MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Rappler CEO Maria Ressa is either a good influence or a bad influence, depending on how you look at it.
Taking its cue from Ressa, who claimed that her arrests for tax evasion and cyber libel are nothing but political persecution, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) today said the recent arrest of Father Kenneth Hendricks speaks of religious persecution.
Hendricks, 77, is an American Catholic priest accused of molesting more than 50 people in the province of Biliran. He was first arrested in December 2018 by virtue of an arrest warrant by United States judge Stephanie Bowman
According to the police, more than 50 people have allegedly been molested by Hendricks since he arrived in the Philippines in 1968. He was ordained as a Franciscan priest and worked in Biliran in a village chapel in the town of Naval.
CBCP appealed to the news media both here and abroad to rally behind Hendricks like they did for “Ressa claims suppression of Press Freedom, we claim suppression of Religious Freedom,” a CBCP spokesperson told The Adobo Chronicles.
It seems that the Rule of Law in the Philippines is all but a myth, thanks to Ressa and CBCP.
