PCSO reveals 5 of 7 bribed CBCP bishops

After throwing allegations left and right, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) finally began to back it up. They’ve revealed the recipients of the 7 Pajeros:

PCSO board director, Atty. Aleta Tolentino, said a 2009 Commission on Audit report showed there were several checks representing the amount that were taken from the charity fund.
She said P1.44 million was given to the Archdiocese of Cotabato for the purchase of a service vehicle, P1.5 million went to the Zamboanga Archdiocesan Social Action Apostolate, P720,000 was given to Caritas Nueva Segovia, P1.125 million to the Roman Catholic Prelate of Isabela, Basilan and P1.7 million to the Diocese of Butuan.

So that’s

  1. Archdiocese of Cotabato
  2. Zamboanga Archdiocesan Social Action Apostolate
  3. Caritas Nueva Segovia
  4. Roman Catholic Prelate of Isabela
  5. Diocese of Butuan

Wait. There’s only 5 in that list. Maybe some of those people received more than one Pajero. Or maybe 2 bishops got away. Anyway, it’s either PCSO is still looking for evidence against the 2 bishops (or got the initial allegations wrong), or these 2 bishops are too high up in the hierarchy to go after. I sure hope it’s not the latter.

Whatever the case, Atty. Tolentino said that the ones revealed and the officials involved will be investigated by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Sen. TG. Guingona:

“Based on the COA report, may violation ng Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act). Siguro kung may kasalanan ang bishops, dapat parusahan sila. We should be God-fearing, not bishop-fearing,” she said.

I applaud the PCSO for following through, and for knowing that bishops should not be feared. But it’s not really necessary that people be God-fearing to follow the law. As these corrupt CBCP bishops will soon realize, the harsh criticism of society and the punitive power of the state are scary enough.

7 comments

  1. In the Phils., wasn't the Recoletos order one of the biggest, if not the single biggest stockholder of San Miguel at one point? At least they know how to invest the millions that parishioners contribute every day.:p

  2. that's just a myth. the Vatican even has its own bank to manage its obscene amount of wealth.

    In Beth Angsioco's news article last month, she computed the Catholic church's assets in stocks alone were already worth 17.5 billion, not including all the other assets like cash, bonds, deposits, and real estate.

    But then again, the church is only following Christ's teachings… because…. wait for the punchline…

    * JESUS SAVES!*

  3. dapat may lifestyle check din ang mga bishops.
    pero hindi na rin siguro kelangan, kasi sila ang mga members ng society na walang poverty level classification.

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