CBCP chief tells Church groups to avoid asking funds from pols

MANILA, Philippines - The incoming president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged Church-based organizations and institutions not to solicit from government officials amid the pork barrel controversy.

Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas said stakeholders of the Church must make “Walang hihingi!” as their mantra when relating to politicians.

"We in Church can contribute to the corruption by grabbing a piece of the pie through our solicitations from government officials—from candles to basketball uniforms to bags of cement to government bulldozers," Villegas said in a statement posted on CBCPNews.com

"Let us make it our rule of life when we relate to politicians “Walang hihingi!” he told members of the Church. "Every time we ask our politicians for monetary help, we tempt them to dig into the pork barrel coffers or jueteng chests to accommodate our request."

Villegas said the Church must have transparency in its fundraising projects and prepare accounting reports of how its budget is disbursed.

"When we are less than transparent in our accounting, we hurt the truth. Ang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw," he said.

The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was once again placed on public spotlight after reports surfaced regaring an alleged scam involving the diversion of pork barrel funds of several lawmakers into dummy non-government organizations purportedly for ghost projects worth over P10 billion.

Villegas said in many instances, PDAF has become like a “discretionary fund” of elected Representatives. He lamented that the pork barrel is for the development of "the poor and the far" only in theory.

"In reality, it has served to strengthen the clutch of politicians to power," said Villegas.

And to shun corruption, Villegas also said that it is "imperative that those who approve the budget are distinct and separate from those who implement the projects."

"Let the legislators legislate and the executives execute," he said.

Villegas said the Commission on Audit must do its mandate with "strength of will, vigilance and diligence" while legislators must strengthen their oversight, monitoring and evaluation functions with the public participation of the Church, business and civil society groups

"Man does not live on bread alone, the good Lord taught us; but man does not need pork to go with bread," said Villegas.