CEBU, Philippines – The family of a 17-year-old teenage mother shamed by a priest during her child’s baptism in Mandaue City last Sunday has dropped plans of filing a complaint against him following a tearful apology he personally made to her.
Instead, the family has decided to go after her 22-year-old boyfriend who allegedly abandoned her while she was still pregnant and nearly drove her to commit suicide.
Primo Cadampog, chief investigator of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)-Region 7, said he initially intended to talk to the girl’s family Wednesday about the planned case against Redemptorist priest Fr. Romeo Obach, but he instead ended up finalizing the complaint against the baby’s father.
“We were to discuss the complaint against the priest. But they were already satisfied that he asked for forgiveness,” Cadampog said in Cebuano.
“The priest’s public apology and handwritten apology were enough for them. Now, it is the guy who fathered the child but fled who they want sued,” he added.
Cadampog said the child’s father violated the Anti-Child Abuse law and the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act.
Lawyer Dante Jadman of CHR-Region 7 said the family is set to formalize the complaint next week.
Fr. Alfonso Suico Jr., spokesman of the Redemptorist community, said the teenage girl’s mother and a companion went to the order’s provincialate accompanied by a staffer to meet Obach Tuesday afternoon.
In that meeting, Obach handed the girl’s mother a letter for her and her daughter and hugged her.
“I did not have any idea that they met because I was facilitating the release of the statement. But I learned that it was an emotional encounter,” Suico said.
Handwritten letter
In the handwritten letter, Obach apologized for what he did, which he said he deeply regretted.
“Allow me to express my utmost regret in having hurt you and those around. I did not intend to utter those words; please forgive me for what I did last July 6, 2014 at the Sacred Heart Chapel,” he wrote in Cebuano.
“It is my hope that the wounds in our hearts caused by this unwanted incident would heal the soonest. Once again, please forgive me. I am ready to meet you in a time (and) place of your choosing to personally plead before you for forgiveness,” he added.
Asked what she felt after getting Obach’s handwritten letter, the teenage mother said she felt relieved, noting how the priest exerted effort in making it.
“I feel okay already. I can forgive him if he is willing to meet and speak with me,” she said in the dialect before they finally met Wednesday.
Suico, meanwhile, clarified that Obach was not suspended, as reported by some media outlets, but was merely disallowed from officiating mass in public so he would have more time to ponder what he did.
“He is in Cebu because he is asked not to leave, not at this time. He was ordered to stay in the provincialate to have more personal prayer and silence,” Suico said, adding that their internal investigation is ongoing.
“We really do it (investigation) according to the right process. Even if reconciliation between the family and the priest happens, the investigation continues and proper actions will be done,” Suico said. – Jessa Agua, Christell Fatima Tudtud/Freeman