New Jersey-based Pinoy priest sanctioned over ‘abuses, misconduct’

MANILA, Philippines - A Dipolog City cleric based in New Jersey has been sanctioned and restricted to a convent following allegations of abuses and misconduct while serving in a New Jersey church. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reported Tuesday that Dipolog bishop Jose Manguiran revoked the faculties bestowed on Fr. Reynaldo Pardillada, and sought for a formal apology over the scandal. "I wrote already to the Archbishop of Newark asking apology for Pardillada's scandal," Manguiran was quoted as saying in an article posted on the CBCP website. A 32-year-old woman from Dipolog City had accused Pardillada, 37, of abuses and misconduct for carrying on an affair with a married Filipino woman who also comes from Dipolog City while serving at the Epiphany Church in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. KPSC Radio Manila in Southern California first broke the news over Catholic-run Radio Veritas last June 9, after the Archdiocese of Newark suspended Pardillada based on the complaint. Manguiran said Pardillada's scandal is a disgrace not only for the Dipolog Clergy but also in their local church. He added that Pardillada is now living in his parents house in Dipolog City after he was expelled by the archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey. The accused cleric was assigned for more than one year as formator of Saint Mary's Theologate Seminary, Gango, Ozamiz City and then transferred to the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ. - GMANews.TV