A male nurse, the boyfriend of a priest in the Diocese of Sorsogon, has been arrested for extortion.
26-year-old Leo Funtanares of Gubat, Sorsogon threatened to reveal his romantic relationship with his alleged lover.
Funtanares demanded the sum of 10 million pesos, but later lowered his demands to five million.
The priest has not been been named in the matter.
An investigation into the incident showed that Funtanares confessed that he and a priest were in a relationship – he asked for help from a certain Bishop Bastes to end their relationship but later attempted to extort money from the church.
The investigation also revealed that the bishop gave Funtanares 25,000 pesos on an agreement of installation payments – however on the second installment of that agreement the bishop helped police set up an entrapment operation.
Funtanares was arrested on June 15 and is facing charges of robbery extortion which has already been filed against him.