THE Church will not only refrain from receiving donations given through gambling but will also refuse donations made by the family of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“As much as possible, these donations should not be received since gambling is not virtuous,” Cebu Archdiocese spokesman Msgr. Esteban Binghay told Cebu Daily News over the phone.
Binghay issued the statement as an official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said they would rather pedal bicycles to reach out to the poor than accept money raised by the Arroyo family to help them buy cars.
Fr. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action, said he could not hide his astonishment when organizers of the fund-raising activity announced yesterday that Mikey Arroyo, a son of the former the former President, chipped in P50,000 for the bishops.
“If we’ve been put to shame for accepting donations from the PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office), accepting a donation from the Arroyos is more abominable and unacceptable,” said Gariguez during a forum hosted by the Catholic Media Network yesterday.
Binghay said the clergy should first inquire on the source of the donations by doing background checks on the donor and his or her decision behind the donation.
“It’s a different thing when we know the source of the donations, especially when we know that its source is also good,” Binghay said.
He said he asked for donations on more than one occasion especially for the construction or renovation of churches.
However, Binghay said he didn’t receive donations from donors who acquired the money through gambling.
He said most of his donors would donate from their personal money.
When asked if he knows any member of the clergy who asks for money to purchase vehicles, Binghay said the vehicles of the priests are often bought from the fund of the parish or donated by “close friends and families” or their personal money.
Binghay said he drives a Toyota Hi-Ace Grandia donated by his family.
He said any donated vehicle to the Church would be used for the church’s outreach programs.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said he will issue “brotherly reminders” to priests who will receive or solicit donations from government.
Palma, an incoming president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) admitted that the church needs to be more careful on receiving donations especially from public officials.
In Manila, Gariguez said money from the fund-raising effort would be more acceptable to the Church if the organizers excluded donations from the Arroyos.
Organizers and lay leaders led by Romulo Macalintal, an election lawyer, and Lito Atienza, former Manila mayor, disclosed at the forum that their campaign, which began last week, has already collected P1.247 million in cash contributions.
The campaign was aimed at buying new vehicles for seven Roman Catholic bishops who returned vehicles that were purchased with money donated by the PCSO under the Arroyo administration.
Collection at Plaza Miranda near the Quiapo Church on Friday reached P74,422 from 2,352 signatures, Macalintal said at the forum.
Most of the donors were churchgoers and poor vendors plying their wares around the church.
Arroyo’s son, party-list Rep. Mikey Arroyo, also issued a check for P50,000 last week to help the campaign.
The act of the poor or underprivileged, sharing what little they have to the Church was commendable, Gariguez said.
But the Church should be discriminating in receiving donations, especially made by suspicious personalities, he added.
Gariguez said he and his office would object to bishops accepting the donations tainted by corruption.
“If I were to be asked, I’d rather ride the bicycle,” said the CBCP official.
He said the bishops implicated in the controversy at the PCSO would agree with him in declining donations that include money amassed through shady businesses and suspicious activities.
“We know the record [of the Arroyos] and even up to now they are still being hounded by controversies, so it will really be a big slap to the Church if it will accept money from the Arroyos,” said Gariguez.
Fr. Joe Dizon, convenor of the National Clergy Discernment Group, also expressed opposition to the fund-raising effort led by Macalintal and Atienza.
“They should stop that because we should instead be encouraging the lay people to help the ministry of the Church,” Dizon told reporters. Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya with an Inquirer report