Did Filipino government bribe bishops? Retired prelate wants probe

July 01, 2011

A former president of the Filipino bishops’ conference has called for careful investigation of charges that some bishops accepted money and automobiles from the government’s Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

The financial dealings of the PCSO under the administration of former Presidetn Gloria Magapagal-Arroyo have come under close scrutiny. Archbishop Oscar Cruz, the retired head of the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese, has said that the bishops should welcome an investigation of charges that some prelates received favors from the agency in exchange for public support. Archbishop Cruz urged his fellow bishops to open their own investigation, saying that the charges are “begging for the official attention and formal action of the conference as a whole.”

The retired archbishop told reporters that the close ties between Macapagal-Arroyo and some Filipino bishops had been a regular topic of conversation within the bishops’ conference. He reported that prelates had spoked of the “Malacanang diocese”—a reference to the presidential palace—and argued that the integrity of the bishops’ conference had been harmed by relations with “the previous corrupt and corrupting administration.”

 

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Further information:

• Cruz wants Vatican to censure 'Pajero bishops' (ABS-CBN)
• Don’t be blind on Pajero bishops (Inquirer)