THE Catholic Church may be criminally liable for receiving money from jueteng operators as a form of donation, a former justice secretary said on Thursday.
Artemio Tuquero said that if there is sufficient evidence that the money received by the Catholic Church comes from illegal sources such as illegal gambling, it could be prosecuted.
“If the Catholic Church is receiving donations from illegal gambling like jueteng it could be charged criminally because it is getting proceeds from illegal sources,” Tuquero said.
He said, however, that the donations must be identified as coming from jueteng lords before a case could be filed.
Those who may be charged are priests and other Church officials identified as receiving proceeds from illegal gambling.
Tuquero said Presidential Decree 1602, which prescribes stiffer penalties for illegal gambling, can be invoked when filing a case against the Church for benefiting and profiting from illegal activities.
He linked the decree to Article 19 of the Revised Penal Code, which deals with the accessories to a crime.
Article 19 defines accessories as “those who, having knowledge of the commission of the crime, and without having participated therein, either as principals or as accomplices, take part subsequent to its commission in any of the following manner: By profiting themselves or assisting the offender [in profiting from] the effects of the crime.”
Tuquero, a former Court of Appeals associate justice, made the reaction after Jo Imbong, lawyer of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, testified at a House inquiry that the Church accepts money from whatever source, “whether lawful or illicit.”
Justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez said there is a gray area when the Church receives donations. He said it is hard to ascertain if the donations come from a legal or illegal source.
“The Catholic Church is also receiving donations from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and Pagcor [Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp.], which are legal, but it is hard to identify if the donation comes from jueteng,” Gonzalez said.
Illegal gambling is punishable by six months to six years’ imprisonment.
An accessory shall be given a penalty, which is lower by two degrees.
The debate of “polluted donations” has split the Church and worries the CBCP.
But Fr. Joe Dizon, founder of the activist group Patriot, said on Thursday that the Church is not helpless in preventing the flow of donations from gambling lords and other tainted sources.
Dizon said the Church, particularly its priests, know who the gambling lords are, so there is no reason they could not refuse donations from them.
“From my experience, they [gambling lords] don’t hide their identities, because they also expect something in return,” Dizon said.
The Church, Dizon added, needs to show sincerity and should rely on the honesty of the people and the parishioners for help in evangelization work.
“The country is already saddled with too many problems, such as corruption and poverty, that resulted in the people mistrusting the government. The Church, at least, should be above this fray,” Dizon said.
Refusing dirty donations would erase doubts about the Church as a result of Imbong’s admission, he said. “The Church needs to be credible at this time,” he pointed out.
Accepting donations from gambling lords, Dizon added, is just like accepting the evils of prostitution.
He reiterated his appeal to the bishops, priests and religious organizations to immediately stop accepting donations from tainted sources so as not to place the Church, looked upon as a pillar of morality, in an embarrassing situation.
On Wednesday Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz of Dagupan-Lingayen said the Church has no moral authority to accept donations from gambling lords, because although how noble the intention is, the fact remains that the money came from a polluted source and should be refused.