Bishop wants rape case vs. priest resolved By Anthony Vargas Manila Times (Philippines) June 26, 2008 A CANON law expert and a ranking member of the Catholic Bishops, Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Tuesday called for the immediate resolution of a rape case involving a priest in Mountain Province.  Bohol Bishop Leonardo Medroso, chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Canon Law said the case needs to be resolved soon to minimize its possible negative effects on those involved. On Monday, Fr. Gabriel Madangeng Jr. of the Sta. Rita Parish in Mountain Province was formally charged before a local court for raping right inside his convent a 17-year-old girl who also accused the priest of seven counts of indecent assault between August and December 2006. The accused priest being allegedly involved in the scholarship in a local Catholic school of the victim is the reason why the latter did not publicly accuse the priest. She was afraid of losing the scholarship. The cleric, however, strongly denied the accusations saying the charges were without basis. "The complainant wants to mitigate any reaction which her parents would have against her after she was discovered to have been dating a man in Bontoc," Madangeng said. A year ago, a similar rape case was also filed against Madangeng by a 15-year-old girl also in a local court.

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