Capitol coupling

BAD ENOUGH for Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio to run the province like a parish, as the revered Fr. Resty Lumanlan keenly observed .
Worse, the suspended priest has blurred the long established Constitutional lines separating Church and State. Not so much for his Church but for that of his putative provincial administrator, Atty. Vivian Dabu.
The provincial government – news reports said – made an advance payment of P675,000 via PNB Check No. 153653 to the His Life City Church last October 30, 2009. Receipt of payment was duly acknowledged with the church’s official receipt No. 0052 bearing the same date and signed by one Alfredo Montero, Jr., reported as the “authorized person of the said church.”
The news reports furthered: “The payment has disbursement voucher No.101-12762 and was charged against the General Fund. The voucher was signed by Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio with the initials of Dabu and the provincial accountant and treasurer.”
No, the provincial government did not make a donation of P675,000 to the church where the putative provincial administrator worships. The amount was for what was billed as a “leadership training and worship services” for the youth of Pampanga.
No, it was not the His Life City Church that conducted the training and worship services but its youth arm, a Wild Fire Organization, in coordination with the Provincial Employment Service Office (PESO).
The PESO-WFO youth camp was held on November 4-6 at Mt. Peniel, Patling, Tarlac. A registration fee of P2,500 was reportedly charged each of the 300 participants. That covered board and lodging as well as honoraria of the resource persons.
Now, how the His Life City Church instead of the WFO which actually conducted the training became the payee is for provincial government to explain.
“Highly irregular,” cried Senior Board Member Cris Garbo over what has been wisecracked as the “His Life-Her Gov” transaction centered on Dabu.
“When they (Panlilio, Dabu, et al) took over the Capitol, it was bragged about that they boned on the Constitution and the Local Government Code. Now, they appear to be either in ignorance or in utter disregard of the provision of Church-State separation in both bodies of laws,” Garbo said.
“Ing puwede mi mung dinan pondo deng munisipyu, barangay ampo deng tau king Pampanga. Pero kareng pisamban, ali malyari uling iligal ita, (The provincial government can provide funds to municipalities, barangays and the people but not to churches. That is illegal,” added Garbo.
Questions on how the WFO “won” the youth camp project have also been raised. So did this pass through any bidding process? Or was the P675,000 contract negotiated?
It is not only questions on the legality or propriety Dabu’s church’s transaction with the Capitol that need to be raised. The whole exercise itself should be dissected.
“Leadership training and worship services.” What did it cover? What did it entail? What experience in leadership did its resource persons possess?
And, even more important, what kind of worship services? Incessant singing of Praise the Lord, hallelujah?
Who was the object of worship? Most probably the same god that put Dabu at the Capitol and therefore made her “irresignable” amid those cries for her to step down last year. Or, the same god that told Panlilio to run for the presidency, which he nonetheless spurned.
Already, there are some quarters in the sectarian divide that say the youth camp participants could have been subjected to indoctrination, if not proselytism, into the His Life City Church.
Yeah, Panlilio and Dabu may have really coupled there, her church and his Capitol, that is.











He added that the church’s WFO is a distinguished awardee of the commission.
The advance payment included the board and lodging, transportation and honoraria of the Church’s WFO facilitators.
Asked if the youth camp has been bidded out, Lintag said he is not familiar whether the training package went through the bidding process or not.
“Hindi ko alam kung iyong registration (na P675,000) ay binibiding pa, hindi ako pamilyar. Basta shoulder ng probinsiya iyong lahat ng registration fees na P2,250 each,” he said.
He explained that the whole youth leadership training package facilitated by His Life City Church was shouldered by the provincial government, hence, an advance full payment of more than half a million pesos was paid to the church with PNB check no.153653 last October 30 – four days prior to the said PESO-Church youth activity.
With this, the His Life City Church, Inc., has issued official receipt No. 0052 dated October 30 to the Provincial Treasurer’s Office with the signature of Alfredo Montero Jr., authorized person of the said church.
The payment has disbursement voucher No.101-12762 and was charged against the General Fund. The voucher was signed by Gov. Eddie Panlilio with the initials of Dabu and the provincial accountant and treasurer.
Lintag said the “successful” PESO-His Life Church Youth Leaders Camp included in its module the different attributes and characteristics of a leader including worship service.
In an interview with a legal luminary, he said that the state has no business with the church because the state cannot stand with the church and the constitution provides that there is separation between the church and state.