The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of cultural activist Carlos Celdran for his “Father Damaso” stunt where he barged inside the Manila Cathedral and denounced the opposition of the Catholic Church to the passage of the controversial Reproductive Health Bill in 2010.
In a post on his Facebook account Monday, Celdran said the SC’s First Division junked his motion for reconsideration of an earlier ruling convicting him for “offending religious feelings.”
“It’s come to pass. My appeal in the Supreme Court has been denied and my sentence is upheld. Three months minimum to a year and a month and a day maximum,” Celdran said, in his post along with a copy of the resolution of the SC’s First Division dated March 21.
Celdran earlier sought for a reversal of the 2015 decision of the Court of Appeals which sustained two lower court decisions convicting him of offending religious feelings under Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code.
He argued that his decision to display a banner bearing the words “Father Damaso” inside the cathedral was a form of political speech.
