PHILIPPINES
Coconuts Manila
On Tue, Dec 8, the Jesuit congregation confirmed that the priest who allegedly fondled Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte when he was a teenager was also accused of child abuse in the US.
In an interview with radio dzMM, Society of Jesus spokesperson Fr. Nono Alfonso, Jr. said they have verified the records of the late Fr. Mark Falvey, SJ, whom Duterte named as his abuser.
Duterte earlier disclosed that Falvey had been one of the Jesuit priests at the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU).
The mayor said the abuse happened once when he was a high school freshman in 1956. He said other boys were also molested by the American priest.
Duterte said he did not file a case because he was afraid of the priest. He was later expelled from the AdDU due to misconduct, and was sent to a distant school in Digos City, the Holy Cross of Digos, where he eventually finished his secondary education.
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