WRONG SUV. PCSO chairman Margarita Juico apologizes on July 13, 2011 before the Senate blue ribbon committee investigating the PCSO fund mess for failing to correct reports that the bishops were given Pajeros. LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chairperson Margarita Juico apologized on Wednesday for not immediately correcting news reports that seven Catholic bishops got the high-end Pajero sports utility vehicles from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) under the Arroyo administration.
Accompanied by fellow bishops and lay supporters, the seven bishops showed up at the Senate on Wednesday in what was expected to be a grilling in connection with the allegedly illegal donation.
But their primary accuser, Juico, instead found herself on the defensive when senators concluded that the bishops received no Mitsubishi Pajeros – a relatively expensive vehicle – but instead utility vehicles, which were later used for charity missions in the mountains and countryside.
Juico apologized for mistakenly exposing to the media that seven bishops got expensive Pajeros supposedly in exchange for their support for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Juico said that she told reporters she was verifying reports that some bishops got sports utility vehicles from the PCSO and some reporters might have assumed that these were Pajeros.
“I’m so sorry for whatever [problems] this may have [caused]. I’m sure this has caused these bishops…” she told senators.
Cotobato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, who was accused of getting a Pajero, accepted Juico’s apology, saying the Christian faith involves “forgiving and praying even for those who are your persecutors, enemies.”
“I’m happy that the truth came out [but] I’m still very sad about its effects on the whole Church and its effects on us, the bishops involved, because our reputations have been destroyed and that’s the sad part about it,” he told reporters after the hearing.
After Juico’s admission, some guests in the gallery were overheard as saying that she should step down. Ex-PCSO chairman Manuel Morato said Juico and the present board should be fired for allegedly “driving a wedge between the Church and the State.”
“Sorry is not enough because the harm has been done,” he told reporters.
During the hearing, Quevedo sought to trace the origin of the controversy, which later prompted the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to devote a significant portion of its plenary assembly on the matter.
“First, a false report was place in the paper. I don’t know what source it came [from], that we had Pajeros or SUVs, and that came and it scandalized the whole country,” he recalled.
“And we were ashamed that this was so. We told the bishops’ conference then that I didn’t think that report was correct and it was never corrected in the papers. It continues even to this day.”
Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada later grilled Juico on where he got her information. As per PCSO and diocesan records, the seven bishops got either brand-new, second-hand pickups, vans, or a Montero 4×4 SUV.
Juico struggled to answer and later explained that the PCSO board did not have clear information on the donation when she accused bishops of getting Pajeros during a dinner with the Philippine Daily Inquirer editors and reporters.
“At that time, I think the board did not have a copy yet of which vehicles were sent out. All we had was the [Commission on Audit] report,” she said, triggering jeers from the gallery.
Estrada replied: “So you mean to say, Mrs. Juico, that the present PCSO board invented that name ‘Pajero’ to put the bishops in a bad light.”
Juico claimed that she never mentioned Pajero in any of her media interviews. She said the information had been fed to her by one PCSO manager. PCSO general manager Ferdinand Rojas came to her defense, alleging that she had been misquoted.
Estrada did not buy Rojas’ claim, noting that three media outlets, including the Inquirer, reported on the same story, although one, had quoted the PDI report.
“Next time, you have to verify your reports before coming out in the open, in the media, in exposing that these bishops received so and so because our bishops are being out in a very, very bad situation,” he told Juico.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile added: “It’s obvious that some errors were made and indeed, there were no luxury vehicles that were involved. There were utility vehicles that are needed in rugged terrains to serve the social interest of the public. Now we have had enough of this.”