Saturday, January 06, 2007 Oasis of Love finally shows up, gives list to NBI
THE Oasis of Love has given the names of the priests who took part in the Nov. 13, 2006 Life in the Spirit seminar held at the Abellana National High School.
Among those named in the list submitted by “head servant” Nonito “Dodong” Limchua to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday morning was the priest who allegedly “touched inappropriately” some of the seminar participants while hearing confession.
A few weeks ago, Oasis refused to give the same list when asked by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the education department, before the incident was sent to the NBI for investigation.
But yesterday, Limchua arrived in person and with counsel. Limchua, in a previous interview, said they had invited 15 priests to take part in the seminar but only seven replied.
NBI investigators are still refusing to give that one name but special investigator Jed Hife said she got “everything needed” from Limchua’s list.
“It places the suspect in the scene of the crime,” supervising agent Renan Oliva said. Oliva is a lawyer.
Suspect
The NBI has a suspect. He was identified by name and photo from his 2005 NBI clearance application by two students, one a complainant and the other, a witness.
As this developed, the Abellana National High School administration yesterday also gave investigators the names of all the students who took part in the seminar.
The list that school principal Ernesto Jacel personally handed to investigators contained current addresses that investigators can use to track down people for additional affidavits.
“All the documents received will be subject to further evaluation,” Hife said.
The submission of the lists was in compliance with a subpoena duces tecum the NBI, through Regional Director Medardo de Lemos, issued last Wednesday.
Dr. Leonilo Oliva, the embattled Cebu City Schools Division Superintendent, also went to the NBI yesterday afternoon to speak with the investigators on the case.
He was included in de Lemos’ subpoena.
Oliva submitted the joint report from the DSWD, Department of Education and City Hall on the Nov. 13 incident.
He said he was in Dumaguete City when it happened and that the DepEd didn’t pursue the matter any further because it doesn’t have any police powers.
He acknowledged that there was de facto authorization for the conduct of the seminar and clarified that he authorized one during the term of former DepEd director Eladio Dioko many years back. It somehow became an annual event.
He said there wasn’t any opposition to it because it coincided with Decs (the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, the forerunner of the DepEd) Order 26.
That order, he said, encourages schools to facilitate a deeper sense of moral values among students.
He hopes the NBI investigation will be finished soon and is optimistic the investigation would vindicate him from any involvement in the mess.
He explained that the incident is one of the issues being used against him in the bid to oust him from his post.
Oliva has been transferred to Lapu-Lapu City but is staying put on the basis of a civil suit for injunction he filed before the Regional Trial Court.
“It is a privilege to be persecuted in the name of God,” he said. (KNR)
