Group raises funds for new vehicles for bishops

A Church-based group on Friday started a campaign in Manila's Quiapo district to raise funds for vehicles for Catholic bishops who returned donated vehicles to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office earlier this week. Churchgoers at the Quiapo Church donated P1, P5 and P10 coins and P20 bills to the fund-raising activity by the Coalition for Family and Life, radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported. "Malakas ang aking paniniwala sa ating [mga] obispo (My faith in our bishops remains very strong)," a female "donor" said after dropping her donation into a container. Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal and former Manila Mayor Jose Atienza Jr. led the fund-raising drive, the dzBB report said. Members of their group set up a tent in front of Quiapo Church, and set up transparent containers to accommodate donations. On Wednesday, bishops linked to "questionable" vehicle donations from the PCSO appeared before the Senate and insisted they used the vehicles for helping the poor. However, they also said they would return the vehicles because of the "scandal." Review collaboration with govt Meanwhile, Catholic bishops are now reviewing their "critical collaboration" with the government following the PCSO scandal. Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines secretary general Msgr. Juanito Figura said the review will apply not just to the PCSO but to other government agencies. "We did not say that we will not collaborate (with the government; we will) just carefully study with any government agencies for that matter," Figura said in an article posted on the CBCP news site. But as the bishops said they remain willing to engage in critical collaboration, the CBCP gave subtle hints that not all is well, posting on its news site a scathing attack on the bishops' accusers. Figura said that while bishops were hurt by the accusations of irregularities in vehicle donations, they are aware the government and Church are both serving the people. "Even if there is a separation of Church and State we are serving the same Filipino people, there has to be areas of collaboration," he said. The mess involving vehicle donations from the PCSO to some bishops appeared to draw to a close last Wednesday after the bishops told a Senate hearing they were returning the donated vehicles. One of them, Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, also apologized for his "lapse in judgment." Voluntary Meanwhile, Figura said the CBCP is not inclined to seek an apology from the bishops' accusers, now that the controversy appears to have ended. But he hinted that if the accusers want to apologize, they should do so voluntarily. "I think it would be better that if they will apologize, it should be voluntary," he said. 'Backfired attack' Early Friday, the CBCP news site posted an article written by former Sen. Francisco Tatad, a staunch supporter of the bishops, claiming the PCSO incident was an attack on bishops that backfired. In his article titled "Attack on the bishops backfires," Tatad said the vehicles given to the bishops were "old, second-hand pickup trucks, and not luxurious Pajeros, as alleged by the new PCSO head Margarita Juico and her media allies who had maliciously labeled them 'the Pajero bishops.'" "It became plain that there was absolutely no basis to the propaganda scandal generated by the PCSO head, some hip-shooting senators and the anti-Church media against the poor bishops," Tatad added. Tatad questioned Juico's claim she tried to "correct" the label "Pajero bishops" yet "gave no proof of her alleged effort." "Not only did Juico try to put the bishops in a bad light, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said; she tried to damage the name and dignity of the entire Church, some lay leaders pointed out," he said. — RSJ, GMA News