MANILA (UCAN): Victims of sexual abuse committed by the clergy in the Philippines urgently need shelter and protection to withstand pressure to settle or abandon criminal cases against offending priests, according to representatives of the People’s Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance [Preda] Foundation at the start of a three-day Zero Tolerance Abuse Philippines 2025 conference.
Poverty and the slow pace of the legal system hinder survivors in their pursuit of justice, according to Preda, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to protecting and rescuing children from sexual abuse. Preda’s president, Francis Bermido Jr., and its founder, Columban Father Shay Cullen, spoke on the first day of the Zero Tolerance Abuse Philippines 2025 conference, organized by the Ending Abuse Global [ECA] coalition.
The conference opened two days after US-based abuse watchdog, BishopAccountability.org, released its first-ever database of priests accused of sexual abuse in the Philippines. The group listed 84 individuals and accused local bishops of attempting to cover most cases up.
Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability, and Suzy Nauman, database manager, presented their database during a news conference at the University Hotel, at the University of the Philippines, on January 29.
Poverty and the slow pace of the legal system hinder survivors in their pursuit of justice
“Our findings raise sobering questions about the Philippine hierarchy’s commitment to protecting children. We found that despite countless pledges to support victims and protect children, Philippine bishops still side with accused clergy and consistently withhold information about crimes from the public,” Barrett Doyle claimed in a January 28 email announcing the press conference.
The Preda conference aims to widen the conversation in the Philippines on the Catholic Church’s responsibility to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.
Bermido said Preda was presently providing shelter and other material needs for survivors of two abusive clergy. One priest, Karole Israel, belongs to the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao in the north of Luzon, and the other is from the Archdiocese of Cebu.
Israel was arrested in October 2022 and charged with raping a 15-year-old girl volunteer. The priest insists the encounter was consensual, but the Philippine age for consent is 16.
Bermido said Preda documented text messages from a priest in another diocese, offering Israel’s victim a college scholarship in return for dropping the case.
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The longer it takes to hear a case, the higher the risk of fatigue on the part of the victim, who could succumb to bribes to settle
Francis Bermido Jr.
Israel is the only priest currently in jail for rape. Others facing rape charges have been granted bail. They include Father Serlito Villar of Cebu and Father Aron Buencosa of San Carlos, on Negros Island.
According to Preda, prosecutors have indicted Villar on five counts of rape with sexual assault and one count of lascivious conduct toward a boy who was 11 when the alleged crimes began in February 2022.
It is also alleged the priest gave the boy money and threatened to withdraw a scholarship if he talked. Villar has denied the charges.
Buencosa, meanwhile was charged in 2019 for the alleged rape of a four-year-old girl.
“The Philippine justice system is slow and corrupt,” Bermido said. “Two years for the resolution of a case is a record.” He said the Tuguegarao survivor has not yet completed her testimony in court, three years after prosecutors filed the case.
“Prosecutors have told us that even with the best case scenario in the Israel case … any verdict will have to wait until 2026 or later,” he added.
If a bishop cannot discipline his erring priests or hold them accountable, he may end up getting disciplined himself by the pope upon the recommendation of the Dicastery for Bishops
Virgilio Pablo Cardinal David
“The longer it takes to hear a case, the higher the risk of fatigue on the part of the victim, who could succumb to bribes to settle,” Bermido explained pointing out that even in non-Church sex abuse cases handled by Preda, court dismissals often occur after the payment of hush money.
“The goal is ‘to disappear’ the victim,” he said, because prosecution in the Philippines depends on victim testimony.
Preda’s shelters for girls and boys have at least 60 survivors on any given day.
Father Cullen, citing Preda’s success in winning 20 convictions in 2024, said psychosocial healing and frequent workshops are critical to ensure plaintiffs can deliver “credible and straightforward testimony.”
He called the legal journey a torturous slog, with a high probability of police investigators and even prosecutors showing sympathy for the accused.
“Sexual abuse is done in secret. It is the word of the victim against perpetrators,” he said adding that the delay in reporting makes it hard to get clear medical proof.
Senior Philippine clergy swiftly responded to the release of the BishopAccountability.org database by promising to tighten mechanisms for protecting children and the vulnerable.
Sexual abuse is done in secret. It is the word of the victim against perpetrators
Father Shay Cullen
Virgilio Pablo Cardinal David, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines [CBCP], encouraged sexual abuse survivors to file cases against their tormentors in a statement released on the eve of the summit.
“Please don’t hesitate to file complaints against abusive clerics, whether in civil or Church forums,” Cardinal David said in a statement and warned of disciplinary action against bishops failing to follow the Church’s norms.
“If a bishop cannot discipline his erring priests or hold them accountable, he may end up getting disciplined himself by the pope upon the recommendation of the Dicastery for Bishops,” the cardinal said.
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos apologised for allowing two priests accused of sexual abuse to celebrate a public Mass in December last year.
The diocese had placed Buencosa and Father Conrad Ursua Mantac on administrative leave immediately after complaints were filed against them.
“I must admit I was the one who allowed this one exception of concelebration on a special occasion not realising it would cause confusion and great concern to some. For this, I apologiae,” Bishop Alminaza said.
His latest statement said that following the outcry, the priests were asked to “pray and celebrate Mass in private.”
