MANILA, Philippines – Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos accepted “full responsibility” for his action involving his birthday request in 2009 to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for a brand new vehicle, which was bought using funds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
Echoing a familiar line once made by his benefactor, Pueblos, in a prepared statement, said his request was a “lapse in judgement on my part”, that he failed to consider the “propriety of the procurement of the said vehicle” and that he was “willing to face the consequences of my lapse in judgement”.
Speaking before the Senate investigating the alleged anomalous PCSO transactions involving the purchase of vehicles to bishops, Pueblos disclosed that he was returning the 4×4 Montero given to him in Mindanao to the authorized PCSO official there.
Pueblos, who was thrust into the controversy after it was revealed in the previous Senate hearing that he wrote a letter to Arroyo about his birthday gift, said it was unfortunate that his “shortcoming” was his “zeal”.
“My actions have been misconstrued . . . cast a shadow of uncertainty on my dignity and moral ascendancy as a bishop,” said Pueblos who stressed that it was “service to the public” that motivated him.
The “lapse in judgement” was a line Arroyo once used when she apologized to the public over her phone conversation with an official of the Commission on Elections during the counting of votes in the 2004 presidential elections. The admission resulted in the resignation of 10 of her Cabinet officials and nearly caused Arroyo her office.