A little over a month after a controversy broke out about vehicle donations to some Catholic bishops, a group of Catholics led by election lawyer Romulo Macalintal and former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza reported having raised P2.7 million for vehicles for three bishops in poor dioceses. According to a report of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Wednesday, the three bishops who received the vehicles were:
Diocese of Bontoc-Lagawe Bishop Rodolfo Beltran; Diocese of Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, and Tabuk Bishop Prudencio Andaya. Andaya received a pick-up truck for his diocese’s social action programs although he was not implicated in the so called “PCSO fund controversy." Macalintal said Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo declined the donation, saying that it should be given to poor dioceses in need of vehicles. The CBCP said the other prelates implicated in the controversy were Archbishops Romulo Valles of Zamboanga and Ernesto Salgado of Nueva Segovia and Bishops Martin Jumoad of Basilan and Leopoldo Jaucian of Bangued. The CBCP said three bishops — Valles, Salgado and Jumoad — are still waiting for word from Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, the incoming president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, if they should receive the vehicles. Juacian earlier received a car donated by his Filipino-Chinese parishioners to reach the remote areas under his pastoral jurisdiction, the CBCP added. Successful drive “The drive was a success and we thank everyone for their help. Catholics from all walks of life―from the rich to the poor—responded to our call," Macalintal said in the CBCP report. “Not a single cent was deducted from the fund to pay for incidental expenses like our meetings and so on. The P2.7 million is the gross amount," Macalintal said. Macalintal said the money their group raised was used to purchase four Foton pick-up trucks. “The Foton pick-up trucks were worth P800,000 but we were able to get a big discount. We also asked Toyota and Mitsubishi but their pick-up trucks were worth P1.6 million," he added. Television host Willie Revillame donated P100,000 plus a van and another pick-up truck. The CBCP report said the other personalities who gave money to the fund drive were Senators Vicente Sotto III (who gave P200,000), Francis Escudero (P100,000), and Bong Revilla and his wife, Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla, (P200,000). PCSO fund controversy The CBCP fund raising drive was launched in July to provide utility vehicles for seven prelates who were criticized earlier for receiving cars from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during the Arroyo administration. The CBCP on July 11 apologized to the public after the seven bishops were embroiled in the so-called PCSO fund controversy. In a pastoral statement read by its outgoing president Bishop Nereo Odchimar, the CBCP said the Church “has been deeply wounded by the controversies in the PCSO." "As shepherds struggling to love you like Jesus the Good Shepherd, we are sorry for the pain and sadness that these events have brought upon you," the group said after its 103rd plenary assembly held at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila. The CBCP likewise reassured the public that the bishops who accepted luxury vehicles from the PCSO funds “are ready to accept the responsibility of their actions and to face the consequences." The bishops implicated in the PCSO fund controversy on July 13 attended a Senate hearing on alleged irregularities in the vehicle donations to them. The bishops said during the hearing that they are returning the vehicles to the government. - VVP, GMA News 
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