(UPDATED), 1st UPDATE. Forgive him, Father, for he has sinned.
A priest and his cohort were arrested last night for allegedly selling suspected meth (shabu) to the police during a buy-bust operation in Bacoor City in Cavite.
Another accomplice managed to escape, ABS-CBN News reported.
According to SPO1 Christian Rosales, members of the Bacoor City Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) purchased suspected shabu worth PHP200 (US$3.79) from the unnamed priest and his accomplices at Tagumpay Compound in the village of Alima.
So much for a life of holiness.
Authorities also confiscated suspected shabu worth PHP3,400 (US$64.50) from the suspects.
Instead of being known for his religiosity, the priest was allegedly notorious in the village for being a drug dealer.
ABS-CBN News initially wrote that the clergyman was ordained at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Imus City, Cavite but has since removed this from their report.
Bacoor City police chief Superintendent Vicente Cabatingan has clarified that the priest is not a member of the Catholic Church and is part of a different congregation.
Multiple reports identified the congregation as the Sacred Order of St. Michael Congregation.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines also said that he is “neither a Catholic bishop or a priest of the Roman Catholic Church and is certainly not a member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).”
