Bishops to refuse donations from Arroyos, says priest
MANILA, Philippines—The bishops would rather pedal bicycles to reach out to the poor than accept money raised by the family of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to help them buy cars, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said Tuesday.
Fr. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action, could not hide his astonishment when organizers of the fund-raising activity announced Tuesday that Juan Miguel “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 on Tuesday.
“It’s more shameful to the Catholic Church to accept a donation that includes money from the Arroyos,” the priest added.
He 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.
Article continues after this advertisementThe 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.
Article continues after this advertisementCollection 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.
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, covenor 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 on the sidelines of the forum.
He said that the organizers were in for a bigger problem if the CBCP, as a body, decided not to accept the donation. “They cannot [use it] for another reason because there is such a thing in the Church that you have to respect the intention of the donor,” he said.
“If they gather [money] and the CBCP would not accept it, they should return it down to the last centavo to the donors… but how can they gather them again?” added the priest.
