THE St. John’s Institute (SJI), or Hua Ming, denied it shut down the Queen of Peace Church located inside its school compound over the weekend.
SJI Board of Trustees president Cesar Villanueva Sunday, April 2, said they only closed the main gate of the school, and not the church.
The move, however, cancelled the 5:30 p.m. mass on Saturday and left some parishioners stranded outside. Masses resumed on Sunday.
Villanueva said the school closed the gate after his verbal tussle that later became physical with Father Ernie Larida, rector of Queen of Peace Church, that day. He added it was for security purposes that they closed the gate of the school.
Larida confronted Villanueva, saying “tapuson ta ni (let’s finish this).” The SJI executive said they raised their voices during the exchange.
He added the priest hit him on the stomach.
“It was unprovoked. I did not threaten him,” Villanueva said, adding that the physical assault was “uncalled for.”
In response, Larida said he did not harm the SJI official, adding that he put his hand out in self-defense as Villanueva was approaching him.
The verbal spat stemmed from the mounting of a streamer, which has the schedule of the Holy Week masses.
Larida was asked by the school’s security guard Alberto Jabagat, who also joined the press conference, if there’s a go-signal from the Administration Office to put up such since Larida was supposed to be on leave. Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon temporarily serves as rector.
Jabagat claimed Larida insisted to put up the tarp then church lay minister Alfonso Dacles pushed the security guard. He also castigated SJI executive secretary Cara Encontro.
Dacles allegedly told them: “Indi na di inyo. Iya ni ka simbahan. (This is not yours. This is the church’s).
Villanueva, Jabagat and Encontro reported the incident to the police.
Last year, Larida and Dacles also berated Father Reechee Espiritu, school administrator, for putting up a tarpaulin, a report on the incident showed.
Moreover, Villanueva said Buzon, during their telephone conversation, said it’s unfortunate it happened and apologized for the incident.
The bishop, however, feels it is “extreme” to close the gate, Villanueva said.
He added the gates were closed so the vehicles can’t get inside, but the gate for pedestrians is still open.
“Parishioners can still get inside,” Villanueva said.
He added they are “seriously studying” filing charges against Larida.
Also, there’s a streamer mounted outside the school gate, informing the public they had to close it due to the unfortunate incident between the administrative and security staff and those who are running the church.
“In order to avoid more violence perpetrated by no less than a priest and a leader of their church organization, we deemed it best to close the main gates,” the message read.
It also said they informed Buzon about it and that churchgoers could still enter the premises.
“Again, we reiterate that the Church will remain open to the faithful but we are also mindful about the security of our staff and the students who continue to use our facilities,” the tarpaulin said.
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