RETIRED archbishop Oscar Cruz defended some of his fellow bishops whom President-in-waiting Rodrigo Duterte assailed as being corrupt and urged the Davao City mayor to identify the priests whom he accused of sinning against the people.
Cruz, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, urged Duterte to make good his threat to identify erring priests so that the Church hierarchy could also act on the supposed crimes.
“He should say who did something, what was committed and where we can get evidence. Truly, there are really church people who commit sins even during the time of Jesus,” Cruz said in an interview with GMA News.
“He really should expose those sins because the Church will not just accept it. The Church has laws against such sins along with proper punishments. It is not new for the Church that there are really those who commit mistakes,” Cruz added.
The outspoken prelate, who also once criticized his fellow bishops for seeking donations from the government, also said that the matter of the so-called “Pajero bishops” were found not to have broken any law and even returned the second-hand vehicles that were given them.
“The seven bishops [involved in the “Pajero scandal”] only wanted to do what the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office should have been doing. To help people in far-flung places,” Cruz, retired archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, said.
“So they asked for vehicles from the PCSO so that they can do what the PCSO should have been doing and the PCSO gave them the vehicles.
“The problem emerged when it was reported that the vehicles were Pajeros but there were really none. That’s why they were called Pajero bishops. So when that came out in media, the bishops returned the vehicles. They went to the Senate and said ‘Here, you can have them back’,” the prelate said.
The controversy dates back to 2011 when the PCSO released an audit report of the Commission on Audit in 2009 reporting that the charity agency donated vehicles to seven prelates.
But when the matter was investigated by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in July 2011, PCSO officials themselves admitted that the vehicles donated to the prelates were all second-hand and there was not a single Pajero among them.
“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,” then PCSO chairperson Margarita Juico told senators.
Senators then assailed the PCSO for making people believe that the prelates were given expensive high-end vehicles when they were given second-hand vehicles to do work that the charity agency should have been doing in the first place.
“Sometimes, it’s really depressing when the story that comes out is contrary to the truth,” Cruz said during his interview on Tuesday.
But Cruz said he understood why Duterte has taken a combative stance against the Catholic Church because the mayor had claimed during the campaign that he was abused by a Catholic priest. But the Church will continue to reach out for a dialogue. “Try and try until you die,” he said.
Cruz also denied violating the separation of Church and State.
“Maybe he needs to study what separation of Church and State means. According to our Constitution, it means the state should not have an official religion. Unlike in England where there is a State religion. That is forbidden here,” he said.
“On the part of the Church, there is also separation of Church and State. For example, it is expressly forbidden for bishops and priests to become public officials. So there is separation of Church and State both on the part of the State and the Church.”
Duterte on Monday admitted that he is no longer a member of the Catholic Church as he acknowledged that his proposal for the enactment of a three-child policy was merely a “suggestion” since he “cannot force people to follow” the policy.
The incoming president, who has many disagreements with the clergy following their criticism of his actions, said that he is no longer a practicing member of the predominant religion in the country.
“I have this deep and abiding faith in God, but it does not mean you have to have religion, where you have to follow somebody. I’m already at it,” Duterte told reporters in a late night press conference in Davao City.
“I’m no longer a member of the Catholic Church,” Duterte said. “I have a new [religion]. You transfer to the Iglesia ni Duterte.”
Earlier, Duterte called bishops hypocrites after the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines released a pastoral letter days before the polls urging Catholics not to vote for him.
“The Catholic Church is so stupid. They’re now claiming that they were not campaigning [against me.] How about those three bishops?” Duterte asked.
Duterte also called Cruz out on the “Pajero bishops.”
“There was this Oscar Cruz, who said that they are using Monteros even Land Cruisers as part of charity of the priests. When did you use those Monteros and those SUVs as ambulances? Don’t fool me, Cruz,” he said.
Duterte has had many run-ins with the clergy.
Last year, he cursed Pope Francis for causing traffic jams in Metro Manila during his visit.
Duterte has also set himself up for confrontation with the Church on another key front, promising to bring back the death penalty.
The Church will not back down against Duterte on such core issues, Cruz said.
“We won’t be quiet… the Church will preach what it thinks is right,” Cruz said on radio dzBB. With AFP
