Ana Basa: We’re talking only now due to revelations in trial

March 10, 2012 

By Cynthia D. Balana 
Philippine Daily Inquirer

(Last of two parts)

(Editor’s Note: In this interview, Ana Basa, one of Jose Ma. Basa III’s nine children and one of the heirs of the original stockholders of Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc., talks about the family corporation and what she says were the injustices heaped on them by Chief Justice Renato Corona and his wife Cristina.

For security reasons, Ana, who is here on a short visit, requested the Inquirer not to reveal her whereabouts. She has been in the casino business for more than 20 years in Las Vegas, Nevada.

She clarified on Tuesday a sentence in the introduction to Part 1 of the Q and A which reads: “Jose Ma. Basa III, one of the original BGEI incorporators, had filed an estafa case against his niece [Cristina] for her alleged failure to account for the P34-million income from the sale of a property on Bustillos Street in Sampaloc, Manila, to the city government.”

Ana said the estafa case against Cristina Corona, filed in 1995, was about the BGEI rental income, not the proceeds from the sale of the property. )

Philippine Daily Inquirer: Of the original stockholders of Basa-Guidote, how many are still alive?

Ana Basa and Cristina Corona

ANA BASA: Well, my Mom is 83 years old and she’s one of the stockholders. Sister Flor just turned 90; Cecilia Basa, spouse of Mario Basa who passed away; Cristina’s mom, Asuncion Roco, already passed away.

Basa is my grandfather, Guidote is my grandmother’s last name. That’s why it became Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. My grandmother, after my grandfather passed away, set up the corporation so that someday all her children would have a business, a life together.

I didn’t think in her wildest dreams that it would end up like this. BGEI is just a small corporation. It’s really about the injustice. It’s about us telling the truth. We just want the truth to come out, how these things just kinda got so out of control. Imagine one person being in sole control of a corporation? Her (Cristina’s) mom only had a 10-percent share!

PDI: How did it happen?

BASA: Like I said, we still have pending cases in court regarding BGEI. So we really would rather not discuss the cases right now.

PDI: I understand Cristina’s father was the president (of the corporation)?

BASA: Cristina’s father was a lawyer and he was the president of the corporation. Being a lawyer, we trusted him of course, Vicente Roco also being our tito. He eventually entrusted this to his daughter, Cristina, who  became like his administratrix. Since then we never questioned anything because, you know, why should you not trust your own relatives? It was not until 1989 when we started receiving complaints from the tenants of the property [the Basa-Guidote Building on Legarda Street corner J. Figueras Street (formerly Bustillos) in Sampaloc, Manila].

My dad felt it was time (for us) to find out what was going on. He asked for an accounting but we have never been able to attain that. So I don’t understand why an administratrix of BGEI refuses to show us an accounting. That’s why when that piece of property in Manila was sold in 2001, expropriated, to the city of Manila, we didn’t really know what happened to the funds.

PDI: Have you not talked with Cristina?

BASA: I wrote Cristina a personal letter years ago … my father had already passed away, if we could just work this out. We don’t need to keep fighting over this whole thing. I’ve never been able to get her to respond and I believe it’s because she knew, this is just my feeling, that we could not fight them because they were so powerful. Not her alone, because she could not have done this on her own but she obviously is married to someone (who) at that time was already in Malacañang.

When he (Renato Corona) was nominated to be part of the Supreme Court as an associate justice, my father tried to oppose that with the JBC (Judicial and Bar Council) because we knew that the abuse that they’ve done toward us. If he can do that to us, what more (to) those who are not rich, who are not powerful, who are just ordinary people?

It’s important for the people to know that they have someone in the Supreme Court, particularly a Chief Justice whom they should trust because cases are under the Supreme Court and is part of the judicial system. But if people cannot trust [the Chief Justice], then something needs to be done. Because as I said, [if cases are decided] based on merits, would we still have pending cases? But it’s not about merits anymore. It is based on who your enemy is. We were even told by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and others told us, “Your problem is you have a powerful enemy.” We knew that.

We were told that we had a good case but our problem is our enemy. We hired lawyers but they quit. They became afraid because they were threatened and followed. They no longer wanted to represent us because they said they, they too, have families.

I said: Oh my God! Even lawyers were afraid to represent us. That’s not good for this country to have that sort of fear of a powerful enemy. To me [striking fear in the hearts of your enemy’s lawyers] is an abuse of his power.

PDI: On the P11 million (Corona’s cash advance from BGEI), do you have any idea how Corona was able to obtain that loan?

BASA: We were shocked. We saw it in his SALN. How can they make a cash advance? Shouldn’t they get some sort of a board resolution to allow the cash advance?

PDI: How come there was a withdrawal? What’s the business of Basa-Guidote?

BASA: We had rentals there, about eight tenants. That’s why I’m saying that for BGEI to be included in the impeachment trial, it’s just our family corporation. My grandmother, Rosario Guidote Basa, my dad, Tito Mario, Tita Monina and Tita Chitang, bless their souls, can’t even be at peace right now because all of this is still happening. I don’t think my lolo and lola ever imagined that by setting up a corporation the family was going to end up like this.

PDI: You were renting out the building to tenants?

BASA: We were renting out stalls and Cristina at the time was in charge of collecting rent.

PDI: Is lending money also part of your business?

BASA: I am uncertain of this.

PDI: What about the P32.6 million in three PSBank accounts, which according to his lawyers, was the money from Basa-Guidote? Probably, Cristina just put the money in the name of her husband for safekeeping because of pending cases.

BASA: I don’t know why it’s even under Renato Corona’s name because it should have been deposited under BGEI’s account.

I don’t know what to say about all that. We’re here really to try to get answers because we have not been able to obtain any kind of accounting for BGEI as to where the money went. The cash advance surprised us. We didn’t bring this out. We only found out during the impeachment trial because it was in his SALN.

PDI: What’s the status of this company? Is it closed already?

BASA: Well, apparently. I only found out during the impeachment trial that it was already dissolved in 2003.

PDI: Yes, and that’s according to the SEC.

BASA: If Cristina’s saying she’s the administratrix of BGEI, why doesn’t she report to the SEC all that she’s supposed to do? I believe that SEC was formed to protect corporations, but I can’t understand how one person can have full control [of a company] and the other stockholders are deprived of their rights.

PDI: The SEC said it (BGEI) failed to report three times already that was why it decided to dissolve it based on SEC rules.

BASA: Well, because Cristina, I guess, didn’t report to the SEC. I don’t know because we were not in control.

PDI: Where is the office of Basa-Guidote?

BASA: It was in Manila. It’s gone. The property has been expropriated.

PDI: By the city of Manila?

BASA: Yes. That was sold to the city of Manila, through Mayor Lito Atienza.

PDI: How come Corona was able to take out a loan from BGEI when it was already dissolved?

BASA: That’s what we would like to know. We really want to get some answers. I think they said that they were paying back the loans. To whom are they paying back? Let’s say they borrowed money from BGEI, and are paying back, where are they depositing the payments? I don’t know.

PDI: If the money paid by the Manila government for expropriating the Basa-Guidote property belonged to the company, why was it deposited in Renato Corona’s account instead of being deposited in a corporate account or in an escrow account?

BASA: We’d like to know. I don’t have any answers because I don’t know the laws here in the Philippines as far as corporate and banking [matters are concerned] if the check was made out to Cristina Corona in trust of BGEI. We don’t know where that check was deposited.

PDI: All of you are American citizens? All your siblings?

BASA: Yes, my father was not and he was one of the original stockholders. We’re the heirs.

PDI: So how many more are alive?

BASA: Well, Tita Flory is still around. My dad’s side, we are nine kids. Cristina’s side, there are eight siblings. Then my Tito Mario has nine. The two nuns have no children, obviously.

PDI: But the other sister is still alive, right? Can she talk?

BASA: You know what? As a nun, she’s very forgiving and we are all very forgiving people. I have long forgiven them. This is just about telling the truth.

PDI: So all in all there are 26 heirs?

BASA: Nine, nine and eight. I don’t know if Asuncion gave 10 percent of BGEI shares directly to Cristina or to the family. I think it was given to Cristina but how about the rest of her siblings?

You know, what is sad is that a family is supposed to be family. It’s sad because all of this turned out like this. But the fight is not just for us—me, my family. The fight really is more for justice. And even now we continue to fight because I told my father, on his death bed, “I would continue his fight for justice.”

PDI: That’s why the pending cases?

BASA: Well, it’s justice for the sufferings that were done to [us]. I said somebody needs to be accountable. You know when you do something, you need to be accountable for what you do. So I believe the Coronas need to be held accountable.

PDI: The Chief Justice has been saying it’s a family problem.

BASA: I don’t understand him saying in front of TV and newspapers that he “purposely stayed away from this because this BGEI is a family issue.” But then I personally saw him in court during our hearings with his security (detail). So if he purposely stayed away, why was he attending our hearings and standing in front of the judge during the hearing? I saw them walking into the judge’s chamber just before the hearing started. So at that time, I wondered why they entered the judge’s chamber and talked to the judge just before the hearing started.

Is that allowed? I really did not understand why it was happening back then. And all we could do was just sit and wait for the judge to come out for the hearing. And so obviously we lost our cases.

Like I said, why would he say he purposely stayed away. If he purposely stayed away, why was the money in his account and not under BGEI? How was he able to get a cash advance? That’s not purposely staying away. That is actually purposely being involved.

We just want answers. If my dad did not get justice in his lifetime, we would like to see at least my mother, my Tita Flory and the rest to get justice in their lifetime so that they can move on and enjoy peace. They can at least enjoy life different from spending the past 20 years being afraid, being so oppressed and being under duress because of these cases. That’s not how you wanna live the rest of your life as you get older.

PDI: Have you tried reconciling with Cristina?

BASA: Well, we did. We tried that. I sent a personal letter to Cristina to please, if anybody had done anything, let’s forgive and just be family. But they never responded. We tried to reach out and I asked many people to talk to the Coronas to see how we can put an end to this. But at that time, apparently they were not ready to do that. Again, because they were in power, so why settle with us? Because they could just step all over us. They still have the power and I think all of this is an abuse of his power.

My entire family … I don’t even know the right words—pain, suffering, frustrations, heartaches, you name it. We felt all that. In the end, we just want our family and relatives to feel somehow victorious that we got justice in our lifetime.

Again, like I said earlier, we’re coming out now because there’s been a lot of revelations that we’re finding out through the impeachment trial. It’s almost like … I don’t know how to call it. Is that a blessing in disguise or is this what they call karma? Because now, we at least finally got some answers but there’s still a lot of questions like you said. But we’re still waiting to get some answers.

I would like to believe and feel… I don’t wanna be afraid of them retaliating because we were traumatized all those years. We knew that we could easily feel that fear. Why can’t the Filipinos just live without fear or favor, you know? If there’s a case, why can’t it all just be done fairly without feeling that you need to be afraid of who you are up against?

PDI: Why are you in tears?

BASA: Because it’s bringing back sad memories of how my parents were suffering… the fear in their faces. I even had to send somebody to pick them up at our house because they were being harassed—people with guns walking around our house. And so we had to bring them to a hotel.

It’s just really sad for me to watch my parents and my other aunts to be so afraid for their lives.

PDI: Do you fear for your life, safety?

BASA: No, I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t fear for my life. Before, yeah. My parents were so afraid. We were all afraid because of the harassment, phone calls from people you don’t know.

We should really be able to live our lives without fear you know. Our fear stemmed from the fact that they were capable of harassing us.

We have to stress that I’m doing this also for the good of the country. Not only for us. It’s for the good of the country that there’ll be justice for everyone.

Ana Basa: We were oppressed by the Coronas

March 10, 2012

By Cynthia D. Balana
Philippine Daily Inquirer

(First of two parts)

ANNA BASA “We were shocked to know 
that there was an P11-million cash advance 
given to Corona in his SALN report.” 
RICHARD REYES

Impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona reported in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) in 2003 and 2004 that he had obtained an P11-million cash advance from Basa-Guidote Enterprise Inc. (BGEI).

The alleged loan has turned media attention to BGEI, the company established in 1961 by the family of the Chief Justice’s wife, Cristina Roco-Corona, and the internal squabble that pitted one side of the family against another.

At the impeachment trial, Corona’s lawyers said the money [P32.6 million according to the prosecution] withdrawn by Corona from his three peso time deposit accounts with Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) on Dec. 12, 2011, came from the proceeds of the sale of a piece of BGEI property to the City of Manila. The withdrawals came on the same day that 188 members of the House of Representatives impeached the Chief Justice.

Jose Ma. Basa III, one of the original BGEI stockholders and Cristina’s uncle, had filed an estafa case against his niece for her alleged failure to account for the P34-million income from the sale of a property on Bustillos Street in Sampaloc, Manila, to the city government.

The case, however, was dismissed by the court, and Cristina won a libel case against Jose Ma. III and his wife for putting out a public notice in the Philippine Daily Inquirer which she alleged was malicious and put her in a bad light. Jose Ma. III died not long after in the United States. [The notice appeared in the Classified Section of the Inquirer on June 4, 1995. It announced that Jose Ma. III, who claimed to be a majority stockholder, had filed a criminal case against Cristina for allegedly misappropriating rentals due BGEI.]

In this interview, Ana Basa, one of Jose Ma. III’s nine children and one of the heirs of the original stockholders of BGEI, talks about the family corporation and what she claims were the injustices heaped on them by the Corona couple. Some paragraphs of the transcript of the interview were interposed for clarity.

For security reasons, Ana, who is here on a short visit, requested the Inquirer not to reveal her whereabouts. She has been in the casino business for more than 20 years now in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The impeachment trial will resume on March 12, and it will be the turn of the defense panel to prove that the P11 million that Corona declared as a liability in his SALN and the P32.6 million he withdrew from PSBank on December 12 did not belong to him.

PDI: I understand you are already based in the US. Why are you here in the Philippines?

ANA BASA: We came here mainly to visit my Tita Flory, who is a nun. She just turned 90 and is one of the original stockholders of BGEI. She’s the sister of my father and Cristina’s mother, Asuncion Roco.

Part of the reason we came is because, you know, we never dreamed that BGEI or even the stockholders would be involved in this impeachment case. The only reason we are sitting here with you now is because Renato Corona included  BGEI in his SALN report. That was the first time the stockholders learned about his business interest in BGEI. The original stockholders—my father, Asuncion Basa, Mario Basa and Sister Concepcion Basa—have passed away, except for Sister Flory Basa. So we were shocked that there was an P11-million cash advance given to Corona in his SALN report.

We’re coming out now because we’ve been asking the controlling body of BGEI to show us the corporate books. We’ve been asking for this for years and years, I believe since 1989. Cristina Corona is the administratrix of BGEI and stockholders have been denied their legal rights to inspect the books of BGEI.

BASA-GUIDOTE BUILDING SITE Residents
say the Basa-Guidote building used to stand 
on this vacant lot in Legarda, Manila. 
GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

The remaining stockholders, who are now in their late 80s and 90s, including Sister Flory Basa, still have pending cases involving BGEI. We’re not doing this to either support or oppose Corona’s impeachment. But in the past 20 plus years, they heaped sufferings upon my parents, Jose Ma. III and Raymunda “Randy,” and the rest of the stockholders of BGEI. So much injustice has happened and (sobbed) … this makes me sad when I talk about this because it brings back memories of my dad who fought and struggled just to get justice.

It’s almost impossible for someone like Cristina Roco-Corona to be able to heap this injustice on us without someone there to help her. Talagang inapi kami (We were really oppressed) in a way that I can’t even express in words the sufferings. So I just want to make people realize that we believe that a Chief Justice whom Cristina is married to was involved in this type of injustice because Cristina on her own could not have done that.

You know, there were incidents where my parents were being harassed. There were people sent to our house with guns, scaring my parents, and phone calls in the middle of the night because there were pending cases regarding this corporation.

Inapi kami talaga (We were really oppressed). If they can do (this) to their own blood relatives, what more to people out there who are old, are not politicians, are not rich and are not lawyers? My parents were just ordinary citizens, just being good citizens here in the Philippines and yet to have your own blood relatives cause this type of injustice is … (sobbed)

My father unfortunately passed away without getting justice. My mother, who is one of the stockholders and is now 83, still wants to see justice. Imagine up to now, we still have a warrant of arrest because there was a libel case that was filed against us. She wanted to come here to visit Tita Flory, a nun for over 60 years, on her 90th birthday. Sister Flor was actually asked about her wish. She said “I just wanna see justice in my lifetime.” Imagine a nun even saying that? And then there was an incident—our caretaker whom Corona pointed a gun at.

Caretaker

PDI: Who was that?

BASA: Mang Indo (Pedro Aguilon). It happened when my father came here because he heard complaints from tenants of BGEI. We went to the property where BGEI was located. Mang Indo was a caretaker there. He let us into the property one evening. The Coronas got mad. Mang Indo said he was so scared that he did not want to file a case against Corona after the latter put a gun to his head. He feared that if he filed a case, Corona might kill him.

The barangay captain was actually encouraging him to file a case but he was so afraid. He is not rich and does not have the means to do so.

He just executed a sworn statement of what actually happened to him so that in the event that something really happened to him, at least people would know this experience he had.

When Corona put a gun to his head, Corona said: Gusto mo bang pasabugin kong mukha mo (Do you want me to blast your face)? That’s what the Chief Justice said to him back in 1997 (showing to the Inquirer the original copy of Mang Indo’s sworn affidavit).

PDI: At that time, Corona was … what?

BASA : At that time, he was already with Malacañang Palace, and I believe he was adviser for legal affairs for President (Fidel) Ramos. I know my father had written to President Ramos about our case, what’s been happening to us, and to GMA (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo).

We never really got any kind of support or response. I believe that Corona has been the dutiful power behind the scenes that allowed his wife to mock the laws of the land. She arrogated unto herself sole control of the family-owned Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. because, no matter how hard Cristina would have tried, she would not have succeeded without the assistance of her husband. He walked the corridors of power and obviously he knows how to make full use of the powers at his disposal.

I must confess that I agonize over this decision to come out and spill unflattering information about Chief Justice Corona. But this painful side of what happened to us must be told because the truth about Corona must be set free. He has made life miserable for our family and relatives. He can do more harm to others. We are coming out, comforted by the thought that we are doing our share to make the country aware of this man and to protect the integrity of the Supreme Court.

You know, we just want to let people know about our side of the story. This is not about the (impeachment) case. It’s about the injustice. We just want to bring it out in the open—the kind of person he is. Again, we’re not a vindictive people. We are not here to get even or anything. We just want to let the people know that the suffering and injustice that were inflicted on my family and the rest of the stockholders. We still haven’t received justice. This has been going on (for), my God! Over 20 years.

We’ve been wanting to get an accounting of BGEI. We have not received any kind of accounting. That’s all what we really wanted—to see the books. Stockholders are entitled to that. That’s their right and yet they’ve been deprived of that. So now that my dad had passed away, we at least would want to have my mom and the rest of the remaining stockholders to be able to live peacefully, knowing that justice has been served.

Shocked

PDI: Have you been following the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Corona?

BASA: Yeah. Actually, since it first came out, we were shocked to read that in the papers that there was an impeachment trial that was going to happen against Chief Justice Corona. The reason that we’re following is that BGEI has been brought up. … In fact, we really feel sad for his family and what they must be going through.

PDI: And the Corona children?

BASA: May sympathy din naman ako sa family.

In God’s time

PDI: What about Cristina?

BASA: I said family.

PDI: The Chief Justice is in trouble for betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and culpable violation of the Constitution. Do you see any poetic justice here?

BASA: We always felt that we’re not in control, God is in control. Everything’s gonna happen in God’s time, so perhaps all of our prayers are being answered. Tita Flory is very forgiving because she’s a nun, but what about the truth? Even if you forgive someone, what about the truth? What about the injustice? This is the reason why, against all odds, the Basa family is pressing on with the struggle for justice.

It is a struggle for all the abuse and excesses they did to their own clan. It is a struggle and will continue until the “Honorable” Chief Justice will be made to answer for all the injustices and for mocking the laws of the land. It is about justice and redeeming the Filipino’s hope and trust in the workings of democracy and government.

What we know for sure is that God will render justice with all fairness, equality and firmness that have been denied the Basa family and so many others in their long and lonely fight for dignity. Indeed, all the trouble and tears will not be in vain.

PDI: Considering the public humiliation that the Coronas are going through (because of the impeachment), can you now say that’s prayers heard?

BASA: We always felt that everything happens in God’s time. We did not bring this out. What’s happening to them is their own doing. We did not do anything to cause that to them. They brought it on themselves. We just happened to be included in the impeachment case because it was mentioned in the SALN report.

And I know that Corona’s lawyers were saying, “Why are they coming out only now?” It’s because we only found out [about the P11 million and P32.6 million recently]. Had we known about these things, we could have come out in the open much earlier.

But we didn’t know, besides we were so helpless and powerless. As I said, we’ve been kept in the dark all these years about BGEI. We didn’t know about the cash advance, that the money withdrawn on Dec. 12, 2011, from three different accounts under Corona’s name was said to belong to BGEI.

PDI: Do you see this impeachment as a welcome development for the heirs?

BASA: Well, with the impeachment, what happened was there were a lot of revelations for us.

PDI: Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel?

BASA: Well, you know what? I used to say that we could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, this will be the last chapter of this whole ugly, bitter struggle that we have experienced. It’s very painful to really watch our family suffer in their hands. You know, it says “who are we to judge?” I’m not judging anybody.

(To be continued)

Clerical Abuse of Children Must Rooted Out

March 10, 2012 | Opinion

By Fr. Shay Cullen 
(His columns are published in The Manila Times,
in publications in Ireland, the UK, Hong Kong, and on-line)

The conference recently held at the Vatican’s Gregorian University brought together cardinals, bishops, priests from over 100 countries and the heads of thirty-three religious orders to tackle the sexual abuse of children by catholic priests. Marie Collins from Ireland, abused at 13, by a priest was the only victim of clerical abuse allowed to speak.

Revelations of widespread child sexual abuse and their cover-up by bishops in the United States and Europe in recent years have brought shame and disgrace on several dioceses and led to the resignation of bishops in Ireland and elsewhere. It is now recognized that the issue of clerical child sexual abuse was grossly mishandled for decades if not generations, with a policy of cover up, secrecy, denial, and private payoffs. The failure of church authorities to act on behalf of the victims and report the offenders to the civil authorities allowed them to abuse children repeatedly.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle told the Vatican conference that clerical child abuse was a problem in the Philippines and in Asia too. The Archbishop said that in Asia this is due to a “culture of shame that holds dearly one’s humanity, honor and dignity,” A children’s rights defender told this column, “The Archbishop is correct, this is a false and warped sense of honor and has no dignity or humanity at all. There is no honor, dignity or humanitarian care in ignoring a child’s cry for help having being raped”.

A culture of fear and silence still reigns in the hearts of many Catholics. Some wrongly believe that reporting child sexual abuse committed by a member of the clergy is in someway a betrayal of the Church or their faith and would be the cause for greater scandal.

Catholics don’t report child abuse for fear of being ostracized by the community and criticized for supposedly bringing shame to the Church. This is a attitude that has been cultivated by some church leaders to contain the scandals. It is utterly wrong and immoral. It’s a false compassion, brotherhood or father-son relationship that protects a clerical child abuser. When the evidence is strong and clear so must be the action to save the child and bring the alleged abuser to justice.

The church leadership is now reluctantly and ashamedly admitting that it has failed to do so in many cases. For most victims it is too little too late. Nothing can compensate for the years of hurt and abuse. Many children are damaged for life others are filled with loathing and hatred towards men, the church and priests. Some have written to this column to say so.

The children at the Preda home for abused girls tell horrific stories of abuse by their own fathers and the live-in partners of their mother. They hate and are traumatized because of what was done to them. Helping them recover is a challenging task for the psychologists, therapists and counselors. But they do heal and make a new life.

Pope Benedict, has called for “profound renewal” and “a vigorous culture of effective safeguarding and victim support”. That is not before it’s time. In the Preda children’s home there are 57 victims, the youngest 6 years old recovering from rape and abuse. There are 36 ongoing cases against child abusers.

Jesus had harsh words for child abusers. “…if anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me it would be better a millstone be tied about his neck and he be drowned in the deep sea”. Matthew 18:6-7. However repentance, public confession, and doing penance behind bars would be acceptable. Bishops should pursue this option when the evidence of guilt is strong.

Nowadays, with the public outrage we don’t need to be told that child abuse is a grave, wrong and criminal offense. It must be reported to the authorities at once and the victims brought to a child care center where they can be protected, healed and helped. The Preda hotline for reporting child abuse is 0063-917-532-4453.

US archbishop Stephen Rossetti told the Vatican conference; “It is time to pro-actively and aggressively root out this evil from our society. You and I must begin this task by exorcising it from our own midst, Child molesters must know they have no safe sanctuary in the Church,” he said.

http://www.preda.org/en/news/fr-shays-articles/clerical-abuse-of-children-must-rooted-out/