GMA News online (Phillipines)
08/26/2011 | 05:24 PM
A 17-year old girl who was reportedly raped by a parish priest in Agusan del Norte is now under the care of women’s rights organization Gabriela, an officer of the group said Friday.
In a statement, Gabriela’s executive director Lana Linaban said the victim “Leah” (not her real name) is already in their custody, and that the minor has already filed cases last Thursday against Fr. Raul Cabonce, parish priest of Tubay town.
Early in July, a Tubay municipal welfare officer said the girl and her mother had gone missing after reporting the abuse to a group of Catholic nuns.
According to earlier reports, Leah was a scholar of Fr. Cabonce in exchange for her services as a helper in the priest’s convent.
The first incident of molestation occurred last February 27, 2011. Subsequent molestations, the last one ending in rape, happened last March 3 and 14, this year, Linaban said.
Two counts of rape, Child Abuse in relation to R.A. 7610 and Acts of Lasciviousness were filed Thursday morning before Agusan del Norte Provincial Prosecutor Office against Fr. Cabonce.
In four-page complaint affidavit furnished to GMA News Online, the complainant, born December 5, 1992, claimed the respondent Priest molested her at the St. Anne Parish convent.
The sexual assaults, according to the complaint affidavit, allegedly began sometime in September and October last year, when she was allegedly requested by the respondent to massage him inside his room in the convent.
The complainant said she was raped twice by the respondent some sometime in February and March this year inside his room.
In her complaint affidavit, she said Fr. Cabonce was formerly Parish Priest of Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte, the girl’s home town and where her mother was a catechist and church volunteer servant. Cabonce, who had been was transferred to Tubay, to brought her along to work as a convent girl.
Gabriela-Caraga chairperson Atel Hijos said former Surigao City Mayor lawyer Alfonso Casurra is a pro-bono legal counsel of the victim.
GMA News Online tried but failed to reach Fr. Cabonce, who is allegedly staying at the Bishop’s House in Butuan City.
In a radio interview early in July, Cabonce denied the allegations saying: “I categorically deny allegations of rape hurled against me… please check the background of the family of the victim first before judging me.”
Meanwhile, Gabriela encouraged the Roman Catholic hierarchy to take the necessary steps to help Leah get the justice that she deserves.
They called on the Church to investigate the case and file the necessary charges against the priest should they find enough basis.
“It is not enough to transfer the erring priest to another parish where he can still violate other girls. He should be made accountable under the State laws as well as Church laws,” Linaban said. — with a report by Ben Serrano/LBG, GMA News
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Agusan Norte Catholic priest denies charges of rape
07 July 2011
BUTUAN CITY — The Catholic priest in Agusan del Norte accused of raping a 17-year-old working student in Tubay town denied on Tuesday the allegations, saying his detractors should investigate first the family background of the girl.
In a radio interview, Fr. Raul Cabonce, the parish priest of Tubay, said “I categorically deny allegations of rape hurled against me… please check the background of the family of the victim first before judging me.”
The alleged victim, who was working in Cabonce’s convent in exchange for her studies, claimed the priest raped her in February and March this year.
Interviewed by Bombo Radyo, Cabonce insisted his detractors made up the accusations against him.
“Buhat-buhat ni nila [detractors] ang mga alegasyon batok nako… wa ko mang-rape,” he said.
Women’s group Gabriela-Caraga Region chapter, together with the Missionary Sisters of Mary, is helping the victim in making known her complaint.
Last Tuesday morning, Gabriela confirmed in a broadcast on dxBC the girl’s complaint.
The girl and her family are now in the protective custody of Gabriela, said the group’s secretary general Atel Hijos.
In interviews on Friday and Saturday on dxBR Bombo Radyo Butuan, the victim explained how she was raped by Cabonce on February 3 and on March 14.
She alleged that on Feb. 3, Cabonce ordered her to massage him and then the priest requested for oral sex.
The victim said that after she refused to give in to the request, Cabonce raped her.
Moreover, the victim said that on March 14, Cabonce called her again and ordered her to massage him. Again, the priest raped her.
She claimed that in September last year, she told her parents that the suspect had begun to caress her and touch her private parts.
She said her mother advised her then to take care of herself as it was unwise to stop her studies in the middle of the school year just to avoid the priest, who earlier offered to send her to school if she would agree to work at his convent in Tubay.
“We are still on the process of preparing two counts of rape and one count of acts of lasciviousness criminal cases against Fr. Cabonce,” Gabriela’s Hijos said.
Fr. Raul Cabonce in an interview on Bombo Radyo Butuan on Tuesday alleged the sisters of the victim were all victims of rape and that people of Las Nieves town, where used to be parish priest before transferring to Tubay, knew the background of the victim’s family.
Cabonce, however, did not elaborate on the matter. — Ben Serrano/LBG, GMA News
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17-year-old girl in Agusan Norte accuses Catholic priest of rape
07 July 2011
BUTUAN CITY — A 17-year-old high school student in Tubay town in Agusan del Norte is accusing a Catholic parish priest of rape, a human rights group said Friday.
According to Dr. Naty Castro, secretary general of human rights group Karapatan-Caraga chapter, the victim also sought the help of women’s group Gabriela and the Missionary Sisters of Mary (MSM) in making her complaint against Tubay parish priest Fr. Raul Cabonce.
Castro said the victim, who is now under the care of her close relatives in Barangay Maningalao in Las Nieves town, was a working student at St. Anne Parish.
Barangay Maningalao is a far-flung barangay of Las Nieves, which is about 80 kilometers away from Tubay and about 25 kilometers from Butuan City, Caraga region’s capital.
Castro told GMA News Online that her colleague Gabriela secretary general Atel Hijos and the group’s field worker had direct access to the victim.
Also, Catsro said Gabriela is helping the victim and her family amid alleged threats to their lives.
In a phone interview with GMA News Online, Gabriela’s Hijos confirmed the rape complaint against Fr. Cabonce, but could not give much details on the case as she was still on the road during the interview.
Bombo Radyo Butuan had reported that the rape incidents happened in February and March this year.
In live broadcast interviews on Friday and Saturday on DXBR Bombo Radyo Butuan, the victim explained how she was raped by Cabonce on February 3 and on March 14.
She alleged that on Feb. 3, Cabonce ordered her to massage him and then the priest requested for oral sex.
The victim said that after she refused to give in to the request, Cabonce raped her.
Moreover, the victim said that on March 14, Cabonce called her again and ordered her to massage him. Again, the priest raped her.
Sobbing during the radio interview, the victim claimed that when she returned home in September last year, she told her parents that the suspect had started to caress her and touch her private parts.
She said her mother advised her then to take care of herself as it was unwise to stop her studies in the middle of the school year just to avoid the priest, who earlier offered to send her to school if she would agree to work at his convent.
Poverty had forced her to accept Cabonce’s offer, the girl said.
Before he was transferred to Tubay town, Cabonce served as parish priest of Las Nieves, the victim’s hometown.
The victim said she and her parents are determined to file a case against Cabonce.
GMA News Online tried many times but failed to contact Cabonce. Also, GMA News went to the Butuan Diocese bishop’s house twice to verify the matter, but there was no office personnel to answer queries.
GMA News Online also tried to reach Butuan Diocese Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos for comment but again to no avail. — Ben Serrano/LBG, GMA News