Remember the guy who donned a topcoat and hat a la Jose Rizal and held a placard that said "Damaso" during a Manila Cathedral mass?
More than two years after his protest against an allegedly meddlesome Catholic church, a criminal court found popular activist Carlos Celdran guilty of "offending religious feelings."
The Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 4 sentenced Celdran to suffer imprisonment for an indeterminate period of two months and 21 days as minimum to one year, one month and 11 days. "[P]remises considered, accused Carlos Celdran y Pamintuan is found 'guilty' beyond reasonable doubt for the crime of offending religious feelings under Article 133 of the Revised Renal Code," the court decision dated Dec. 14 said.
The said provision in the laws lists penalties for "anyone who, in a place devoted to religious worship or during the celebration of any religious ceremony shall perform acts notoriously offensive to the feelings of the faithful."
Celdran, a reproductive health (RH) advocate and tourist guide interrupted a Manila Cathedral mass on Sept. 30, 2010, dressed as Jose Rizal and carrying a placard that says "Damaso." The protest is a reference to "Padre Damaso", the antagonist priest in Rizal's Noli Me Tangere.
He was protesting Philippine Church leaders' alleged meddling on government, particularly over the reproductive health bill. "All told, the positive declaration of the witnesses for the prosecution and the circumstances surrounding the incident are sufficient to satisfy the quantum of evidence needed for a criminal conviction," the court said.
International watchdog Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, expressed alarm over the court ruling, calling for its reversal. "This is a setback for free speech in the Philippines, which prides itself on being a democracy," HRW said in a statement. "Nobody should be jailed for voicing out an opinion or position, especially on a subject that concerns the lives of millions of Filipino women and mothers," it added.
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