Redemptorist church’s guards belie priest’s claim on threats

Security guards assigned at Our Mother of Perpetual Help-Redemptorist in Cebu City do not recall seeing motorcycle-riding men roaming the church compound and looking for one of the priests earlier this month.

In an interview yesterday, guards of the Sentinel Security Inc. said the claims of Fr. Amado Picardal that members of an alleged death squad were looking for him have yet to be verified.

Picardal, identified as a critic of President Rodrigo Duterte and his policies, is a member of the Redemptorist Fathers.

In his blog, Picardal said he opted to stay out of public sight after workers of the Redemptorist monastery in Cebu City saw motorcycle-riding men watching the compound three times this month.

One of the men reportedly asked one of the workers about Picardal’s whereabouts.

Security guards Prudencio Entrecoso and Ludigario Panonce told reporters that if there are suspicious-looking men roaming the church compound and the surrounding areas, they would immediately know about it.

Entrecos and Panonce are two of the five security guards hired by the Redemptorist Fathers in Cebu to secure their church, monastery and formation house in uptown Cebu City.

“Makahibaw gyud mi kay bisag dili namo duty, i-endorse man na sa among mga kauban sa night shift kung unsay ilang nabantayan sa ilang shift,” Entrecoso said.

Both men, who have been assigned at the church for more than five years, said they were surprised by Picardal’s claims.

They believe that Picardal may have gotten information from outsiders.

The guards admitted they had to beef up security around the church after reports on Picardal’s blog came out.

SunStar Cebu tried to get the comment of Redemptorist officials on Picardal’s claims but they refused to issue a statement.