CEBU CITY (PHILIPPINES)
New York Times [New York NY]
May 12, 2026
By Sui-Lee Wee and Aie Balagtas See
Michal Gatchalian dared to speak out against sexual abuse by a priest in the devoutly Catholic Philippines. He’s now a lawyer helping other victims.
As an altar boy in the late 1990s, Michal Gatchalian spent almost every Sunday at a centuries-old Roman Catholic basilica in Cebu City, the Philippines. There he met a fun-loving priest who gave the boys rides on his motorcycle.
On Jan. 11, 1998, the priest, Apolinario “Jing” Mejorada, invited the then 17-year-old Mr. Gatchalian and another altar boy to the movies. At the theater, the teenagers said, he molested them. About 20 months later, Mr. Gatchalian said Father Mejorada sexually abused him again. That episode, he said, occurred at the home of the priest, who demanded oral sex from him. Mr. Gatchalian said he refused.
A month later, Mr. Gatchalian complained to church leaders. His efforts went nowhere and he decided to take his case to the courts, in what was a remarkable act at the time. He was the rare abuse victim who publicly fought for accountability in the Philippines, a devoutly Catholic country, before the Roman Catholic Church’s clergy abuse scandal ricocheted across the globe.
But even after Father Mejorada admitted in court proceedings that he had “fondled and touched” the boys’ thighs, justice remained elusive.
Now 45, Mr. Gatchalian is a lawyer and has started a group to help other survivors of clergy abuse with legal advice and moral support, becoming the public face of victims in the Philippines where so few have dared to come forward. The church in the country, critics say, continues to close ranks to protect its own.