MANILA, Philippines — Priests were allegedly asked to leave the turnover of the Balangiga bells on Saturday, according to a Facebook post by the Diocese of Borongan. Serafin Tybaco, parish priest of the San Lorenzo Martir Church in Balangiga, as saying this was due to the original program for the ceremony. "Some priests were even asked to remove their Roman collars so as not to offend the president," the post added. According to local media reports, it was the Presidential Management Staff who asked the priests to leave. "The original instructions were that we were only supposed to be in Part One, we weren't told to leave," he told CNN Philippines in Filipino.

Source: Philippine Star December 16, 2018 03:55 UTC