Cebu priest says 'surgery scandal' man should also be blamed

MANILA, Philippines - A Catholic priest on Wednesday said that the 39-year old man who underwent rectal surgery in Cebu should also accept part of the blame. According to the priest who is based in Cebu, the patient's trouble started when he contacted an alleged call boy who then stuck a body spray canister up the man's rectum at the height of their sexual act. “They seem to forget the whole thing. They are blaming the doctors for what they (did) but I think they should blame the guy for what they did," Monsignor Achilles Dakay, spokesman for Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, said. Dakay's comment was aired over church-run Radio Veritas. The patient had admitted in previous media interviews that he picked up a male prostitute. He said he was drunk when the incident happened in January. He had an operation at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) to have the canister removed. However, doctors recorded the surgery and had fun doing it. The video has been posted on YouTube. Dakay said that while the church is not condemning homosexuals, it will not tolerate homosexual acts. “They are made that way but if they did what is prohibited, that’s another thing," he added. In the same interview, Dakay said that homosexuality is “prevalent" in Cebu, the province where the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan erected the country’s first Cross. “We should be ashamed. It’s not just scandalous, (it’s) very shameful," he said, referring to the spread of the surgery video on the Internet. Danton Remoto, co-founder of the gay group Ang Ladlad, earlier commented that the patient was victimized twice: first when the male prostitute inserted the canister inside his rectum, and second, when the video of the operation spread via YouTube. Ang Ladlad, composed of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender, sent a psychologist to Cebu to counsel the patient who is filing charges against the hospital’s medical team and were seen misbehaving during the procedure. Remoto said Dakay comment towards the incident is "expected" because this is the Catholic Church's stand towards homosexuality. "Msgr. Achilles was just reiterating the church's stand," he said. Remoto reiterated his call to gay individuals to "be careful" when engaging in solicited sex. "In the end, we are one with the Catholic Church," he said. - GMANews.TV