I cannot help but react to an Inquirer front page article: “All is forgiven, Tagle tells Celdran” (1/11/15). Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle was reported to have said: “Just to set the record straight, it was not the Church (that) filed the case against [Carlos] Celdran.” I was appalled by the mental dishonesty!
Cardinal Tagle said that the case was by the “people of the Philippines” versus Celdran, deceptively implying that it was the “people” who filed the complaint, not the Catholic Church. Thus, Celdran’s conviction by the trial court and the Court of Appeals was beyond the Church’s control. In fact, he added, “the instruction of then Archbishop of Manila Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales was that ‘no cases should be filed against (Celdran).’ And indeed, no cases were filed by the Church.”
With due respect, Cardinal Tagle was being less than honest. The truth of the matter is, no criminal case under our legal system can prosper without a complainant, be it private or public. The complainant is a vital witness without whose testimony there can be no case.
In this case, it is the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). The criminal charge against Celdran for alleged violation of Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code (“offending religious beliefs”) was filed by the CBCP which is controlled by the Catholic Church through its bishops!
—ROGELIO S. CANDELARIO,
rodscan888@gmail.com