CASES: SOCIAL JUSTICE
A. Involving POLITICS
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago made her comment after ranking members of the CBCP, including its incoming President Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, said that the dismissal of the impeachment case against Ms. Arroyo did not signal the end of the political crisis and of the people’s search for truth. Her comments are the following: a.) the role of the church is to guide the morality of its flock, not to meddle in politics; b.) the CBCP or even the individual bishops should consider what is the implication of Pope Benedict’s advocacy that the church should keep itself insulated from domestic politics; c.) if the church comes in and tries to pressure or to advocate among Catholics that there should be disrespect or disregard for the judgment of the house, under the guise of calling for the so-called truth… she feared a possible “violation of the Constitutional principle of separation of church and state”; d.) the function of the church is to guide the morality of its parishioners. The function of the State is to ensure that there is peace and order, and for this reason, it has the exclusive jurisdiction over legal, political and judicial issues; e.) it would be “acceptable” if a single priest or a nun expressed an opinion on whether the dismissal of the impeachment case was proper or not, given that all citizens were entitled to express their opinions on national policy issues. But the moment the church uses its institutional power to try and instigate people to disrespect the Houses’ judgment, then it might be guilty of violating the principle; f.) the Catholic Church should not join the divisions in society by taking one position or other in a political issue… if the church takes a definite position on who is right and who is wrong, then it is possible that it will be contributing to the divisions in society. The church should focus, not on politics, but on guiding the morality of its flock. (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, September 9, 2005). Do you agree with what the Senator said? Why? In reaction to what the senator said, individual bishop expressed the following comments as published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer dated September 10, 2005: “The CBCP could not divorce itself from moral issues. We cannot confine ourselves to the sacristy. We also have to involve ourselves in moral issues affecting our people” (Msgr. Hernando Coronel, CBCP secretary general). “Keeping silent on the immoral acts of politicians would be tantamount to betraying the task given by Christ to the bishops to teach gospel lessons. The principle of right and wrong, bad and good, applies to politics and politicians. Bishops always speak on the basis of Gospel truth and moral principles. If the CBCP speaks about lying, cheating and stealing – though this can be done by political figure – they remain moral issues and, consequently, the CBCP has to address them.” (Msgr. Oscar Cruz) “… it is impossible to truly love one’s neighbor without engaging in politics. When CBCP confronts concrete cases of cruel injustice being inflicted on men and women, our commitment to love inevitably leads us to confrontations with those who control our politics” (Msgr. Leonardo Legaspi). B. Involving Industries Industrial and technological orders are necessary for the development of a nation towards economic growth and human progress. But facts show that highly industrialized countries are rich, while agricultural countries are poor, limited to the production of raw agricultural or raw mineral products. The Philippines is agricultural, therefore it is poor. To become rich, the Philippines has to industrialize. But the Philippines cannot industrialize because the rich industrial countries do not allow it. In 1898 industrial United States came to the Philippines and, after several years of battle, conquered the Islands. The United States then imposed upon it the economic policy that condemned the Philippines to remain perpetually agricultural – free trade. Nowadays, the United States continues to impose free trade on the Philippines through such policies as foreign investment incentives and import liberalization. C. Involving Nurses and Nursing Students 1. In 1984, Natividad underwent surgery for “cancer of the sigmoid.” The sigmoid colon joins the rectum, which in turn joins the anus, or the opening where waste matter, or stool, passes out of the body. Dr. X, who performed the surgery, found that the cancer had spread to her left ovary, necessitating the removal of certain portions of it through a hysterectomy by Dr. F. After Dr. F performed the surgery, Dr. X completed operation and closed the incision. Operation records showed that the attending nurses entered among remarks, “sponge count lacking 2,” and “announced to surgeon searched (sic) done but to no avail continue for closure.” After her subsequent discharge from the hospital, Natividad complained of pains but were told by Dr. X that the pain was the natural consequence of the surgery. In August 1984, Natividad went back to Philippines. Later, her daughter found a piece of gauze protruding from her reproductive organ. Dr. X subsequently extracted by hand a piece of gauze and assured Natividad that the pain would vanish. When the pain intensified, Natividad sought treatment at PGH where a doctor found another foul smelling gauze which badly infected her vaginal vault. She underwent another surgery … (Concurring were Division Chair Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno and members Renato C. Corona and Adolfo S. Azcuna. Justice Cancio C. Garcia did not take part in the deliberations. (Professional Services, Inc v. Agana and Agana, GR No. 126297; Agana, et al. v. Fuentes, GR No. 126467; Ampil v. Agana and Agana; GR No. 127590; January 31, 2007) The Court said Dr. X’s negligence was the proximate cause of Natividad’s injury, which could be traced from his act of closing the incision despite the information given by the attending nurses that two pieces of gauze were still missing. It found that Dr. X did not inform Natividad about the two missing pieces of gauze. Worse, he even misled her that the pain she experienced after the procedure was the ordinary consequence of her operation. Natividad died in 1986. “To our mind, what was initially an act of negligence by Dr. X has ripened into a deliberate wrongful act of deceiving his patient…This is a clear case of medical malpractice or more appropriately, medical negligence,” the Court said. (Concurring were Division Chair Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno and members Renato C. Corona and Adolfo S. Azcuna. Justice Cancio C. Garcia did not take part in the deliberations. (Professional Services, Inc v. Agana and Agana, GR No. 126297; Agana, et al. v. Fuentes, GR No. 126467; Ampil v. Agana and Agana; GR No. 127590; January 31, 2007) 2. Jennifer was employed as a staff nurse by St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) on 3 July 2001 on a probationary status for a maximum of six months. On 15 October 2001, Dr. Pacita, Assistant Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, filed a Complaint, with the Vice President for Nursing, against the petitioner for uttering slanderous remarks against her. In her complaint, Dr. Pacita attached a letter, dated 10 October 2001, written by Hazel , the mother of a patient, relaying an incident wherein petitioner allegedly made the following remarks against Dr. Pacita: “Bakit si Dra. Pacita pa ang napili mong “pedia” eh ang tanda-tanda na n’un? x x x Alam mo ba, kahit wala namang diperensya yung baby, ipinapa-isolate nya? Minsan nga, meron bagong baby siyang pasyente na ipinasok dito, sabi ko, bah, himala! Walang ikinabit sa kanya. Tapos, kinabukasan . . . kinabitan din pala!” (Pasamba vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 168421, June 8, 2007: YNARES-SANTIAGO, J) The court saidthat SLMC is engaged in a business whose survival is dependent on the reputation of its medical practitioners. To impute unethical behavior and lack of professionalism to a medical professional, to one who is also a hospital official, would be inimical to the interests of SLMC. This would also show tremendous disloyalty on the part of the employee who makes such derogatory statements. Moreover, the petitioner’s bad faith became evident when, instead of addressing these disparaging remarks to the proper hospital officers, she addressed them to a former patient, whose child was at that time a patient in SLMC and entrusted to the care of the medical professional in question. An employer cannot be compelled to retain an employee who is guilty of acts inimical to the interests of the employer. A company has the right to dismiss employees guilty of acts of dishonesty and disloyalty, if only as a measure of self-protection. Dismissal of an employee guilty of such a serious infraction would be reasonable. 3. The unauthorized 2:54-minute video of a noisy operating room shows VSMMC doctors and nurses laughing, giggling and cheering. At one point, a hand appears with a cell phone camera taking a close-up picture of the surgery. As a doctor gingerly pulls out the six-inch long canister from the male patient’s rectum, someone shouts, “Baby out!” amid loud cheers. The doctor then removes the canister cap and sprays the contents toward the crowd of nurses and doctors viewing the procedure. It remains unclear who shot the video and who posted it on YouTube, but the person who posted it removed it from the website Wednesday. ((Source: SunStar Cebu,Thursday, April 17, 2008, AP/NRC/KNR of Sun.Star Cebu) Dr. Emmanuel, VSMMC media liaison officer and emergency room department head and a surgeon, said in a radio interview that they will apologize to the 39-year-old patient identified only as Jan-Jan because of the embarrassment he suffered. He said that taking a video and laughing at a patient while he is being operated on is inappropriate. “On the question of the behavior of the doctors and nurses, it was really improper,” he said.Dr. Wyben, a neuro-surgeon for 30 years connected with VSMMC, said doctors are bound by their profession to respect the patient’s privacy. “For us, that (privacy) is sacred. No doctor or nurse shall announce that somebody is suffering from an illness or that somebody is positive of Aids (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)…” it is really objectionable for somebody to take videos of an operation and upload it to YouTube for all the world to see. What is acceptable, he said, is for a doctor operating on a patient to allow young doctors and nurses to witness, as long as the aim is to educate them further. “Di ta ma-doctor kon wa pa ta tudlo-i or wa pa ta mo-agig (we could not be doctors if we do not go through) training. But what happened here is a violation of ethical standards,” he added. (Source: SunStar Cebu) 4. Twenty-seven Filipino nurses quit their jobs in April 2006 from the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. They accused SC group of companies of breach contract after they were assigned to work outside the scope specified in their contract upon arrival in the US. Eleven of them, including medical board top placer Elmer, have been accused of conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children in a pediatric ventilator unit after leaving their posts in April last year due to labor row. The US justice department, Civil of Rights Division, dismissed the case on Aug. 31, 2007 for “insufficient evidence of reasonable cause to believe the injured parties were discriminated." (GMANews.TV Thursday, March 13, 2008) Comment: A Philippine Star writer, Shiela Crisostomo, reported earlier on February 18 under the heading “New Pinoy nurses losing sense of responsibility.” Crisostomo’s report makes that rarest of disclosures about Filipino nurses abroad. It quotes the president of the Philippine Nurses Association in the United States, Rosario May Mayor, saying her association had been “receiving reports that many Filipino nurses in the US abruptly leave their jobs to move to other hospitals.” Crisostomo writes that the Filipino nursing community’s leaders in the US are concerned “over the deteriorating sense of responsibility of the new breed of Filipino nurses.” These are the very ones blessed by “growing opportunities to work abroad” because there is a nursing and caregiver shortage in the United States. Lawyer Ibaro Relamide told The Manila Times that “The time will come when US hospitals will not want to accept Filipino nurses,” he added. “Remember, Indian, Pakistani and Latin American nurses and health caregivers are also being given visas by the US government.” (Thursday, March 13, 2008, Special Report: Sentosa 27 saga) 5. Florence Nightingale is a dedicated woman. She was the founder of Nursing profession. She dedicated her life to her work as an army nurse. She did not enter the profession because of wealth that she can get, she did it out of passion and love to serve humanity. She is a woman for others. She faces the pain and struggles of a nurse and conquers her fears, doubts and anxiety just to help the soldiers who were dying.
D. Involving Poverty I am a middle-class Christian with a good ability to read and a university education. I am almost 60 years old and for the past 20 years I have lived in a poor neighborhood in Callao. It is the second poorest neighborhood in the metropolitan area of Lima, Puebla according to the 1981 and 1993 national censuses… Who are the poor today? The poor need to be identified with more precision… While this list is not exhaustive, I am going to mention some groups that we see on a daily basis. «Among the elderly, those retired people, who have worked hard all their lives and who suddenly find their possibilities of survival jeopardized because their professional and economic contributions, as well as their family responsibilities, are no longer being taken into account. «Children under the age of seven who are not incorporated into the educational system… These children run the risk of being abandoned and left behind. «The terminally ill, many times forgotten by their families and the health care system, and in many cases simply treated as burdens. «Real and presumed gangs of youngsters who are blamed by adults, for so many social ills without analyzing the personal and generational causes that push young people toward this … In reality, they are the young faces of exclusion and frustration, faced with a lack of options and possibilities. Poverty and exclusion are realities that intertwine. (An excerpt from the article entitled “Poverty and Solidarity” written by Felipe Zegarra who is a Peruvian diocesan priest, a Professor of Theology at the catholic University of Peru and a Pastor of a huge working-class parish in the dock area of Port Callao, Lima.) E. Involving 'Pork Barrel' Dubious pork barrel expenditures have gone techie. A civil society report on the use of congressional pork barrel uncovered at least six information technology (IT) projects in Luzon in which basic, "unbranded" personal computers installed in public schools were allegedly bought at P217,500 each. An unbranded PC with licensed software would normally cost just around P50,000 at the most, noted the first installment of "PDAF Watch," an initiative of the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (Code-NGO). The "overpriced" IT projects were found in Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon. Pork barrel, a source of kickbacks, is a fund appropriated in the national budget to help lawmakers curry favor with voters by identifying the projects that will be funded by their pork barrel allocations. PDAF, or Priority Development Assistance Fund, is the pork barrel allocated to members of the House of Representatives and senators. It is mainly used for projects on a menu set by the Department of Budget and Management, such as health care and education. Congressional Allocation (CA), also a pork barrel, is mainly for infrastructure projects. A congressman representing a district is allocated P65 million in PDAF a year and a party-list representative, P35 million. A senator gets P200 million in PDAF. A friend told me that all offices carrying the name "Commission" must be renamed... Sa tagalog daw kasi, ang office ay "Tanggapan", so ang tawag sa mga opisinang ito ay "Tanggapan ng Komisyon." Kaya ang translation ng office of the commissioner ay "tanggapan ng nangungumisyon." Since there are several divisions in these offices, it goes further to : "Tanggapan ng Nangungumisyon" , "Unang Paghahati" (first division), "Pangalawang Paghahati" (second division), etc.. (until no more is left for the people and for the projects...napaghat i-hatian na!!!) F. Involving Philippine Resources Centuries ago, the Spaniards came and conquered the Philippines. As conquerors they of course wanted to live in all comfort and wealth. To accomplish this, the Spaniards made servants of the natives through forced labor, and took off their wealth through the encomienda and the hacienda systems. Today, the Philippines is still under foreign powers. The Filipino government officials are but servants, as it were, of those who really rule these lands, the foreign powers. There is the International Monetary Fund, dictating to the Philippine government the economic policies it has to follow. It is enough to look at the corporations that dominate Philippine businesses. Practically all are foreign corporations or joint ventures with foreigners. Caltex, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Avon, Parke-Davis, Del Monte, Dole Swift, Nestle, Philip Morris, Marlboro, Kodak, Kimberly Clark, General Electric, Philips, Olympia, IBM, Levi, Adidas, Nike, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, McDonald, Kentucky Chicken, Firestone, Goodyear, Isuzu, Sony, Seiko, Sanyo. These and so many other foreign companies or joint ventures suck the wealth of the Philippines. Why the wealth and resources of the Philippines are today in the hands of the rich foreign powers, while the natives are left with barely anything? G. Involving Taxation The basic policy on taxation is that taxes be in accordance with the capabilities of people. Richer people should be taxed more, while the poor should be taxed less, if at all. Since agriculture lags far behind industry, its taxes as a rule should be less. Furthermore, in agriculture the returns for one’s capital comes long after the investment, at harvest time namely, some five months after planting, depending on the kind of crops. The product is also subject to so much risks. Floods or typhoons or pests could ruin the whole investment in so short a time. All these factors call for tax incentives for agriculture. But what happen is the contrary, industry receives more tax privileges than agriculture; tax incentives in agriculture are generally given to the rich investors, not to the ordinary peasants. While investors both local and foreign are given many tax incentives and privileges, the peasants together with the common people are burdened with the taxes. And there is no relief in sight. With billions of dollars of still unpaid debt, the rich industrial countries through its agency, the International Monetary Fund, pressure the Philippine government to raise more taxes with which it could pay foreign debts. And the government obeys. And since taxes in the Philippines are generally indirect, the common people, of whom the peasants constitute the majority, shoulder the burden. So big are the taxes borne by them, that an economic research group estimates: “at least 27% of the income of poor families goes to taxes while higher income families pay only 18% of their income. The hardest hit group appears to be middle-income families who pay 32.11% of their income to taxes.” (Ibon: Facts and Figures, March 15, 1990) H. Involving Colonialism Colonialism is direct foreign rule while neocolonialism is indirect. In colonialism the foreigners themselves are the supreme rules, holding the positions of President, Governor general, Supreme Court Justices, etc. In neocolonialism the natives are the Presidents, Governors, or Justices, but they are more so in name than in reality, for they are held in tow by foreign master, and do the foreign masters’ bidding in all the things that really count. In neocolonialism the rulers rule through native surrogates. The rich industrial nations did not want to lose the wealth they got from the colonies. Unable now to hold on the colonies because of the determined opposition and rebellion of the natives, they instituted a system of government wherein, without ruling directly the country, they got nonetheless the wealth. They saw to it that the new officials in government be their puppets. Today imperialism rules the world. The foreign multinational corporations, based in and owned by the rich industrial nations, have their tentacles all over the world, owning wholly or in part businesses all over the world. The Philippines aims for higher production and higher GNP, giving countless incentives to investors. While passing laws for the increase of production, it does not make the complimentary laws for the common people to benefit from the increased productivity. We have thus in the country the Omnibus Investment Act signed into law by President Corazon Aquino last July 1987, and the Foreign Investments Act of 1991 approved last June 13, 1991, laws that are designed to increase production but with the profits going mostly to the investors, particularly the foreign. As a result, we see in the Philippines the proliferation of foreign multinational companies, raking in super-profits. For centuries up to the early 1960s the Philippines was pursuing a rice program that needed no inputs from the rich foreign countries. Until late 1960s, when the Philippines adopted the foreign-imposed Green Revolution Program which changed its old variety of rice with the newly-invented one. It did increase the rice harvest, but the catch was it also needed much inputs of water, fertilizer, pesticides, tractors that were all bought from the rich foreign nations. The rich foreign nations got wealthy while the peasants became poor as ever. With the production costs going astronomically high, the peasants get buried deep in debts, when floods, drought, or pests came and destroyed their crops. Instead of increasing their income, the program drives them into greater misery. In previous times the piggery and poultry businesses were virtually all in the hands of the common people like the peasants. Under the so-called modernization or industrialization, these businesses went into the hands of big monopoly capital. The poultry business is now monopolized by Magnolia, Robina, RFM and Purefoods corporations. These huge corporations now get all the profits, with the peasants all but ruined. From 1900 to 1946 the United States (U.S) ruled the Philippines directly and, in order to get its wealth, the U.S instituted as law the policy of free trade. In 1946 the Philippines was granted independence. But the U.S saw to it that the country continue with the free trade policy. To do this, the U.S moved heaven and earth that the new President of the Philippines would be Manuel Roxas. During the American-Japanese war Manuel Roxas was a collaborator of the Japanese and, because of this, was imprisoned soon after American victory. The American powers liberated him fro prison, and pushed for his candidacy to the Presidency, knowing that, with the charge of collaborator hanging as a sword of Damocles over his head, he would be pliant to American wishes. For siding and helping the U.S in the war against the Japanese, the Philippines was promised, and was qualified, to have war damage payments. But, immediately after the war, the U.S decided that the Philippines was not to receive war damage payments beyond the measly sum of US $500 for each claim, unless the Philippines approve the Bell Trade Act, which provided among other things for the continuation of free trade (Social Encyclicals by Pedro Salgado, p.201). But if the Philippines approve the Act then it would receive U.S $ 120 millions for the reconstruction of highways, ports and harbor facilities, etc., U.S $100 millions worth of surplus military property, U.S $400 millions for the compensation of property losses and damages suffered by Filipinos and non-Filipinos. Tying up war damage payments to the Bell Trade Act insured, of course, that President Manuel Roxas would do all in his power to make Congress and the Filipino people accept the Act. Under President Corazon Aquino the Philippines pursues free trade policies as imposed by the International Monetary Fund. Among these policies are the so-called import liberalization policy and the foreign investments incentives. And, as in the time of direct American rule, so now the U.S, Japan and the rich industrial nations take practically all the wealth of the country, with the Philippines and its people left in poverty. I. Involving Engineers: 1. On August 8, 1981, the Tanodbayan (now Ombudsman) filed with the Sandiganbayan one hundred ten (110) Informations for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as amended. Ten (10) officials of the Ministry of Public Highways (MPH), now Department of Public Works and Highways, were charged; thirty-eight (38) officials and eight (8) private contractors were indicted. Among these officials were Baldebrin and Lacea. Baldebrin was the administrative officer of the Negros Oriental Highway Engineering District (NOHED), while Lacea, a civil engineer, was the field supervisor. That on or about November 10, 1977 up to and including November 25, 1977, in the Cities of Cebu, Dumaguete and the Province of Negros Oriental, they all taking advantage of their official positions, with the indispensable cooperation and/or direct participation of CLODUALDO C. GOMILLA, Proprietor of C.G. Gomilla Sand and Gravel, Private Contractor, with evident bad faith, manifest partiality and/or gross inexcusable negligence did there and then willfully, knowingly and unlawfully caused undue injury to the Republic of the Philippines in the amount of THIRTY SEVEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED PESOS (P37,800.00), Philippine Currency, by falsifying Negros Oriental Highway Engineering District General Voucher No. .. dated November 25, 1977 in the amount of P37,800.00 and its supporting documents, such as the Request for Obligation of Allotment (ROA), Request for Supplies and Equipment (RSE), Purchase Order (PO), Report of Inspection (ROI), Daily Tally Sheets (DTS) and Delivery Receipts (DR), simulating them to appear regular as payment for 1050 cubic meters of Item 200 and charging this General Voucher 1413 to Letter of Advice of Allotment No. 107-703-039-77, when in truth and in fact as all the accused knew there were no actual deliveries and receipts of the said Item 200, the foregoing documents were simulated, falsified and incorrect and that the LAA No. 107-703-039-77 is without budgetary basis and not covered by any Sub-Advice of Allotment from the Ministry of Public Highways, Manila, and further by manipulating the books of accounts of the MPH, Region VII, all for the purpose of covering their criminal act, and finally, upon receipt of the said amount of THIRTY SEVEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED PESOS (P37,800.00), Philippine Currency, they misappropriated, converted and misapplied the same for their personal gain and profit. (BALDEBRIN vs. SANDIGANBAYAN: G.R. Nos. 144950-71, March 22, 2007, SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZ, J) 2. Dishonesty and gross neglect of duty with respect to the irregularities attended the construction of the barangay high school building in Inaclagan, Gumaca, Quezon. The facts are as follows: Florentino R. Brucal and Cesar A. Cruz were members of the Second Engineering District Prequalification, Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Brucal was the project engineer while Cruz was the chief of the construction section of the Inaclagan BarangayHigh School Project. The OMB Task Force on Public Works and Highways following an investigation on the complaint of … They were charged with Dishonesty, Falsification of Official Documents, Grave Misconduct, Violation of Office Rules and Regulations, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service for irregularities in connection with the bidding, award, and implementation of contracts in the province of Quezon. In its investigation, the OMB Task Force found that on February 5, 1990, a construction project worth P281,475.30 for a three-classroom building at the Inaclagan Barangay High School, Gumaca, Quezon, was awarded by the PBAC to contractor RAM Builders. However, during its construction, RAM Builders allegedly committed substantial deviations from the approved plans and specifications of the DPWH. An oversight committee reported that RAM Builders used commercial, substandard-size steel bars instead of standard-size steel bars… The OMB Task Force concluded after its investigation that: “[T]here were major defects in the construction of the school building as a direct result of the contractor’s improper methods and its use of substandard materials (reinforcement steel bars and lumber). All these, if left unchecked, would have resulted in the construction of a school building which was far weaker in strength than that envisioned by the planners. Considering the degree of deviation from the approved plans and specifications, it could rightfully be concluded that the same had been deliberate. It must be added that there could be no truth to the claim that the contractor’s employee had not afforded proper attention to the materials delivered for the project because RAM Builders is also a dealer/supplier of construction materials. From available records, RAM Builders has been a regular supplier of construction materials for projects implemented by the DPWH district office in Lucena City. In all probability, the undersize reinforcement steel bars and poor-quality lumber that were used in the Inaclagan school building project had been supplied by RAM builders itself; such that even before the delivery of said articles to the job site, the contractor (which was at the same time the supplier) already knew that they were not in accordance with the approved plans and specifications. Moreover, it must be presumed that the contractor’s employees including its project engineer are knowledgeable about construction materials and methods used in the implementation of public works projects. This being the case, there could not have been an honest mistake in regard to the improper methods utilized and the substandard quality of the basic materials used. Under the circumstances, the contractor should have been compelled to undo what he had unlawfully done by ordering the demolition of what had been constructed so far to ensure strict compliance with the approved plans and specification”(BRUCAL vs. DESIERTO, G.R. No. 152188. July 8, 2005,QUISUMBING, J.) J. Involving Accountants: 1. One of the world’s largest energy companies Enron Corp. had to close shop as US corporate regulators discovered the firm had inflated its financial performance with its external auditors’ collusion. While the firm’s finances had been shaky all the while, it was learned that its top level management and officers gave themselves fat bonuses and used corporate funds to buy resort houses and other personal assets. The Enron scandal was not the last as more companies were found to have fixed their accounting books, giving the wrong impression of stability to investors.(http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/mnlastd/ContentLoader?page=business01_july21_2003) 2. In 1979–1997, 170 cases were filed against individual CPAs and one against an accounting firm. No cases were filed against CPAs on the grounds of gross negligence or incompetence in the practice of their profession, issuing an accountant’s certificate covering the examination of client accounts without observing the necessary auditing standards, or conduct discreditable to the accounting profession. But, the SEC has investigated prima facie malpractice cases. Two examples involve Engineering Equipment Incorporated (EEI) and Victorias Milling Company (Vicmico). Both cases centered on material misstatements in the companies’ certified financial statements. In relation to EEI, the SEC wrote “the auditors may have been involved or professionally negligent” and recommended a 1-year suspension of the firm’s accreditation to appear for clients before the SEC. This recommendation was later overturned and the auditors reportedly fined P50,000 ($1,000). The penalty was not reported in the media. Nor did the PRC or the BOA investigate the auditing firm. As for Vicmico, neither the PRC nor the BOA took action, while the SEC pursued the case. Moreover, in the Vicmico case, the auditing firm later withdrew its audit reports for the financial statements in question. (Cited in: Dyball, Maria Cadiz and Lina J. Valcarcel. 1999. The "Rational" and "Traditional": The Regulation of Accounting in the Philippines. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. Vol 12(3). pp. 303-327.http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Diagnostic_Study_Accounting_Auditing/PHI/prelims.pdf) 3.“On November 8, 1982, CASA Montessori International opened Current Account No. 0291-0081-01 with BPI, with CASA’s President Ms. Ma. Carina C. Lebron as one of its authorized signatories.” “In 1991, after conducting an investigation, CASA Montessori discovered that nine (9) of its checks had been encashed by a certain Sonny D. Santos since 1990 in the total amount of P782,000.00, on the following dates and amounts: Check No. Date Amount 1. 839700 4-24-90 P43,400.00 2. 839459 11-2-90 110,500.00 3. 839609 10-17-90 47,723.00 4. 839549 4-7-90 90,700.00 5. 839569 9-23-90 52,277.00 6. 729149 3-22-90 148,000.00 7. 729129 3-16-90 51,015.00 8. 839684 12-1-90 140,000.00 9. 729034 3-2-90 98,985.00 Total -- P 782,600.00 “It turned out that ‘Sonny D. Santos’ with account at BPI’s Greenbelt Branch [was] a fictitious name used by third party Leonardo T. Yabut who worked as external auditor of CASA. Leonardo T. Yabut voluntarily admitted that he forged the signature of Ms. Lebron and encashed the checks. “The PNP Crime Laboratory conducted an examination of the nine (9) checks and concluded that the handwritings thereon compared to the standard signature of Ms. Lebron were not written by the latter. “On March 4, 1991, CASA Montessori filed the Complaint for Collection with Damages against BPI bank praying that the latter be ordered to reinstate the amount of P782,500.00 in the current and savings accounts of CASA Montessori with interest at 6% per annum. (BANK OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS vs. MONTESSORI, G.R. No. 149454. May 28, 2004, PANGANIBAN, J.) |
1. Do you agree with what the individual bishop said about the issue? Why?
2. Why does the Church in the Philippines involve itself today in politics more than it has done perhaps in the recent past? 3. Are there teachings in the Church like Vatican II, PCP II, or Social Encyclicals and teachings of the Scripture that mandate the Philippine Church to involve in Politics? What are their directives? |