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Wednesday, July 19, 2006
No bribes allotted to Church: Abacahin
By Danilo V. Adorador III
THE money handed to Catholic bishops by Malacañang should not be interpreted as a bribe and the dinner during which it was given should not be taken as a victory party, an official from the local diocese said.
Monsignor Elmer Abacahin, Cagayan de Oro Archdiocese Social Action director, denied over a dxIF Bombo Radyo interview that the funds offered by Palace officials to bishops attending the Malacañang dinner last week was an act of quid pro quo.
The dinner party, first reported by a national daily late last week, has created a nationwide furor in the wake of a decision by the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) not to support the impeachment against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The CBCP said it did not believe in impeachment as the process of finding the truth behind the flurry of allegations against Arroyo.
The President is facing corruption and election cheating allegations.
Money, indeed, had been given to each bishop, but Abacahin said the funds were intended for the Botika sa Parokya initiative of the government, in which a particular diocese may undertake the direct dispensation of medicines or delegate this function to a charitable institution.
He said some bishops accepted the money -- sealed in envelopes -- others did not. He did not mention if Archbishop Antonio Ledesma received the Malacañang donation which reportedly amounted to P15,000 per envelope.
Abacahin said the Malacañang dinner should not be labeled as a victory party, saying the issues discussed there did not even delve into the current impeachment issue.
"It's just happened that the meeting was held right after the CBCP announcement. The proximity of the two events was just coincidental," he said, adding that the incident was open to various "misinterpretations."
If there was something to celebrate, he said, it was the CBCP's decision "which has contributed to the much needed moral guidance in the present political situation."
He acknowledged there are priests and bishops who were discontented with the CBCP's statement, but clarified that members of the clergy are not forbidden to hold discussions on the matter.
"We don't have the monopoly of the truth. That we are open to various ideas and views shows that CBCP is a democratic institution," he said.
(July 19, 2006 issue)
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