BAYAN MUNA VS ARROYO, URIARTE: EX-PRESIDENT ARROYO, AIDE SUED FOR PLUNDER
PHILIPPINES, JULY 14, 2011 (ASIAN CORRESPONDENT.COM) By Tonyo Cruz - Two activist Members of Congress today formally filed a case against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and one of her appointees in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office regarding the graft, malversation and plunder of PCSO funds intended for the poor.
Bayan Muna (People First) Representatives Teddy Casino and Neri Javier Colmenares filed the case against Arroyo and Rosario Uriarte, erstwhile general manager of the PCSO.
Filipinos have not forgotten. They want justice for nine years of Arroyo's misrule, corruption and abuses. Visual from kilusan.net.
Casino and Colmenares said that Arroyo and Uriarte should be held accountable for the misuse of P325 million (US$7.5m) in public funds which should have gone to the poor
Arroyo, who left the presidency last year, is now a Member of Congress, representing a district in Pampanga province.
In their 10-page complaint-affidavit, the two activist solons said that Arroyo and Uriarte should be held accountable for violations of Article 217 and 220 of the Revised Penal Code, Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) as amended by Republic Act 1060, and Republic Act 7080 (Plunder Law).
The complaint-affidavit, among others, cited the statements made by Uriarte, under oath, and documents presented earlier this month before the Blue Ribbon Committee to back up its charges.
FROM DAILY TRIBUNE
'P-Noy: Apology not enough to absolve bishops' By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan and Michaela P. del Callar 07/13/2011
TRIBUNE - A simple denial by his allies when allegations of wrongdoing are leveled against them is sufficient for President Aquino to absolve them, but not when it comes to bishops and their public apology for the controversy over the charity donations of Sports Uitility Vehicles (SUVs) with a worth of P6.9 million they had obtained from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during then President Arroyo's term.
Aquino was not content with the apology issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president in connection with the alleged irregularities in the PCSO and said that his government will still seek the possible violations in connection with the constitutional provision on the separation of the Church and the State.
In an ambush interview with reporters in Kalibo, Aklan, Aquino said that he would seek the advice of his legal team on the legal intricacies of the controversy involving PCSO donations to some Catholic bishops.
"I still have to see the advice of my legal staff as to what has to be done there," Aquino said as he noted that among the most important subjects that should be look into are the legal provisions that deal with the use of government funds to
"benefit or support any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution or system of knowledge or any preacher, minister or other."
Aquino stressed that the investigation on the alleged anomalies of the previous management of the PCSO which include irregularities in its donations for some members of the Catholic Church has not been completed and that it is too early to tell if the CBCP's apology would suffice to absolve the bishops who had received luxury vehicles from the PCSO.
Aquino, however, said nothing about the fact that his appointees at the PCSO have also been granting vehicles to priests and monsignors who are said to be allies of Aquino, along with some political allies of the administration, who are said to be related to current PCSO officials.
The bishops the other day, in a statement apologized to the Filipino people, and not to Aquino, although they stressed that they are willing to face responsibliity and accept the consequences of their action, should it be proved that they had committed an act against the Constitution and the law.
Aquino said that at this point, his administration is still trying to determine if the bishops dubbed as "Pajero Bihops" have violates pertinent provisions of law, especially Article VI Section 29 (2) of the Constitution, which declares that "No public money or property shall be appropriated, applied, paid, or employed, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution, or system of religion, or of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher, or dignitary as such, except when such priest, preacher, minister, or dignitary is assigned to the armed forces, or to any penal institution, or government orphanage or leprosarium."
Apart from the case of the Pajero bishops, Aquino added that his administration will also look into reports that government funds are also being donated to other religious denominations for them to be able to build religious complexes and other religious structures.
"Government funds were used in the construction of this complex that belongs to another religious order which we are also studying and trying to determine whether or not there were violations. Not the Catholic Church. That's what I want to emphasize," Aquino said.
Aquino agreed that there is a large gray area in as far as the constitutional provision on the separation of the Church and the State as he noted that there has to be mechanism that would clarify the limits of collaboration between the two institutions in helping the people.
"I'm sure that there is a method by which funds can be made available to those who are really helping their communities. We will find that particular mechanism whereby we can do it," Aquino said.
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda was more direct in identifying the bishop who caught the interest of the Aquino administration as he pinpointed Butuan Diocese Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos as among the bishops who may have gained personal benefits from the PCSO because of his closeness with the Arroyo administration.
Lacierda said Pueblo' association with former President Arroyo is reportedly the main reason he has been very critical against the Aquino administration.
"The issue is right now before the Senate. I understand that they (CBCP) will be asked to explain their position. I think these are things after the fact. The CBCP has already apologized and the bishops, I understand, have already indicated their manifestation to return the vehicles. So I think these are things after the fact, trying to remedy a situation where the several bishops found themselves in a very compromising situation," Lacierda said.
Meanwhile, the seven bishops who accepted sports utility vehicles and donations from the state-run lottery will face Senate scrutiny today to shed light on allegations of corruption and violating the Constitution.
Invited to the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing are: Bishop Rodolfo F. Beltran, DD (Apostolic Vicariate Bontoc-Lagawe); Bishop Leopoldo C. Jaucian, SVD, DD (Diocese of Bangued, Abra; Most Rev. Martin S. Jumoad, DD (Roman Catholic Prelate of Isabela, Basilan); Bishop Juan de Dios M. Pueblos (Diocese of Butuan); Archbishop Orlando B. Quevedo OMI (Archdiocese of Cotabato); Most Rev. Ernesto A. Salgado, DD (Archbishop of Nueva Segovia, Caritas Nueva Segovia); and Archbishop Romulo G. Valles, DD (Zamboanga Archdiocesan Social Action Apostolate).
The bishops' presence in the ongoing inquiry would determine their culpability and if there were violations committed for accepting charity funds from the PCSO.
Sen. Teofisto Guingona III said he wants former President, Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, who stands accused of approving P150 million PCSO in intelligence funds to purchase the SUVs, to pay the blood money and other unexplained expenses, to appear before the Senate.
However, Guingona said inter-parliamentary courtesy prevents the blue ribbon committee, which he heads, from issuing a subpoena on Arroyo.
Also scheduled to appear in the hearing is Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr., who is said to have received P20 million of PCSO funds to pay for the blood money for four Filipino workers facing execution in Saudi Arabia.
Conejos has denied any wrongdoing, stressing that his role as overseer of welfare of Filipino workers is only to ensure that all legal remedies are exhausted, including the payment of blood money to save the lives of those in death row
COMMENTARY FROM MANILA STANDARD
Boycott the PCSO: NOTHING MORE THAN A LYNCH MOB BY PASS By GARY OLIVAR, MANILA STANDARD COLUMNIST
Here are just a few of the many signs that the brewing crusade against alleged malpractices under the previous PCSO leadership is really nothing more than a lynch mob:
Media bullying - The headline of a leading broadsheet trumpeted that the "ex-PCSO chief says intel fund misused". But if you read the story, all that former PCSO GM Reggie Uriarte said at the Senate inquiry was that the former President gave her approval (as required by COA, by the way) to a proposal to divert Ps 150 M from the agency's PR budget for intelligence use. It was actually the otherwise redoubtable Senate President Enrile who fumed—without a shred of evidence—that those intel funds were actually used for purposes other than intelligence.
Unreasonable premises—A DFA Usec reportedly denied that Uriarte gave him P20 M as "blood money" to save the lives of some Filipino OFW's on death row in the Middle East. Subsequently though, the same Usec stated that he actually received Ps 15 M, not twenty. Should we quarrel over the missing five? More importantly, let's remember how powerful and deeply entrenched jueteng is, against which those PCSO intel funds would have been used to promote the legal alternative called small town lottery (STL). Against enemies that powerful, the sum of Ps 150 M would not be unreasonable—and neither would Uriarte's understandable reluctance to talk about the intelligence operations she had funded in the past.
Trial by publicity - The canard initially floated was that some of the bishops had received expensive Pajeros from the PCSO. That lie was retracted when it turned out that the bishops actually received cash, and then what they all bought—without exception—were pick-ups and other heavy-duty vehicles for use on rugged terrain. Later—in a story conveniently buried deep in the inside pages—the current PCSO chairman, the still-fetching Margie Juico, admitted that there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute the bishops. And here I was, appalled that these senior men of the cloth had done nothing less than violate the Constitution!
***
At this point, the entire dust-up presents the country with at least two genuine opportunities to reform institutional practices that long preceded the current president and his predecessor.
On the part of government, the opportunity is now available to abandon the entire practice of allocating unaccountable and untraceable intelligence budgets to agencies outside the military and police organizations. That should include the Office of the President and all of its attached bodies. But—you might ask—what about the need to conduct legitimate but sensitive missions, such as running after jueteng operators or paying blood money to save the lives of Filipinos in the Middle East? Hey, I'm sure the inventive ideologues of the yellow army can find another way.
And on the part of the Church, the opportunity—perhaps Godsent—is now at hand to finally break with the unclean hands of government when it dispenses largesse obtained from the sinful practice of no-holds-barred gambling. That largesse, as the bishops now understand, can be used just as easily to spite the Church as to build her up. And so the most practical alternative for the Church—as well as the only righteous one—is not only to reject the largesse from PCSO, but to actively condemn its operations, call for a boycott of the national lottery by all good Catholic citizens, and enlist their participation instead in recreational games of chance that can be sponsored at the parish level by Catholic lay organizations.
In the United States, church-sponsored bingo socials are an old and venerable fixture of the community's social as well as religious life. The winnings are small, but frequent enough to keep everyone happy over the long haul, and all the operating expenses by definition are church-related. At the same time, the games provide an excuse for the community to regularly get together in the parish center other than on Sundays. And of course, the church's share of the pot can be considerable, if the games are properly managed within parishes that are sufficiently large, generous, and gregarious to give them stable support.
This then is the challenge that I propose our priests ought to be hurling to their parishioners from the pulpit:
Boycott State-sponsored gambling, especially when it is being used to malign and defame the Church. Put your hard-earned money instead in Church-sponsored games of chance that you know will assist only the Church, while keeping you entertained and giving you a fair chance to win from time to time. Continue to keep the Church at the center of your social as well as private lives, a constant bedrock amid the treacheries of politicians and other blights of the secular world.
***
While rummaging through my old files from the Palace, I came across this press statement I issued during the electoral campaign more than a year ago, under former President Arroyo. It still seems surprisingly timely now, perhaps even worth reprinting here:
Keep building the Country
Statement of the Presidential Economic Spokesman, 16 March 2010
"We are dismayed by Senator Aquino's determination that so-called "technicalities" should not get in the way of what he obviously thinks is the one and only outcome ordained by justice, namely, a legal crucifixion of the President.
What seem to be mere "technicalities" to one man might be valued by others as indispensable due process that protects us from the commission of injustice. And what may appear to him as a crusade against evil might be described by others as nothing but a lynching mob.
Over the years, all manner of charges and proceedings have been hurled against the President, to no avail. In some cases, she herself mooted the process, as when she cancelled the ZTE/NBN transaction. In other cases, the inherent lack of substance became apparent sooner or later, as with all those Senate inquiries that led nowhere and only provided opportunities for future presidentiables and vice-presidentiables to preen and strut before the media.
Even in the "Hello Garci" case, common sense would ask why a candidate with a nine-point lead in the surveys on the eve of the 2004 election would bother to cheat. To his credit, Senator Aquino says he was persuaded that the tape recordings were poisoned fruit, and he is to be commended for that. Would that he could also be persuaded that there may be versions of justice other than his own.
We are no longer in the time of the Marcoses, when the operation of martial law effectively cancelled due process, legal redress, and open dissent. Under the current administration, any and all grievances against the President—no matter how outlandish—have had their day in court, in the Senate hall, in the media. To the discredit of their sponsors, though, the accusations have all been found wanting.
And because we are not in the time of the Marcoses, the agenda for the next president is not a post-Marcos agenda either. Some members of the opposition say that after the elections, they want justice first before reconciliation. But justice HAS had its due—maybe not their version of it, but justice nonetheless. And so the way is wide open for the next president, whoever he or she may be, to stop campaigning and become presidential.
The President has achieved much, but she will be the first to say that much still remains to be done. Continuing to extend the fruits of economic growth to more of our countrymen, healing political divisions and advancing the peace process, improving educational outcomes, taming the age-old blight of a corrupt and violent political culture—these are among the items on the agenda.
The new president—no less than every new Philippine president before him or her—will have a full plate. And focusing on that plate, building the future instead of trying to repair injuries from the past—whether real or imagined, whether recent or ancient—that will be the very first test of statesmanship.
The late President Diosdado Macapagal entitled his memoirs "A Stone for the Edifice". That is what his daughter has tried to contribute. That is also an apt reminder of what our people expect from all of their presidents."
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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