Thursday, October 28, 2010

Offending religious feelings: Not?

Offending religious feelings: Not?

Tourist guide Celdran pleads not guilty to ‘offending religious feelings’


MANILA, Philippines -- Tourist guide Carlo Celdran donned his Jose Rizal suit anew for his arraignment on Thursday at the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) where he pleaded not guilty to the charge of offending religious feelings.

Amazing. Caught with his hands in the cookie jar: No, I didn't intend to filch cookies!

He said that he wore his Jose Rizal duds so the public would not forget his message on the necessity of the passage of the reproductive health bill.
“I also wore my Jose Rizal costume because it is Halloween,” he laughingly pointed out.

Haha. But wait...since when has Rizal been a Halloween character?

Asked if he would consider any offer of dropping the charge against him under any condition, he said that he has already apologized for disrupting the ecumenical service but pointed out, “I will not apologize for my message. In my pleading not guilty, it means I am standing by the fact that I did not say anything offensive.”

Carlos: The message is tolerable, but the action you did to spout the message is not. Gets?

Lawyer Marlon Manuel said that his client would be open to a settlement if the Church officials would not insist that Celdran admit to offending religious feelings.

Atty Manuel: Who on earth is bargaining for a settlement? You and your client should realize that you are in no position to bargain for anything.
On the other hand, Celdran is in a perfect position for remorse and repentance.
Otherwise, you should advise your client to look forward to six months of guiding tours around the prison grounds carrying a placard which says "Ako si Sisa".
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you hit the nail right on the head when you said: "The message is tolerable, but the action you did to spout the message is not."

It seems that Cedran is trying to gain some propaganda points at the expense of reason and the truth. He is putting up a smokescreen.

petrufied said...

Halloween, huh? I suppose he's trying to scare high school students who have to read Noli or Fili :P

Yeah, it's what he did, not what he wrote. Now there's a huge difference.