Celdran: Layman, not Church, after me

MANILA, Philippines - Carlos Celdran, the reproductive health (RH) advocate recently convicted by a Manila court for offending the Catholic Church, yesterday said it was not really the Church that is after him but a layman zealous in his religious beliefs.

“It’s attorney Ronald (Ronaldo) Reyes. He’s the layman,” said Celdran in a phone interview with The STAR.

Celdran, who is out on bail, said Reyes did it for free.

“How did he become the people of the Philippines? How did he become a representative of the people and the Church?” he asked.

Celdran stressed that “the Church did not want to pursue the case against me, but attorney Reyes did.”

“I don’t know him personally. I only know him based on what I read in the newspapers. These are the followers of the CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines),” he said.

Celdran said he did not know what Reyes’ motivation is in pursuing the case despite the CBCP’s showing no interest in it.

Rappler.com has quoted Reyes as saying that he decided to pursue the case because as a Catholic he did not want to see Celdran’s actions repeated by others.