Inaction

Jeers to Malaya for publishing a one-sided story on the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) supposed inaction on sexual abuse cases.

Its Sep. 1 article “Women’s groups hit CBCP inaction on sexual abuse raps” (page B2) reported the claim of Merian Aldea, spokesperson of the Women and Gender Commission, a women’s desk founded by members of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, that the CBCP has not acted on sexual abuse cases against some Catholic priests.

In the article, Aldea recalled the sexual harassment and rape cases allegedly committed by some members of the clergy, while saying  that “we are not revealing this just to attack the Church… We are criticizing (the bishops) so they could reform the institution. They need to do something about these cases of sexual abuse and not to cover them up.”

Aldea added that “almost 40 percent of the cases were rape and more than 50 percent sexual harassment.” She also said “majority of the cases (73 percent) were committed against females and the rest against males, with the victims’ ages ranging from the 20s to mid-30s.”

Malaya failed to provide the response of the CBCP and instead solicited the views of UP School of Economics professor Dr. Ernesto Pernia who criticized the church for its inaction on the latest case of abuse allegedly involving parish priest Fr. Raul Cabonce of Tubay, Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, and the views as well of former senator Leticia Ramos Shahani who had persuaded the sexual violence victims to reveal the names of their abusers.

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