Catholic Priest, Among 9 Lucky Winners of iPhone 7 as Regular Customers of Victoria Court Motel

A Catholic priest is among the nine ucky winners of Apple iPhone 7, courtesy of Victoria Court, a known motel in Metro Manila. The said promo is part of Victoria Court's 30th anniversary this year, 2017. All in all, 30 lucky regular customers will win an iPhone 7 each. And yes, Rev. Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos of Taytay, Rizal is allegedly one of them.



As announced last March by Victoria Court, the iPhone 7 promo is available to all its guests who have spent at least P800 worth of their products and services on a single receipt. One valid receipt is equivalent to one raffle code. Therefore, the more number of visits, the higher chance of winning an iPhone 7. Nevertheless, a guest can only win once.

But while the said promo started last April 1 and will end on December 30,2017, it appears that the first batch of winners have already been announced. As you can see on the photo below now being shared on Facebook, a gigantic billboard somewhere in Manila shows the names of the 9 winners of iPhone 7, and the controversial priest is leading the list.

As reported earlier, Fr. Arnel Lagarejos was arrested last July 28 for trafficking a 13-year old girl. According to the police, the suspect priest booked the victim in an unnamed motel in Marikina City through a 16-year old gay pimp. The initial target of the arresting officers is the pimp. Nevertheless, they later learned that the supposed customer is a Catholic priest.

Fr. Arnel Lagarejos, 55, who was the parish priest of St. John the Baptist Parish in Taytay when he was arrested, was then on his way to the motel when the joint police team stopped his Ford Explorer at Sumulong Highway, in Barangay Sto. Niño, The Catholic priest was immediately brought to the Marikina police station, along with the pimp.



According to the victim's mother, who reported to the Marikina City police’s women and child protection department, Fr. Lagarejos offered her P500,000 in exchange of not filing a case against him. The arrested priest was charged with for violating Republic Act 9208, or the anti-human trafficking law. But last August 1, he was set free after posting a P120,000-bail.

Contributed by Salvi Dalida