The Anti-Catholic Devils enjoying the lies of PCSO ChairLiar and attacking the CBCP Bishops... Now they can wallow in shame.
MANILA, Philippines - Accusations hurled by the Philippine Charity
Sweepstakes Office against Catholic bishops boomeranged on the agency on
Wednesday after members of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee quizzed the
PCSO chief on why the prelates were accused of receiving Pajero cars
when not one of them acquired the said luxury sport utility vehicle
manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors using PCSO money.
After the
bishops from Northern Luzon and Mindanao defended the acquisition and
use of vehicles for secular activities such as medical missions and
feeding programs in the hinterlands, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada grilled PCSO
chairperson Margarita Juico on the source of the reports about the
"Pajero bishops."
"Mrs. Juico, who came out with that false
report that the bishops were receiving Pajeros? Who came out with the
word Pajero? I presumed all the bishops did not receive any Pajero, it
was four-by-four," said Estrada.
Booed
At
least twice, Juico was booed by the audience from the Senate gallery
after she failed to fully explain who from the PCSO claimed that the
bishops acquired Pajero cars.
"Your honor at that time, I think
the board did not have a copy yet of which vehicles were sent out. All
we had was the COA (Commission on Audit) report," said Juico.
"You
mean to say Mrs. Juico, that the present PCSO board invented that name
Pajero just to put the bishops in bad light?" said Estrada.
"No,
we never said Pajero. We were given this finding from COA that five
vehicles costing P6.9 million granted to the Catholic Church were
charged to the charity fund. The name Pajero did not come from us. It
came about when somebody said it was Pajero," replied Juico.
Asked again by the senator who that somebody was, Juico replied: "I don't know."
Then
Estrada read portions of several news reports quoting Juico as saying
that the bishops received Pajero units from former President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo a few months before she stepped down from office.
Juico
defended herself and said that, "I don't recall saying Pajeros," adding
that "I think I have corrected that many times because it was said that
I said that."
Estrada told the PCSO chairman that it was unfair for the prelates to be lumped as the Pajero bishops. "Eh hindi naman talaga mga luxury vehicles ang tinatanggap nitong ating mga bishops, kawawa naman sila [The bishops did not receive luxury vehicles, I take pity on them.]
Shamed
Earlier
in the hearing, senators Vicente Sotto III and Panfilo Lacson likewise
expressed sympathy for the bishops. Five of them acquired the following
vehicles using PCSO money: Toyota Hi-Ace Grandia van; a secondhand
ten-year-old Nissan Pathfinder pickup; a Mitsubishi Strada pickup; a
Mitsubishi Montero; and an Isuzu Crosswind.
"Senator Lacson and I
could not help but discuss something that has been mentioned a number
of times," said Sotto pertaining to the repeated statements of the
bishops since last week that they would return all the vehicles they had
acquired using PCSO money.
"If I can object to the decision of the bishops in returning the vehicles, I would. Parang
pilay-pilay na sila ngayon pagkatapos n'on, para isauli ang mga binigay
na 'yon. Eh ginagamit ng mabuti, kailangan. Isasauli dahil napahiya,
napahiya dahil may nagheadline ng Pajero bishops. Wala naman palang
Pajero. I think we should take a second look at this decision to return
the vehicles. If I were the PCSO, I will not accept it," said Sotto.
[If
I can object to the decision of the bishops in returning the vehicles, I
would. They're like crippled now after this for them to return what was
given to them. They used the vehicles well, for necessity. They are
returning them because they were shamed by the headlines about the
Pajero bishops. But there were no Pajeros. I think we should take a
second look at this decision to return the vehicles. If I were the PCSO,
I will not accept it.]
More than careless
At the end of the hearing, more senators took up the cudgels for the beleaguered bishops.
Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile thought that PCSO officials were more than careless in their accusations.
"Palagay ko hindi lang careless...Ang
hirap, hindi 'yung dokumento ang pinagbasehan kundi yung gustong
sabihin ng mga tao. Nagugulo ang publiko, di lumalabas ang katotohanan," Enrile told reporters after the hearing.
[I
think they were more than careless...The problem was that the
allegations were not based on the documents but on what people want to
say. The public is being confused, the truth is not coming out.]
"I
think they (bishops) were unfairly accused of receiving expensive
vehicles, which was rather incorrect. The matter was clarified
already...We have the head of the PCSO, they said they did not say
Pajero, I don't know how true that is," added Enrile.
Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, the chairman of the committee also exonerated the bishops.
"Walang mali sa paggamit nila ng sasakyan. Lahat ay nagsabi na ginamit nila sa sekular, hindi for
religious purpose [There was nothing wrong in how they utilized the
vehicles. All of them said these were used for secular activities not
for religious purpose]," said Guingona.
Early ally
Even
before the inquiry into the PCSO fund scandal resumed on Wednesday, the
bishops found an early ally in Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
In
a privilege speech before the hearing, the senator dismissed the 2009
COA report, which said that the purchase of the vehicles was a violation
of the constitutional provision that no public money should be
appropriated directly or indirectly for the use of any church.
(Click her to read the full text of Sen. Santiago's speech)
"I
humbly submit that the COA report is wrong, and that there was no
constitutional violation. Under the Constitution, the power of the COA
is to audit government funds, not to settle questions of constitutional
law," the senator said.
"That power is granted only to the
Supreme Court. COA should have recommended that the constitutional issue
should be raised with the Department of Justice, which is the official
legal adviser of the executive branch of the government," Santiago
added.
Jurisprudence
Citing the 1937
case of Aglipay v. Ruiz as jurisprudence on whether there was
Constitutional violation in the use of public money for religious
purposes, Santiago said that the high court ruled that there was no
violation in the case.
The case involved the post office's
issuance of postage stamps commemorating an international eucharistic
congress of the Catholic church.
"It is obvious that while the
issuance and sale of the stamps in question may be said to be
inseparably linked with an event of a religious character, the resulting
propaganda, if any, received by the Roman Catholic Church, was not the
aim and purpose of the Government," said Santiago.
"We are of
the opinion that the government should not be embarrassed in its
activities simply because of incidental results, more or less religious
in character, if the purpose had in view is one which could legitimately
be undertaken by appropriate legislation. The main purpose should not
be frustrated by its subordination to mere incidental results not
contemplated," she added.
SOURCE:
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/8391/no-pajeros-no-luxury-suvs-accusations-hurled-vs-bishops-backfire-on-pcso
The Grand Propagandist of Liars from Malacanang and PCSO
FR. ABE:
This morning tears flowed from my eyes as our Bishops humbly and gracefully faced their accusers and the elected leaders of the land the Senators of the Blue Ribbon Committee. The Bishops were humiliated in public but they are undefeated by the forces of Darkness trying to discredit the Catholic Church. They showed wisdom and sincerity amidst the political and social backlash waiting for them from the enemies of the Church.
The enemies wanted blood. They wanted the Bishops to be paraded as spectacles to be insulted and our Bishop entered the Lions' Den like Daniel in Babylon. But the plan of Satan and his cohorts was confounded by the Holy Spirit. They were surprisingly neutralized. They have been found bereft of any evidence to pinpoint the Bishop to the guillotine and they have been found LYING... YES, THEY ARE LYING THROUGH THEIR TEETH. The PCSO Head should not be referred to as Chairperson but CHAIRLIAR.
The Senate expressed regret to the Bishop for the troubles and the pain, the PSCO apologized. The Bishops were allowed to go unharmed like Daniel saved from the Jaws of Death. It is the triumph of Truth over Lies, of Goodness over Evil, but Charity over Greed and of Courage over Fear.
TO THE ENEMIES WHO HAVE INSULTED US AND OUR BISHOPS WE SAY: "BEGONE SATAN. ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES AND YOUR CORRUPTING ACCUSATIONS. RETURN TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG AND WHERE YOU CAME FROM!"
No comments:
Post a Comment