismisses outright rape case vs priest

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A regional trial court (RTC) judge in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley dismissed outright the rape case against a priest during the first hearing Wednesday afternoon.

RTC 3 Judge Hilario Clapis dismissed the case filed against Fr. Melvin de la Cuesta who was accused of raping a 21-year-old part-time clerk at the Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish five years ago.

De la Cuesta is now the parish priest at the gold-rush site on Mt. Diwalwal.

The rape case was dismissed even if it was the Department of Justice (DOJ) which earlier had ordered it filed after the prosecutor’s office dropped it in 2006.

Citing Supreme Court jurisprudence, the DOJ said, “Settled is the rule that no woman in her right mind would openly acknowledge the violation of her person and allow the examination of her private parts if she has not been raped.”

However, Clapis dismissed it on the first hearing itself where the matter supposedly to be tackled was whether to issue or not a warrant of arrest against De la Cuesta.

“I am so sad with what happened. It was an outright dismissal of the case without even hearing both sides and right at the first day of the supposed hearing,” said lawyer Ronald Javines, the victim’s legal counsel.

What Clapis did, Javines alleged, was a mockery to the entire justice system.

“The judge committed gross ignorance of the law, grave abuse of discretion and circumvention of the law,” Javines said, adding that a petition against Clapis will be filed before the proper courts.

Javines said the victim is filing an administrative case against Clapis, adding that De la Cuesta should not think that he is already off the hook.

“The priest is not off the hook yet. The judge could not just dismiss it that way. He did not follow the rules of the court,” he said.

Javines said the judge, instead of issuing the warrant of arrest against the priest, dismissed the case and even questioned the capability of Justice Undersecretary Leah Armamento who ordered the filing of the rape charge.

“It was just his (Clapis’) personal opinion when he said ‘Sino ba ito si Armamento na undersecretary? Magaling ba ito kaysa prosecutors? (Who is this Armamento who is an undersecretary? Is she better than the prosecutors?) But this is not about Armamento. This is about the priest and what he did to the victim,” Javines told The STAR.

Records show that the complainant, a BS Office Administration junior in Nabunturan town, met De la Cuesta when she worked as a part-time clerk at the Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish.

On July 23, 2006, the priest allegedly called the victim to tell her to wait for him at the convent. While waiting for him, she fell asleep with one Nanay Tecing in the priest’s room.

When De la Cuesta arrived, she recalled that he told her to massage his chest, which she did. But to her surprise, he allegedly unhooked her bra, pulled her skirt and kissed her breast.

The victim said she felt helpless when she was cornered to a wall after pushing herself away from him. She said she tried to resist but the priest was too strong and in due course, allegedly raped her.

To support her allegations, the victim submitted a medical certificate dated Aug. 2, 2006 indicating that she was allegedly sexually abused and sustained injuries to her genitals.