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[av_heading heading=’Fake Dueñas priest fools parishioners’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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ILOILO City – A man pretending to be a Roman Catholic priest in Dueñas, Iloilo suddenly disappeared with some P580,000 in tow.
The man went to Dueñas and introduced himself as Father Dom Patrick Neri Cabrera. He claimed to be a guest Benedictine priest and officiated church ceremonies like burials, weddings and blessing of vehicles. He also took confessions.
But according to Dueñas police station investigator, Police Officer 3 Emmanuel Doronas, Cabrera swindled some businesswomen and even Sangguniang Bayan member Edwin Sorongon.
Even Dueñas’ parish priest was taken for a ride.
The amount of money the fake priest managed to rake in reached P580,000, said Doronas.
Recently, one parishioner surfaced and claimed he actually knew Cabrera to be Ceferino Sorongon. Parishioners were alarmed. The police launched an investigation.
Cabrera then disappeared from the town on Sept. 6 after borrowing money.
“Father Cabrera roamed around the town, even at night, and solicited money from people. He claimed he had roots in Dueñas,” said Doronas.
Cabrera reportedly borrowed P150,000 from Ma. Liza Pasadilla on Sept. 6, telling her the money was for some church projects.
Another complainant, Mary Rose Parreño, told the police Cabrera borrowed her credit card that day, too, to buying plane tickets.
She discovered that the suspect spent P50,000 using her credit card.
Town councilor Edwin Sorongon, meanwhile, alleged that Cabrera sold him a car for P380,000. He later discovered that the vehicle was from a car rental company.
As of this writing, Cabrera’s whereabouts were unknown.
The complainants plan to sue Cabrera for estafa./PN
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