Bishop Cruz refused cash offer not once but twice

The practice of the Arroyo administration of offering donations to the clergy did not exempt Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, an antigambling crusader.

Cruz on Thursday recalled that a politician once went to him in the 1990s offering a P7-million check to help shoulder the expenses for a construction in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) compound in Manila.

“While I was looking for funds, one politician came to me and said he had P7 million with him. It was in the form of a check. But I said I could not accept it,” said the prelate, who was then the CBCP president.

“But nobody would know about this,” the politician told him, to which he replied: “Well, I know about it.”

The prelate and the politician parted ways after what was generally a “respectful” encounter. Cruz would not experience a similar offer until several years later, shortly before he retired as Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop.

A strong typhoon had damaged a seminary and the priest assigned to oversee the repairs had an unexpected visitor, a representative of a politician. The offer was P2 million, which was about a third of the total cost of the repairs.

But knowing well Cruz’s stand on such a donation, the priest politely declined.

“He just told the representative that if we needed help, we would ask for it,” Cruz said. “But of course, we never did.”

Cruz reluctantly mentioned the two incidents when asked if he, too, had been offered cash assistance from the government. He was earlier critical of fellow bishops who received vehicles from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

“This news has caused some embarrassment (for us), but it doesn’t mean that I am not with my brother bishops,” he told the Inquirer.

“I am with them and I’m sure the CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) will remain strong. The CBCP and the Church in the Philippines are more than a handful of bishops,” he added.

Cruz made it clear that his refusal to accept the donations did not mean “that I am a better person than anyone of them.”

The Senate blue ribbon committee on Thursday resumed its inquiry into the PCSO donations to Catholic bishops. The committee started its hearing on Wednesday.

Former PCSO General Manager Rosario Uriarte on Thursday submitted to the committee documents showing that other religious groups also got PCSO donations during the Arroyo administration.

Long partnership

“There has been a long partnership with the Church and the religious sector in the field of medical and charity [work]. In fact, the PCSO [donates] not just to Catholics. There are also NGOs and institutional partners,” Uriarte said.

She said she would submit the list of all beneficiaries in the religious sector to the committee.

She told the senators in Filipino that it was clear in “the board resolutions that we never gave any Pajeros.”

Despite the gravity of the PCSO’s allegations against some bishops, PCSO Chair Margie Juico said the agency was not sure if its supposed evidence against them would stand in court. With a report from Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao