Nina Leslie Ann G. Aquino at Francis T. Wakefield
Nananatiling Katoliko ang dinukot at nakalayang pari na si Father Teresito “Chito” Suganob, sabi ni Marawi Bishop Edwin dela Peña.
Ito ang reaksiyon ng obispo sa mga ulat na si Suganob ay puwersahang pinag-convert sa pananampalatayang Muslim habang bihag ng mga bandidong Maute-ISIS.
“It has no effect. No weight. It doesn’t mean anything to us. He remains a Catholic priest,” sabi ni dela Peña sa interbyu.
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Sa isang press briefing, sinabi ng Marawi prelate na walang bigat ang conversion ng isang tao kung ito ay sapilitang nangyari.
“You cannot give your full consent. That is what religion is all about. Whether it is true or not, it doesn’t hold any water,” sabi ni dela Peña. “We have to put ourselves in his shoes. It must be difficult to decide one way or another when you are forced.”
Gayunman, sinabi ng obispo na kukumpirmahin pa lang niya ito kay Suganob mismo na nakatakda pa lamang niyang makita kahapon sa Camp Aguinaldo.
Samantala, sinabi kahapon ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) na walang tuwirang rebelasyon na puwersahang pinag-convert sa Islam si Suganob.
Sinabi ni AFP Public Affairs Office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo na ayon sa Islamic scholars, un-Islamic ang pagpuwersa sa sinuman na lumipat sa ibang relihiyon.
“There was no categorical revelation from Father Chito that he was forced to convert to Islam. As a matter of fact, ayon sa Islamic scholars, and I was able to talk to Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, the commander of the Western Mindanao Command, he told me that it is un-Muslim to convert him like that,” sabi ni Arevalo.
“In the first place the Maute has no right to convert a person to Islam even if one if one is willing to. But the bottomline is there was no categorical revelation from Fr. Chito that he was forced to convert to Islam,” dagdag ni Arevalo.
