Evil "Men of God"

A Pastor assigned in a Pentecostal church in Benguet was arrested a couple of months ago for rape, sexual assault, and acts of lasciviousness. The victim was a 19-year-old church worker and worse, his counselee. The sexual exploits were committed between September 2012 to August 2013 and within the pastoral house even when church activities are going on. These horrible and revolting actions of a “servant of God” prompted a petition by pastors and church workers in the Pentecostal Church of Baguio-Benguet to condemn the said acts.

News about “Men of God” not practicing what they preach is not new. Just recently also, a pastor was nabbed in Pico, La Trinidad town on April 2014 after selling “shabu,” to an agent. Years ago a church leader was involved with a Pyramiding Scam which siphoned church funds to unknown pockets. Or let us not forget the news about some priests in some remote places in the Cordillera who have sexual relations with their church members or parishioners. Or let us recall the ‘Vatican Scandal’ which involved Bishops who molested/raped young children in their care.

Various cases in the Philippines (and even in the whole world) showed many of these kinds of people; among the more popular is the case of People vs. Deopita (2010).

More than a decade ago, Mr. Deopita not only robbed but also raped a poor young woman. When he was arrested and was brought to trial, he alleged that he is “a person of good moral character” holding as he does the position of “Ministerial Servant” in the congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses, and that he is a godly man, righteous person, and a good Christian who preaches the word of God.

Unconvinced because of the overwhelming evidence pointing to Deopita, the court declared that his “sterling qualities” he mentioned is no guarantee against any sexual perversion and plunderous proclivity. In closing, the court went on to further explain that:

“Indeed, religiosity is not always an emblem of good conduct, and it is not the unreligious alone who succumbs to the impulse to rob and rape…”

____________________________________________________________________

*The Following are other abuses by these "Men of God" in the Philippines, sadly thousands and thousands more are recorded around the world :

 - In 2002 the Catholic Church apologized for sexual abuses, including adultery, homosexuality and child abuse by two hundred priests over the previous 20 years.

  - In 2003 at least 34 priests were suspended in a sex abuse scandal involving sexual harassment of women. 20 were from a single diocese.

   - In 2011, a priest accused of sexually abusing a 17-year old female minor is sheltered by his Bishop, despite calls for his surrender to civil authorities.

The Marivic Genosa Case

People of the Philippines vs. Marivic Genosa

On November 18, 1995,  SPO3 Leo Acodesin, then assigned at the police station at Isabel, Leyte, received a report regarding the foul smell at the Genosas’ rented house.  Together with other police personnel, they  proceeded to the house and went inside the bedroom where they found the dead body of Ben lying on his side wrapped with a bedsheet.  There was blood at the nape of Ben who only had his briefs on.  The bedroom was not in disarray.

_______________

The Teacher-Student relationship Case

    CHUA – QUA vs. CLAVE CASE

In 1976, a teacher married her student and got fired. :)

This case was about an affair and marriage of 30 years old teacher Evelyn Chua in Tay Tung High School in Bacolod City to her 16 years old student, Mr. Bobby Qua. The petitioner teacher was suspended without pay and was terminated of his employment “for Abusive and Unethical Conduct Unbecoming of a Dignified School Teacher” which was filed by a public respondent as a ground for her termination.

This would have been just another illegal dismissal case were it not for the controversial and unique situation that the marriage of Evelyn Chua, then a classroom teacher, to her student who was fourteen (14) years her junior, was considered by the school authorities as sufficient basis for terminating her services. The case went on to the Supreme Court which ruled in favor of Evelyn.

The Supreme Court declared the dismissal illegal saying:

“.....[the school] utterly failed to show that petitioner [30-year old lady teacher] took advantage of her position to court her student [16-year old]. If the two eventually fell in love, despite the disparity in their ages and academic levels, this only lends substance to the truism that the heart has reasons of its own which reason does not know. But, definitely, yielding to this gentle and universal emotion is not to be so casually equated with immorality. The deviation of the circumstances of their marriage from the usual societal pattern cannot be considered as a defiance of contemporary social mores.”

This is a truly remarkable case wherein the Supreme Court ruled in favor of “love”. J


                                           

The Salvacion Case

The Salvacion Case

In 1989, Greg Bartelli, an American tourist, was arrested for committing four counts of rape and serious illegal detention against Karen Salvacion. Police recovered from him several dollar checks and a dollar account in the China Banking Corp. He was, however, able to escape from prison. In a civil case filed against him, the trial court awarded Salvacion moral, exemplary and attorney’s fees amounting to almost P1,000,000.00.

Although the main issue of the case revolves around the execution of judgment on the dollar deposit of Bartelli with the China Banking Corp., the horrifying account of the case brought about that rare reversal of established rules to serve justice, at least, even a bit of it. Here are the details:

------------------------------------------------------------