NOY-CHURCH RIFT GROWS OVER PCSO ROW / CBCP ON 'PAJERO BISHOPS': BE FAIR
MANILA, JULY 3, 2011 (DAILY TRIBUNE) By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan - The rift between the Aquino administration and the Catholic Church that started from heated debates on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill appears to have widened as the Palace vowed yesterday to file criminal charges against Church leaders who received luxury vehicles from the state lottery firm Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office while bishops cried of being unfairly attacked by the government.
Archbishop Fernando Capalla insisted lottery donations to the church were used to help victims of natural disasters and the poor.
It's against the law and a violation of the Constitution for Catholic bishops to receive donations coming from government funds, according to deputy presidential spokesman Abegail Valte, as she pointed out that criminal charges are awaiting the priests who received Pajeros from the administration of former
President through the PCSO.
Archbishop Fernando Arguelles denounced the allegations as a smear to damage the reputation of the church, whose leaders are courted by politicians as they help shape public opinion.
"To destroy the credibility of the bishops is really their main intention," Arguelles wrote on the conference website.
"Certainly if it's a criminal offense, nobody is above the law and nobody is immune from suit," she said on radio when asked about the possibility of bishops facing criminal charges for receiving PCSO donations that were not even related to charity such as sports utility vehicles (SUVs).
The Church hierarchy, meanwhile, said it is probing the allegations. Bishops named in press reports will be asked to explain themselves at a Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) meeting on July 8 to 10, according to the official website of the conference.
CBCP president Bishop Nereo Odchimar said he was unaware of such gifts to any church leaders, according to a posting on the website on Friday.
"We will discuss that in the plenary assembly," Odchimar added. "If they (the alleged recipients) will be around, we will be asking also their positions," he added.
The website said one of the bishops named in the reports had denied receiving a luxury sports utility vehicle from the lottery.
Arroyo reportedly ordered the lottery to buy the vehicles to secure the political support of church leaders, some of whom had openly criticized alleged corruption in her government.
They said the lottery was investigating the possible misuse of P15.32 million of its funds in 2009 and that auditors discovered funds were used to buy vehicles for several bishops and other priests.
State lottery officials could not be reached for comment Saturday. AFP
In a statement, Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo who was alleged to be one of the seven bishops who received the luxury vehicle from the PCSO described the allegations as an attack on bishops.
The attack "changed course from seven Pajeros for personal use to vehicles for other purposes. The PCSO revealed that some Bishops, myself included, received SUVs (sports utility vehicles) for purposes related to the social action apostolate. In 2008 I, indeed, wrote a request to the PCSO for a vehicle to be used by our Social Action program, especially for our Community Based Health Program," he said.
"We also wanted to use the vehicle for our training team to give seminars for community organizing at the grassroots, capacity building, training of Indigenous Peoples' leaders, as well as to bring sick people to hospitals when necessary. The request was granted," he said.
Quevedo said the practice of asking for PCSO assistance for social action is not unusual.
"Since the time of President Cory Aquino up to the present, hundreds of church-related organizations have been granted assistance by PCSO to do social service, human development, poverty alleviation in line with the objectives both of the PCSO and also of social action in general," Quevedo added.
He said that the late Cardinal Jaime Sin himself in defense of PCSO assistance given to him for his projects for the poor reportedly stated that he would even accept money from the devil in order to help the poor.
"I myself would not hesitate to ask for PCSO assistance for a very poor individual who needs a costly medical operation but cannot afford it," he added.
"To selectively bash the Bishops for soliciting and accepting donations from the PCSO for activities designed to help the poor is clearly unfair and unjust," he said.
Valte cited 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."
And while it is no secret that other religious groups openly benefit from donations and other forms of assistance using government funds, Valte practically rejected the possibility that other religious organizations were getting government donations.
Valte also reiterated the Palace is not singling out the Catholic Church on the PCSO Pajero mess as she pointed out that it was just coincidental that the alleged anomaly involved members of the Roman Catholic church.
"It's not something personal, it's just that it was contained in the 2008 and 2009 COA report . The money should not have been disbursed [in that manner] because it is violative of the constitutional prohibition," Valte said.
Valte's statement came as the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines announced that it will tackle the "Pajero Bishops" scandal in its plenary assembly in Manila on July 8 to 10.The plenary assembly, to be held at the Pius XII Center in Manila, is the highest decision-making body of the bishops' conference.
Odchimar said bishops will discuss [the matter] at the plenary assembly. In an article posted Friday night on the CBCP news site, Odchimar also said he would try to personally get the sides of the bishops linked to the mess.
He pointed out he has no personal knowledge of the supposed "grants" given to some bishops by the PCSO.
FROM MANILA DAILY BULLETIN
Be fair, Name other PCSO beneficiaries – CBCP By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO and JC BELLO RUIZ July 2, 2011, 7:05pm
MANILA, Philippines — Identify other religious groups that received financial aid.
This was the challenge of the Catholic Church to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) amid the issue on the "Pajero Bishops."
Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said if the state-owned lottery agency really wants to name all their beneficiaries then they should also include other religious groups and not just single out the Catholic Church.
"There are beneficiaries also not coming from the Catholic Church. Other people are asking why pinpoint on the Catholic bishops? Is it because some of the bishops are critical? Is it because of the position of the bishops on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill?" he told reporters in an interview.
But Malacañang said the Aquino government is not singling out the Catholic Church.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that it just so happened that the Commission on Audit (CoA) report for 2008 and 2009 had detected donations to some bishops. The same CoA report did not mention any other religious denomination, Valte added.
"It's not something personal, it's just that the 2008 and 2009 COA report itself stated that the money should not have been disbursed in that manner because it is violative of the constitutional prohibition," Valte said in an interview over government radio dzRB.
Former CBCP president and Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla also echoed what Odchimar said.
"If there's malice in those donations to Catholic bishops, the PCSO must also identify all the other recipients from other Churches," he said in an article posted on the CBCP website.
"I don't know why they take it just on Catholic bishops and make it appear as scandalous," added Capalla.
The Davao prelate said he is saddened over the "unfair" treatment of PCSO to bishops on the issue when the agency's donations to Catholic institutions were used for relief efforts and social programs on poverty alleviation and health.
"This is unfair. I challenged them to show the records, the real records and not the twisted ones," Capalla said.
"They must have some reason for doing it. I don't know what it is but they are really giving us priests a bad image," added the prelate.
Earlier, PCSO Chairman Margarita Juico said former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo used the agency's funds for political patronage.
Arroyo, she said, had also given vehicles to some bishops and priests at that time when she was facing a threat of removal from office due to allegations of corruptions.
The PCSO said the agency's former board approved the grant of SUVs to Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, Msgr. Augusto Laban of Sorsogon, and Fr. Roger Lood of Iligan City.
The request of Lood was reportedly coursed through Archbishop Capalla, who endorsed the letter to Arroyo in 2009.
Capalla said he did endorse Lood's proposed project for possible funding, "but I didn't know if it was approved or not."
He admitted telling Lood to ask for assistance from PCSO because "it is a charitable institution and helping the poor."
His endorsement of Lood's proposed project, said Capalla, may have been the reason his name came out in the SUV issue.
Iligan Bishop already said that Lood never received any vehicle from the PCSO and that the priest failed to get any support for his project.
Quevedo and Pueblos also denied receiving vehicle from PCSO.
Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad, another prelate implicated in the controversy admitted receiving P1.1 million from the PCSO for the purchase of a vehicle.
"This vehicle is what we are using in our medical and relief operations," he said over Church-run Radyo Veritas.
"But if they want to get it, if P-Noy wants to get it, it's ready. We can return it to them," added Jumoad.
In the said radio interview, the Basilan prelate also gave President Aquino this piece of advice.
"It is very difficult to govern a nation when we are divided. We have to cooperate and collaborate. And at the same time we have to work together and dialogue. If you do not listen to us. And if you only listen to those who will always praise you then we will never move on," Jumoad said.
Valte said it is up to the PCSO to decide on their next action over the anomaly that they had uncovered.
The Palace official, however, reminded Catholic bishops that they are not above the law should criminal cases are filed against them over the donations they had received from the government,
"Certainly if it's a criminal offense, nobody is above the law and nobody is immune from suit," Valte said.
She stressed that the 1987 Constitution states 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, 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."
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