Alleged rape victim of Agusan Norte priest undergoes therapy

BUTUAN CITY - The 18-year old former helper who was allegedly raped by a parish priest in Agusan del Norte is now udergoing daily psychological theraphy and medication, a doctor said Tuesday. Dr. Dexter Lara, surgeon and medical specialist of Gabriela and head of Makabayan, said the victim known as "Leah" (not her real name) manifested "psychotic features" after revealing that she was repeatedly raped by former St. Anne Parish priest Fr. Raul Cabonce, who has since denied the allegation. "Based on the accounts relayed to me by her caretakers before they went to seek medical consultations and medico-legal examinations, the patient has manifested some psychotic tendencies," Lara told GMA News Online in an interview. Lara said Leah already went to Manila to seek psychiatric help from two specialists based in the city. "And so responding treatment or theraphy for the tendencies has been extended to her including taking some medicines for the stress she underwent. However, as we speak now [and] given her daily therapy... she is now mentally and emotionally stable so far, sa awa ng Diyos," he said. Last August 25, Leah filed two counts of rape, child abuse in relation to R.A. 7610, and acts of lasciviousness against Cabonce before the Agusan del Norte Prosecutors Office. In her four-page complaint, she claimed that she was 17 years old when Cabonce committed acts of lasciviousness against her. GMA News Online went to the residence of Bishop Juan De Dios Pueblos in Butuan City, where Cabonce is believed to be staying. However, GMA News Online was repeatedly refused entry. But in an interview on a local radio station, Cabonce denied that he raped the victim and even urged the public and his accusers to “look into the background of the victim’s family." He likewise accused the local officials of Tubay, Agusan del Norte, headed by Mayor Sadeka Garcia Tomaneng, of being behind the smear campaign against him. He said his pro-mining stance had caught the ire of the officials. Tomaneng, for his part, denied the allegation and filed libel charges against Cabonce. — Ben Serrano/KT/RSJ, GMA News