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Saturday, June 24, 2006
Editorials: Perceptions and Fr. Belciña
For some people, the recommendation of the special panel of prosecutors looking into the rape charges filed against Fr. Jose Belciña was a case of playing it safe, or of giving both sides something to go home with.
The priest got what he wanted, the rape cases were dropped; and it wasn’t a complete loss for the accuser, a child abuse case was recommended.
Or Belciña’s joy was not total, as was the girl’s grief.
The problem with a half-win, half-loss recommendation, however, is that it satisfies nobody, thus the possibility that both sides will end up filing appeals.
Also, the recommendation invites conflicting reactions.
Consensual
Consider, for example, the “some people lied” quip of Cebu archdiocese’s Msgr. Achilles Dakay, an apparent dig at the young complainant and those supporting her.
For him it was like the conclusion of the special panel of prosecutors has taken the form of absolute truth---there was no rape, the girl consented to the sexual act---when it hasn’t, the recommendation being merely the prosecutors’ appraisal of available evidence.
But reactions like that of Dakay naturally ooze from the claim that the sex was consensual: the girl is a liar; she was coached; she has loose morals; she probably enjoyed the sex act, etc.
Child abuse
The more damning reaction to the recommendation, of course, falls on Belciña, whose priestly standing is now being weighed in the context of Dakay’s “some people lied” quip (didn’t he say he didn’t touch the girl?) and the alleged sexual act.
The perception is that while he may have evaded physical hurt because a child abuse case will allow him to post bail unlike in a rape case, he will still have to account for his soul with the accusation he sexually abused a minor.
Which is the reason why Belciña’s lawyer wants the prosecutors panel to drop even the recommendation to file a child abuse case against the priest or if the complaint ends up in court vows to work hard for his acquittal.
Church
In the end, though, the recommendation of the prosecutor’s panel will weigh heavily on the Cebu archdiocese.
Questions on the integrity of the girl and of the people supporting her are only theirs to answer; the tainting of Belciña’s person, however, rubs off on the Church.
Merely hoping that, with the recommendation, the issue will finally be closed is therefore not enough.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 24, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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