There are some good Filipino bishops and priests who have stood for human rights, especially those of vulnerable and abused children. One bishop has encouraged people to file criminal charges against clerical child sex abusers. He is Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan.
This brave follower of Jesus of Nazareth has stood in defense of the poor and taken an unwavering stand for human rights and dignity. He has also risked his life and reputation by challenging the death squads of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The late Pope Francis strongly commended and supported him for his stand — something all Filipino Christians should be doing.
Cardinal David was — and is — living out his faith by speaking out and helping the families of victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during Duterte’s presidency, as part of the former president’s war on illegal drugs.
The cardinal also stands with the victims of clerical sexual abuse, telling them and their families to file charges against the perpetrators.
Born in Pampanga on March 2, 1959, Cardinal David — who is fondly called “Fr. Ambo” or “Bishop Ambo” — has been a human rights advocate since his student days, when he joined demonstrations during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
A biblical scholar, Cardinal David was made a bishop in 2015 and a cardinal in 2024, both by Pope Francis. As bishop of Kalookan, the cardinal opened rehabilitation programs for drug users to protect them and held processions and memorial services for EJK victims.
Cardinal David earned the ire of Duterte, who insulted him and his mother with profanities and filed sedition charges against him to keep him from demanding justice for the victims of the Duterte death squads. Right now, Duterte is in the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, to face charges of crimes against humanity.
The false charges filed by the police against him and three other outspoken bishops — Socrates Villegas, Honesto Ongtioco, and Teodoro Bacani — on July 19, 2019, were for “sedition, cyber libel, libel, estafa, harboring a criminal, and obstruction of justice.” Similar charges were also filed against Fr. Robert Reyes and Bro. Armin Luistro, FSC.
“It has been a heartbreaking meeting with the widows, orphans [and] families of the victims of the war against drugs,” Cardinal David once said, expressing his pain for having been “vilified by the government.”
“Our lives have been threatened, but I know in my conscience that what I am doing is right — taking a spiritual stance as a pastor,” he said.
In 2020, he and his fellow accused were exonerated, as there was no evidence against them. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a pastoral letter condemning the killings. However, most of the 90 bishops and archbishops, as well as two cardinals, apparently remained silent on the EJKs.
Following a summit demanding zero tolerance of clerical child sexual abuse that was held at the University of the Philippines Diliman on Jan. 30, Cardinal David took the opportunity to respond to the allegations of a massive cover-up of such abuse by bishops who are doing everything they can to prevent the victims from testifying and to protect the clergy from answering to the courts for their alleged crimes. Cardinal David told the media:
“The Church, being a human institution, is not exempt from sin and corruption. Admittedly, [a] lack of accountability compromises our moral and spiritual authority.”
He then added:
“Please don’t hesitate to file complaints against abusive clerics whether in the civil or church forums.”
This reinforced support for the position of child rights defenders who are demanding the civil prosecution and conviction of clerical child abusers as the most effective way to stop the abuse. Apparently, no priest has been convicted of child abuse in the Philippines.
Bishops should stop protecting their child-abusing “sons” and believe, obey, and implement the words of Jesus of Nazareth: “If anyone causes a child to lose faith in me, it is better that a millstone be tied around his neck and he be drowned in the deep sea.” (Matthew 18:6). Let the evidence be presented and the courts decide, where justice can be — and be seen to be — done.
However, many bishops seem to think all child abuse charges against priests are private matters for the Church to deal with, as Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle appeared to strongly imply in an interview with Stephen Sackur, host of the BBC’s HARDtalk program, several years ago.
This was before Pope Francis removed the leadership team of Caritas Internationalis, including Cardinal Tagle (who was president then), following an investigation that uncovered deficiencies in management and procedures — and after a convicted pedophile priest, Salesian Luk Delft, was appointed head of Caritas in the Central African Republic, as exposed by a CNN report.
Will the Philippine justice system ever be able to convict a Catholic priest, or are judges under the power of — and intimidated by — the Church hierarchy? In the Diocese of San Carlos, Negros Occidental, there is a court case against a Fr. Conrad Mantac, who is accused of raping a 17-year-old girl. Just before the teenager was to testify, she and her mother were threatened and forced to leave Negros out of fear.
The diocese did not provide protection for the victim. An arrangement was made between the prosecutor and the defense lawyer, with the agreement of the judge in court, to provisionally dismiss the case based on the prosecutor’s motion saying the teenage victim had to leave Negros Occidental and did not want to continue the case. There was — and is — no evidence in writing to support that contention, and the victim said it was not true.
The cover-up of abuse and threats against victims of clerical abuse must end and justice must prevail. Abused children need a champion, and Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David can help end this and allow civil cases to be filed — and won.
Note: Any original information, stories, or news articles posted on this site authored by the Preda Foundation and Father Shay Cullen may be shared, copied, or reproduced without further permission in support of the truth, freedom of expression, and the right to know.
Irish Father Shay Cullen, SSC, established the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sex abuse. The views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of LiCAS.news
