UPDATED 11:45 a.m. - Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos received an SUV from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) after he wrote then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arrroyo requesting a vehicle for his 66th birthday two years ago. The request was among the revelations during Wednesday's Senate hearing on the PCSO. "I really need a brand-new car, possibly a 4x4 which I can use to reach the far-flung areas of Caraga (region)," Pueblos wrote in his February 8, 2009 letter to Arroyo. "I hope you will not fail to give a brand-new car which will serve as your birthday gift to me." In the same letter, Pueblos assured Arroyo of his "constant support" for the former president, who is now a congressional representative for Pampanga.
Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos received a 4x4 Montero Sport worth P1.7 million from PCSO in 2009 after requesting one from then-President Arroyo. Photo from Mitsubishi Motors Philippines website
PCSO Chair Margie Juico said Pueblos sent another letter the following month where he explained that he wanted a vehicle for "spiritual and social services." He specifically asked for a 4x4 Montero Sport that can "comfortably seat" six to 10 people worth P1.7 million. The request was granted in March in the same year after Arroyo endorsed the bishop's letter to the PCSO with a note saying "for appropriate action." During Wednesday's Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, Juico said the prelates should not have requested sports utility vehicles (SUV) from the agency, and the PCSO should not have granted these requests. "
Ang dino-donate lang ho namin ay ambulansya (We're only supposed to donate ambulances)," Juico said. She issued the statement after PCSO director Atty. Aleta Tolentino earlier revealed that P6.9 million of the charity’s funds were allocated for the purchase of utility vehicles for certain prelates. Senator Franklin Drilon, who was present during the hearing, likewise cited a Constitutional provision which says that public funds must not be used to give favors to any specific religion.
Bishop who got SUV as Arroyo ‘gift’ also told PNoy to resign
Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, who allegedly requested and received a luxury vehicle from the Arroyo administration, was the same bishop who told President Benigno Aquino III to resign less than a year in office. In his statement against Aquino that hogged the headlines last month, Pueblos said he knew dissatisfied personalities who are already plotting an attempt to remove Aquino from the presidency. "I'll just be waiting for them to share the result of their output and see ano ba talaga ang the best for the Philippines without bloodshed and without violence," the bishop was quoted in a report as saying. (
Read more)
Juico confirmed that no other religious organizations received similar donations from their agency. However, former chairman and board member Manoling Morato earlier said there is
nothing wrong about giving vehicles to Church officials if these will be used for charity work.
Requests During Wednesday's hearing, Juico said the following prelates received vehicles from PCSO:
Fr. Adriano Ruiz of Cotabato (Toyota Grandia) as endorsed by Kidapawan Archbishop Romullo Valles Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad (Mitsubishi Strada) Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos (Montero Sport) Juico said Fr. Roger Lood of Iligan City was supposed to receive an Isuzu Altera, as requested by Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, but it was not released. She added that the Archdiocese of Caritas Nueva Segovia in Ilocos Sur received an Isuzu Crosswind. Juico said similar requests were granted to the Diocese of Abra and Bontoc, as requested by Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Beltran Quevedo, but her office could not determine what type of vehicles were donated because they were not liquidated. However, she said Quevedo requested two brand new Elf vehicles and one 4x4 van to be used to transport donations and volunteers to far-flung areas in need of immediate help, also in 2009. Only Pueblos apparently invoked his birthday as the occasion for such a donation. - VVP/HS, GMA News 
GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
