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[av_heading heading=’Archdiocese welcomes plaints vs parish priest’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Monday, May 15, 2017
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ILOILO City – The Archdiocese of Jaro is willing to receive any complaint against the parish priest of Santa Barbara, Iloilo, Monsignor Juanito Tuvilla.
According to Monsignor Joemarie Delgado, director of the Jaro Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communications, parishioners have this right.
Retired Philippine Army solder Armando Sondia claimed Tuvilla acted unbecoming of a priest on May 11 following the requiem mass for the former’s mother at the Santa Barbara Church.
A niece was singing a song to her deceased grandmother but Tuvilla turned off the microphone and berated the girl, according to Sondia.
In a radio interview, Tuvilla denied shouting at the girl. He said he simply raised his hands to signal her to stop.
The church tolerates thank-you speeches and even the taking of photographs right after requiem masses for the dead, said Tuvilla, but singing is something that should not be done inside the church.
A formal complaint may be filed, said Delgado.
No one is perfect and even priests have their limitations, too, and churchgoers must recognize this, said Delgado.
He did not discount the possibility of a dialogue to clarify matters.
“A parish is a community centered on God,” said Delgado, “We help one another fill our shortcomings.”
This was not the first time Tuvilla courted controversy. Last month a bridesmaid was reduced to tears in embarrassment during a wedding. Tuvilla believed her dress was too skimpy for the church and called her out during his homily.
But this wasn’t the only unfortunate incident in that church wedding, according to 55-year-old Rey Siodina of Barangay Cadagmayan Norte, Santa Barbara. He was the father of the bride.
Before the church wedding started, Tuvilla reprimanded the overexcited flower girls preparing outside the church’s main door for the wedding procession, said Siodina.
Tuvilla told the girls in a loud voice, “Simbahan ini, indi tiendahan,” Siodina said over the radio.
Before the priest started the homily, Siodina further said, Tuvilla told the congregation, “Pungko kun gusto niyo mamati. Kun indi kamo mamati, gwa kamo (Sit down if you want to listen. If not, leave the church).”
Siodina’s daughter was married on April 5.
In 2015, Tuvilla attracted controversy over remarks that were too testy for some of his parishioners. They demanded his ouster following a burial mass for a dead member of the Susvilla family of Barangay Dalid.
While still inside the Santa Barbara Church, a family member was thanking those who attended when Tuvilla suddenly grabbed the microphone and berated the grieving family.
He apparently did not like that the acknowledgement was taking long and threatened to switch off the church’s power supply.
Curiously, it was not Tuvilla but another priest, Reverend Father Alfone Marie Berbegal, who celebrated the requiem mass.
The following day, a Sunday, things worsened. During the homily, he branded the residents of Barangay Dalid as carabao thieves and that the Susvillas were ill-mannered.
The barangay council of Dalid decided to come up with a resolution calling for Tuvilla’s ouster.
Another incident compelled the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Santa Barbara in 2015 to pass a resolution seeking for an investigation by the Archdiocese of Jaro.
On Dec. 3, 2015 during the ceremonial turnover of the newly restored Santa Barbara Church, Tuvilla was allegedly rude to National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chairperson Maria Serena Diokno and other provincial and local officials.
Aside from Diokno, other guests at the event were Iloilo governor Arthur Defensor Sr., 2nd district congressman Arcadio Gorriceta, and the local officials of Santa Barbara led by Mayor Dennis Superficial.
Nothing came out of the Dalid barangay council’s call for Tuvilla’s ouster. It was unclear, too, what the Archdiocese of Jaro did following the SB’s request for an investigation./PN
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