Angered brgy captain bashes priest's mouth

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Emotions apparently got over a barangay captain that he bashed the mouth of a parish priest following burial rites Monday afternoon in Molo district of this city.

Barangay Captain Cirilo Lapascua admitted to have hit Fr. Rex Fedelicio, a priest assigned at St. Anne’s Parish in Molo, because he could not contain his anger anymore.

The elderly village head claimed that he got irked after Fedelicio shouted at him thrice during the burial mass of his constituent in Molo.

Fedelicio allegedly yelled and ordered him to kneel during the funeral service, said Lapascua, adding that he did not heed the priest’s order because he got paralyzed after a cardiac arrest episode.

His being diabetic also makes it hard for him to kneel. But during the mass, Lapascua said he did nothing to dishonor the service.

It was after the mass when the village chief went over to the priest and confronted the latter. “Ginhambalan ko siya nga kay-uhon niya ang pagtratar sa tawo (I told him to treat the people well),” Lapascua said. It was then that he squeezed the priest’s mouth.

Lapascua said he could not take what the priest did because, more than anyone else, the latter should be compassionate on his being elderly and ailing. Had he given a chance when the incident happened, Lapascua hinted that he could have done worse than what happened because of anger.

Yesterday afternoon, a talk was initiated to patch things up between Lapascua and Fedelicio.

Reverend Fr. Esperidion “Boy” Celiz, parish priest of St. Anne Parish hoped that the meeting would thresh out any “misunderstanding” between the two.

As this developed, the Archdiocese of Jaro has yet to issue an official statement about what happened. Fr. Ryan Teves, the archdiocese’s spokesperson, was not immediately available for comment.