After all the media frenzy over the largess of the PCSO towards seven Catholic Bishops, the controversial vehicles were voluntarily returned, and a public admission was made on the inadvertent “lapse in judgment”.
Most Catholics know that bishops and priests professed to the vows — poverty, chastity and obedience.
While they occupy a privileged position as spiritual leaders with the mandate to stay true to their vows, they are just human beings, subject to the usual weaknesses, as one who has a “feet of clay”.
As a Catholic, I have learned to be discerning about the religious functions of bishops and priests, as separate and distinct from their own personal conduct.
In fairness, it is not only the Catholic bishops who were encouraged, inveigled, or duped into accepting large sums of money and other benefits from the previous administration to buy their silence or acquiescence.
It is of public knowledge that churches of various denominations received for example, sacks of rice from the government National Food Authority for distribution.
Logic dictates there must have other various emoluments, privileges, or outright cash donations given to these churches.
Whether or not they distributed this to their poor members or the community at large is beside the point. These anomalous largess of using public funds or resources channeled to various religious groups should not have happened in the first place.
The expose involves only PCSO funds and the Catholic church. What about other funds or resources of government which were funneled to other churches or religions?
The list may go on and on, and on. So please stop the circulation of the following text messages: “Announcing new car models Nissan sa Pari, and MitsuBishop Pajero available at the PCSO!”
Most people agree the prohibition against the use of public funds for private, religious purposes, is absolute and mandatory on the part of government officials who have the control and possession of public funds.
Sec. 6 Art. II, 1987 Constitution provides: “The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.”
Note the word “Church” does not apply to the Catholic Church alone, thus, this prohibition applies to all churches of different denominations.
Sec 29, (2) Article VI of the 1987 Constitution provides:
“No public money or property shall be appropriated, applied, paid or employed, directly, indirectly for the use,benefit or support of any sect, church, denomination, scretrian institution or system institution or system of religion, or of any priest, preacher, minister or other religious teachers, or dignitary as such, except when such priest, preacher, minister or dignitary is assigned to the armed forces, or to any penal institution or government orphanage or leprosarium.
It is sad that seven bishops are dragged into the PCSO controversy, and this “lapse in judgment” should serve as a lesson to all, that when it comes to public funds, there are restrictions provided by the Constitution and by law.
When a person uses or receives public funds which comes from every taxpayer, he should be ready to face the scrutiny of public audit, public disclosure, and public censure, if there are any anomalies detected.
And such acts may even subject the giver and the receiver to criminal prosecution, if proven to amount to malversation of public funds.