Bishop who got PCSO funds was a top Ayala stockholder
A bishop who sought and received Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds for his retirement home actually had millions invested in one of the country's biggest conglomerates, data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) show. According to PSE records obtained by GMA News Research, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Tuguegarao owns more than 24,000 common shares of Ayala Corp. currently valued at P8 million. With those holdings, retired Tuguegarao Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan held about 0.0049 percent of the total shares of the company which ranked him 73rd in the Top 100 stockholders list of Ayala Corp. Since Talamayan retired, he presumably no longer has control of the investments. Letter to Gloria In 2009, Talamayan asked then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for funds to finish a retirement home in conjunction with his 25th anniversary as a bishop. It was earlier reported that some P200,000 from PCSO's public relations fund were funneled into the "operational expenses" of a clergy retirement home in Solana town, Cagayan as requested by the bishop for the celebrations marking his 25th year as a Catholic bishop. The money was disbursed despite the fact that the celebration's organizers, in a letter to then PCSO director Ma. Fatima Valdes, only requested for P2,500 for the tickets to a fundraising dinner the diocese organized. According to documents obtained by GMA News, Talamayan personally wrote former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo a letter in 2009 requesting funds for the retirement homeâs "finishing touches." âOur retirement home, which you helped construct, needs only the finishing touches. And I pray that God give me the graces to adjust smoothly to my new phase in my life," the archbishop said in his letter to Arroyo. In a resolution dated November 2009, the PCSO board decided to grant a request from the Office of the President specifying Talamayan's wishes, but the exact amount of the grant was not disclosed. The board said the money will be charged to the PCSO Charity Fund which, according to its Charter, could only be used for "medical assistance and services and/or charities of national character." Dioceses as stockholders The Archdiocese of Tuguegarao is just one of the Catholic archdioceses that hold substantial volumes of stocks in companies whose shares are traded on the PSE. PSE data show that these own stocks in the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Philippine Airlines, San Miguel Corp. and PHILEX Mining Corp. In BPI, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila ranks fourth on the bank's list of Top 100 stockholders with more than 200 million shares currently valued at P17.3 billion, and represent 6.266 percent of the bankâs outstanding shares. In an interview with GMA Newsâ Sandra Aguinaldo on "State of the Nation," retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said there's nothing wrong with the Church's investments in local firms, since its wealth was merely inherited from Spanish friars over a century ago and was invested in strong companies to nurture it.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV But in the view of columnist and staunch Reproductive Health Bill advocate Elizabeth Angsioco, these bishops had effectively deprived the poor of the financial help from PCSO when they, in fact, had the wealth to fund their needs. "Nagulantang ako doon sa laki ng pera na nasa stocks. Bukod pa doân, yung panghihingi nila doon sa PCSO, ang kinumpetensya nila, ay yung mga mahihirap na mamamayan," Angsioco said in the same interview. The P200,000 that went to Talamayan is ten times the P20,000-cap on PCSO's Individual Medical Assistance Program. Church investments in mining While Cruz condoned the Church's stock investments, he criticized the bishopsâ holding of shares in mining firms. "Ngayon nga ang mining nasalaula. [Ito] ay nakakasira ng environment. Palagay ko panahon na [para] kunin [ng mga obispo] nila âyun, ilabas na nila at i-invest nila sa iba naman," Cruz said.
 | Company | # Shares Owned | Rank in Top 100 | Total Investment Value |
---|---|---|---|---|
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 222,843,681 | 4th | 12,724,374,185 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MLA (REAL CASA DE MISERICORDIA) | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 41,408,841 | 8th | 2,364,444,821 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA (HOSPITAL DE SAN JUAN DE DIOS) | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 22,072,182 | 13th | 1,260,321,592 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MLA (HOSPICIO DE SAN JOSE) | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 6,016,624 | 15th | 343,549,230 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MLA (HOSP DE SA JUAN DE DIOS) | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 4,285,572 | 17th | 244,706,161 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MLA (MAYORDOMIA DELA CATEDRAL) | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 2,664,266 | 21st | 152,129,589 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MLA (ST. PAUL`S HOSPITAL) | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 1,772,418 | 26th | 101,205,068 |
CARMEL OF THE DIVINE INFANT JESUS OF PRAGUE, INC. | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 726,819 | 49th | 41,501,365 |
EL SUPERIOR DE LA CORPORACION FILIPINA DE PADRES AGUSTINOS RECOLETOS | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 551,382 | 60th | 31,483,912 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF JARO | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) | 491,385 | 64th | 28,058,084 |
EL SUPERIOR DE LA CORPORACION FILIPINA DE PADRES AGUSTINOS RECOLETOS | San Miguel Corp (SMC) | 2,370,000 | 31st | 260,700,000 |
SUPERIOR DE LA CORPORACION ARCHICOFRADIA DE N.P.J.N DE RECOLETOS | San Miguel Corp (SMC) | 1,234,603 | 75th | 135,806,330 |
CARMEL OF THE DIVINE INFANT JESUS OF PRAGUE, INC. | San Miguel Corp (SMC) | 957,516 | 79th | 105,326,760 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TUGUEGARAO | San Miguel Corp (SMC) | 856,639 | 81st | 94,230,290 |
REAL MONASTERIO DE LA PURISIMA CONCEPCION DE NUESTRA MADRE SANTA CLARA DE MANILA | San Miguel Corp (SMC) | 809,834 | 83rd | 89,081,740 |
SUPERIOR DE LA CORPORACION DE PADRES RECOLETOS POR BECAS Y VOCACIONES | San Miguel Corp (SMC) | 621,702 | 89th | 68,387,220 |
CARMEL OF ST THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS | San Miguel Corp (SMC) | 592,956 | 91st | 65,225,160 |
THE DISCALCED CARMELITE NUNS OF CEBU | San Miguel Corp (SMC) | 451,864 | 95th | 49,705,040 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF NUEVA SEGOVIA DE VIGAN | San Miguel Corp (SMC) | 428,067 | 98th | 47,087,370 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA | Philex Mining Corp (PX) | 3,221,135 | 15th | 66,677,495 |
RELIGIOUS OF THE VIRGIN MARY - B | Philex Mining Corp (PX) | 3,125,777 | 16th | 64,703,584 |
RELIGIOUS OF THE VIRGIN MARY-A | Philex Mining Corp (PX) | 1,091,027 | 69th | 22,584,259 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TUGUEGARAO | Ayala Corporation (AC) | 24,015 | 73rd | 9,289,002 |
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS FRATERNAL ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILS, INC. | Ayala Corporation Preferred Shares - A (ACPA) | 60,000 | 2nd | 31,800,000 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TAGBILARAN | Ayala Corporation Preferred Shares - B (ACPR) | 10,000 | 64th | 1,015,000 |
DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL | PHINMA Corp. (PHN) | 159,575 | 19th | 2,122,348 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF JUAN DE DIOS | PHINMA Corp. (PHN) | 153,880 | 20th | 2,046,604 |
RELIGIOUS OF THE VIRGIN MARY | PHINMA Corp. (PHN) | 58,975 | 52nd | 784,368 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA | Concrete Aggregates Corp (CA) | 78,846 | 9th | 3,469,224 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MLA (REAL CASA DE MISERICORDIA) | Concrete Aggregates Corp (CA) | 13,067 | 18th | 574,948 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA (HOSPITAL DE SAN JUAN DE DIOS) | Concrete Aggregates Corp (CA) | 8,317 | 24th | 365,948 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MLA (HOSPICIO DE SAN JOSE) | Concrete Aggregates Corp (CA) | 1,898 | 66th | 83,512 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MLA (MAYORDOMIA DELA CATEDRAL) | Concrete Aggregates Corp (CA) | 841 | 97th | 37,004 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA | ISM Communications (ISM) | 38,399 | 48th | 126,333 |
SOCIETY OF THE DIVINE WORD | Filipino Fund Inc. (FFI) | 6,000 | 24th | 48,000 |
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF BANGUED | Filipino Fund Inc. (FFI) | 1,500 | 49th | 12,000 |
CATHOLIC WOMENS LEAGUE | Benguet Corp. - A (BC) | 215 | 53rd | 4,107 |
CORPORACION DE PADRES DOMINICOS | EEI | 75,000 | 75th | 256,500 |