Aquino sees Cardinal Quevedo as ally
PEACE ADVOCATE. President Benigno Aquino III praises Orlando Cardinal Quevedo for supporting the Mindanao peace process. File photo by Jay Directo/AFP
MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III only had praises for Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo during the church leader's thanksgiving mass, expressing his gratitude for Quevedo's support for the administration's programs.
On Tuesday, March 11, Aquino specifically thanked the cardinal for backing the Bangsamoro peace process of the government at the thanksgiving mass in his honor. He said Quevedo made the people understand the benefits of peace in Mindanao, whether they be Muslim, Lumad or Christian.
(READ: New cardinal: 'Spokesman' from the poorest islands)
"We are one with him in believing that through honest and peaceful dialogue, we will leave behind decades of violence that took many lives and became the source of suffering of our countrymen," Aquino said.
Although he was born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte Quevedo has lived most of his life in Mindanao and was ordained in Kidapawan, Cotabato in October 1980. Quevedo is the first Cardinal from Mindanao.
The President also said Quevedo represented his administration's ideal of "tuwid na landas" (straight and narrow path).
"The actions and initiatives of Cardinal Quevedo show that we are paving towards one direction: serving our countrymen. We are inspired to continue our agenda of wide-reaching reforms because of those like him: prayerful, persistent and always partial towards justice," he said.
"He is truly a source of strength and inspiration to those walking the straight and narrow path."
Change of heart?
But the relationship between Malacañang and Quevedo, according to a report based on an interview with Quevedo, remains "frosty" as of January this year, due to an incident Quevedo believed to be a sign of betrayal by the Aquino government. (READ: Once burned, will Quevedo take chances with Aquino gov’t?)
Quevedo was among the bishops dragged into the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) vehicle scandal that was exposed in 2011. During the time of President Gloria Arroyo, they received expensive vehicles from the state gambling agency supposedly for their personal use.
Quevedo initially denied that he was one of the recipients of PCSO-funded vehicles but later retracted when he found out that it was the social action center of Cotabato that requested for it and he had in fact written a letter to the PCSO requesting “for an appropriate vehicle.” (READ:Calling on the 'SUV' bishops)
Still, he found the disclosure by the PCSO to be a betrayal of the Aquino government, with him and his colleagues as “unwitting victims.”
In fact Aquino's warm words on Tuesday is a far cry from Malacañang's recent actions towards Quevedo.
In contrast to Aquino himself issuing a congratulatory message and praising Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle when the Vatican announced that he was going to be named cardinal in October 2012, the government only issued a statement on Quevedo's appointment through the office of the President’s peace process adviser.
For his part, Quevedo, who was named cardinal by Pope Francis early this year, has expressed his disappointment with the Aquino government. (READ: Q & A: Mindanao cardinal dreams 'like Pope Francis')
In an email to Rappler, Quevedo said the Aquino government, in an attempt to put the bishops in a bad light, twisted their well-intentioned request for the vehicles.
To Quevedo, the vehicles controversy was an eye-opener for the Church to be more circumspect in dealing with the government. The whole brouhaha had injected “distrust into the relationship between the government and the bishops.”
“The immediate lesson that the bishops learned is to be very careful and discerning in dealing with government. The far-reaching lesson that the entire CBCP learned is for bishops to no longer ask for help from government for charitable and social services in behalf of the poor and the needy,” Quevedo said.
He said he had asked for a vehicle for emergency purposes, to "help provide basic necessities for Muslims and Christians displaced by the armed fighting between Ameril Umra Kato and the AFP – and later on for the hundreds of thousands displaced by the floods in the Mindanao river basin areas." - Rappler.com