Philippines trying to track down man posing as priest

From the Manila Standard:

Church warns public of fake Catholic priest

A FAKE priest is in town.

A church official is warning clergy, religious women, and heads of Catholic schools and other institutions as well as the public of a fake priest solemnizing marriages and performing Roman Catholic rituals.

Rev. Msgr. Roberto Canlas, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Manila, issued Circular 2006-21 informing the people of the presence of a certain Fr. Carlo Layson, who introduced himself as a priest from Capiz, Aklan.

“Fr. Carlo Layson, DCC, from the Archdiocese of Capiz, is not a Roman Catholic priest,” Canlas said.

He claimed that Layson has celebrated mass, solemnized weddings and baptisms in Manila while noting that, in the process, “he has misled many Catholic faithful.”

Canlas directed parishes to launch an information campaign during masses to warn the people and urged parishes and the public to always demand a celebret to avoid individuals posing as priests officiating weddings, administering the sacraments of baptism and celebrating masses, among others.

A celebret is a letter that a bishop gives to a priest to certify that the priest is allowed to say mass and is free from canonical censures.

After conducting an identity check, Canlas said Layson was not a priest from Capiz.

As horrible as the other stuff is, the "celebrating [invalid] masses" is the one that really gets me the most.