MANILA, Philippines — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Wednesday its conscience is clear over the controversial donation of funds to bishops to buy sports utility vehicles (SUVs), for their birthdays, or for health and community programs.

“But if such government donations to religious organizations or bishops are not allowed, then the CBCP is willing to face the legal consequences,’’ Bishop Nereo Odchimar, CBCP president, said.

Odchimar’s position was contained in a letter sent to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Sen. Teofisto Guingona III who read it during the public hearing on the donations of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to Catholic bishops.

If the financial assistance given by the state to the Catholic dioceses is improper, if not illegal, “then by all means let us put an end to this long-standing practice,” Odchimar said.

While there were fears that there was a supposed violation of a constitutional provision on the principle of separation of Church and State, Guingona said he was not yet prepared to make a categorical statement on this issue.

“The rule is that the use of funds is not to further the ends of a religion or was it used for a public purpose like health and charitable purpose? To make a sweeping judgment, I am not prepared to say. It is a case to case basis. Let’s see the PCSO documents, solicitation letters, or board resolutions,” Guingona said.

What the committee established, Guingona said, are: the rule is that all donations should be for a public purpose; there is corruption at the PCSO, particularly the P1.5 billion in media contract kickbacks based on testimonies and documents; and the PCSO continues to give out funds outside of what the laws have mandated.

As the probe on the controversy starts, Guingona asked the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to hold the departure of former PCSO General Manager Rosario Uriarte until she has satisfactorily explained before the Blue Ribbon Committee her questionable handling and disbursement of P300-million intelligence funds.

Drilon said a substantial amount of the PCSO intelligence funds in checks were in the name Uriarte.

Current PCSO officials said the PCSO started to have intelligence funds during the Arroyo administration in the 2008-2009 with P165 million and P150 million as of Jan. 4, 2010.

PCSO Chairman Margarita Juico said that the PCSO, through its charity fund, issued P6.9 million in vouchers to different bishops assigned to various dioceses in the country for the purchase of five vehicles, mostly SUVs.

Replying to a query by Sen. Franklin M. Drilon, Juico said not one of the vehicles sought by the bishops was an ambulance but all SUVs.

Based on the 2009 report of the Commission on Audit (CoA), the donations of these vehicles to these bishops may be questionable because the PCSO does not donate luxury or SUV vehicles, Juico said.

While most bishops asked the PCSO or President Arroyo, the vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe asked for two brand new ELF vehicles and one second-hand 4x4 vans for the transport of donations, volunteers, and medical personnel, and the sick to hospitals and tree seedlings in the mountain areas of the Cordilleras. It was only able to buy a 17-seater Isuzu NHR van.

In February, 2009, Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of the Diocese of Butuan asked President Arroyo, through PCSO Director Maria Fatima Valdes, for a brand new 4x4 as a “birthday gift” when he turned 66 years old last year. What was bought under the P1.7 PCSO voucher was a Pajero.

In another letter to the PCSO, Bishop Pueblos said he would need the vehicle to reach the rugged terrain, far-flung areas of the Caraga region for community and health programs.

But Pueblos denied asking the PCSO for an SUV.

“I did not ask from the PCSO. I asked from the President (Arroyo)… personal funds from the President,” he said in a phone interview.

“Whoever she asked (from), that’s no longer my concern... I did not ask from the PCSO,” Pueblos stressed.

The five other dioceses and organizations are the archdiocese of Zamboanga; Diocese of Bangued, Abra; Roman Catholic Prelate of Isabela, Basilan; Archdiocese of Cotabato; and Caritas Nueva Segovia (Vigan).

The CBCP said that it has not received any official communication from the PCSO asking any of the dioceses to explain their side on the matter.

It cited the 1937 case of Aglipay vs Ruiz (64 Phil. 201) which recognizes “public benefit’’ as the end and purpose in the appropriation, use, and, of late, donation of public funds for public purposes.

Highlights of the CBCP two-page position paper to the Senate follow:

“The fact that the donations, in this case from the PCSO, are coursed through a church or religious denomination, in this case the dioceses and organizations, is merely incidental.

“We believe that the principle of public benefit, government financial aid to sectarian societies for non-sectarian purposes is not against the law. Thus, if the use for PCSO donations to a bishop is for public and general welfare purposes, as was the case with the six dioceses and one organization, it is not illegal merely because the donee-corporation sole that receives and administers the donation is a Church or religious institution.

“What the Constitution prohibits, based on our limited understanding, is the grant of public money to a religious leader or institution as such. In the case of PCSO funds, if the donee-recipient is the bishop of a Diocese (being the Diocese’s administrator) the bishop does not own the donation but holds it in trust for public use of his Diocese. Hence, the donation is not given to the bishops as such. Whatever benefit the Catholic Church may draw from the gift is purely incidental.

“We are actually grateful that his matter has now come to light, and that the Senate will indicate to us that such financial assistance to the poor, as coursed through religious groups, is in fact improper if not illegal, then by all means put an end to this long-standing practice.

“On the part of the Catholic Church, we are prepared to explain our use of financial assistance to the poor that was coursed through us by the PCSO, as noted in the CoA report, and we can furnish the details to the Senate for their appreciation. In conclusion, allow us to express our willingness to face the consequences of having accepted financial aid from the government so as to channel them to those who need them most.”

All lies

In a media forum Wednesday, Uriarte broke her silence regarding the allegations brought about by current PCSO administration under Chairman Margie Juico.

Uriarte said that the previous PCSO board, which she was part of, is being demonized by the current administration by spreading lies.

A teary-eyed Uriarte clarified that the previous board had left around P3.3 billion of funds and other assets. In addition, the former Board was able to triple the agency's revenues amounting to over P26 billion by the end of 2009. This enabled PCSO to address two-thirds of their total beneficiaries.

Based on the CoA reports for 2008 and 2009, list of beneficiaries and other documents in her possession, Uriarte admitted there is a P1-billion payable debts which were either not approved by the CoA or were cases with incomplete liquidation reports.

She said the report on the alleged P139-million ghost patients with guarantee letters was another lie. “They were perhaps referring to patients who weren't issued a guarantee letter because they lack the necessary documents. So where's the anomaly there? And why should they consider it as an existing debt.”

Uriarte explained that congressmen and local government units who requested for endowment funds were not biased to allies of former President and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo nor is limited to the religious sector. She said all requests that were approved by the Board were directly given to hospital beneficiaries in tranches either quarterly or by semester.

“All financial requests never passed through the hands of any politician. Of all those who have asked us for assistance, we never asked ‘what is your religion?’ We have extended our assistance to all political colors.”

Uriarte also said the issue regarding bishops receiving Mitsubishi Pajeros is not true since their Board resolutions only allow them to issue financial assistance as donations for purchase of service vehicles which can be used for medical and charity work. Most of the said donations were given out to beneficiaries in far-flung areas.

Uriarte also denied that the previous Board had approved of a P42-billion contract with an Australian company to establish a thermal paper plant abroad. The original contract was to establish a thermal paper plant here in the country to generate jobs and to bring down the cost of thermal paper used in the Philippine Lotto.

“The plan to put up a plant locally would create a 20-percent revenue of the annual income of PCSO. It would also give the agency one year free of thermal paper expenditures for every five years. That savings can be added to the agency's operating fund. As for the P42-billon contract, I don't know where they got it,” Uriarte explained. (With a report from Carlo Suerte Felipe and Leslie Ann G. Aquino)