On my previous post I defended our Catholic Bishops about the said Pajero scandal. I explained in my post the responsibility of the Bishops to use the money donated to them or to the diocese in service of the poor. I also used an analogy of the sword of Satan to explain that even if the money came from an evil source, if it will feed the poor, then why not use it? To sum it up, many of my previous assumptions and stance in favor of the Bishops has been re-echoed in the Senate hearing yesterday. I am proud of the Bishops. The Bishops has been vindicated by all charges by PCSO chair Margie Juico, who in her current disposition as the PCSO chair did not observe prudence in going public with the issue but rather decided to do a witch-hunt. Watching the Senate Hearing on live streaming yesterday gave me goosebumps. The bishops were very firm and candid. You can see the honesty and sincerity in every words they say in the Hearing. Actually that feeling of reverence for the bishops was only interrupted by the Jeers and boos from the people inside the gallery watching the hearing when the Senate found that Juico failed to observe prudence but also fabricated some details of the issue. Here are the outcome of the said hearing:

• Bishops in full attendance: Those who appeared in the Senate hearing were Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan; Archbishop Romulo Valles of Zamboanga; Archbishop Orlando B. Quevedo of Cotabato; Bishop Leopoldo C. Jaucian of Bangued, Abra; Bishop Martin Jumoad of Isabela, Basilan; and Bishop Rodolfo F. Beltran of Bontoc. Archbishop Ernesto Antolin Salgado of Caritas Nueva Segovia is still abroad. All of these bishops who received donations are for far flung areas and is in really need of vehicles because of the road situations in the region, said Senator Miriam Santiago.

• Returning the vehicles: The Bishops were firm in their decision to return the vehicles in question despite the convince of Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Vicente Sotto III, Jinggoy Estrada and Panfilo Lacson not to return them anymore. Archbishop Orlando Quevedo said in a statement: “We met and we said that I think that the wisdom of the bishops’ conference (CBCP) is correct that even if it is not unlawful and even if it is not unconstitutional, we believe that it is important for us to clear everything in the air and return the vehicles,”. As of this writing, four of the seven vehicles in question were already returned to the PCSO.

• They are not Pajeros: The Senate found that the vehicles were not actually Expensive Pajeros as what the PCSO and Juico’s hoodlums earlier said in various media interviews but actually service vehicles, some of them are second hand utility vans, others still have mud-slick all over them, indicating that it came from a muddy road. The vehicles were: Nissan Pathfinder and a Mitsubishi L-300 van were brought in by Beltran; a Mitsubishi Strada 4X4 pick-up by Jaucian; and an Isuzu Sportivo by the staff of Archbishop Salgado, who was abroad. Quevedo and Valles had been using a Toyota Grandia Hi-Ace van each; Pueblos a Mitsubishi Montero; and Jumoad, a Mitsubishi Strada 4X4 pickup. The vehicles were hardly the sleek SUVs that the PCSO had described them to be.

• Imprudent Chairman: Margie Juico. PCSO Chairman (for now) has failed to observe proper prudence and put the Bishops in a bad light according to the senators in divulging the issue to the media without accuracy. When Juico was asked why they claimed that the vehicles were Pajeros, Juico kept on turning to her colleague seeking answers for the questions of the senators being hurled at her, she finally said after much hesitancy that they based their assumptions on the COA report. When asked further by the Senate if the COA report indicated that the vehicles were Pajeros, Juico’s only reply was a weak NO. The Senators accused the PCSO Chair and her cohorts of fabricating the issue.

• COA is Confused: Senator Miriam Santiago also lambasted COA for inappropriate recommendation and report. The senator said that while COA indicated in its report that this action was a violation of the constitutional provision that no public money should be appropriated, directly or indirectly, for the use of any church, COA has no power to decide whether it is constitutional or not. The power of the COA is to audit, not to settle questions of constitutional law. The power is granted only to the Supreme Court according to Senator Miriam Santiago. She further added, the COA, instead of declaring the donations to the bishops as unconstitutional, should have instead recommended that the constitutional issue be raised in the Department of Justice, the official legal adviser of the executive branch of the government. She warned that it would be the PCSO, and not the bishops, that would have to explain why it appeared to be favoring Catholic leaders.

• No Malice: While the CBCP had apologized for the controversy, the bishops maintained that their receipt of the funds for the purchase of the vehicles was not unlawful.

• Satan’s Money: Senator Jinggoy Estrada questioned Bishops Jose de Dios Pueblos regarding his Birthday Letter to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Pueblos was earlier revealed as having asked for a brand-new, 4 x 4 Mitsubishi Montero sport utility vehicle as a gift from then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for his 66th birthday in 2009. The Senator said: “For example, if the Devil or Satan appears in front of you and offers to give you money or a vehicle for that matter, would you accept it?”. In reply the Bishop answered: “If I can use the vehicle (for) the work I do for the people, I don’t think there is a reason (to refuse),”. Senator Jinggoy Estrada was quoting and paraphrasing cardinal Sin’s famous statement: “If Satan appears to me and gives me money, I will accept the money and spend it all on the poor. It is not the practice of the Church to ask donors where the donations come from. Our duty is to make sure all donations go to the poor,”

• Bishops used as a diversion: Senator Miriam Santiago suspects that a media spin doctor has used the controversy involving some Church leaders and their government-donated vehicles to draw public attention away from an “unauthorized” P1.5-billion bank deposit made by officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in 2009. The senator said her colleagues in the committee could have saved time by not bothering the bishops to explain the SUV purchases. “Why concentrate on the P7 million given to the bishops when there are billions that were apparently abused or wasted? Why are we being led down this path? Who is manipulating the scenarios?” she stressed.

• Unanimous Decision: Senator Gingona decided that there is no more need for the Bishops to attend the next hearing today. The Senators were unanimous in their decision that there is no scandal behind the much publicized PCSO donation. If there was, the PCSO should be the one to face the heat for favoring Catholic bishops and not the Bishops themselves.

• No Apology, Just resign: After the Hearing, the Bishops were unanimous in their stance that they seek no apology from Margie Juico, the Current PCSO chair. The damage has been done and they were already subjected to ridicule. The Bishops maintained that if ever there would be an apology, it should be Juico’s resignation form the PCSO post. Juico after the hearing released a statement that there was no intention to humiliate or embarass the bishops in question and that the PCSO is not seeking for the return of the vehicles.

After this, I think Margie Juico will be stir fried in her own lard.

from left, Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, Bishop Leopoldo Jaucian, Msgr. David William Antonio (representing Most Rev. Ernesto Salgado), Bishop Rodolfo Beltran, Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, Archbishop Romulo Valles and Most Rev. Martin Jumoad.

further reading:
Bishops get reverential treatment
Bishops used to divert focus from P1.5B PCSO deposit
CBCP seeks no apology from PCSO
Pueblos would do a Sin but who’s the devil?