Nueva Vizcaya bishop remains firm vs mining, gambling

CABARROGUIS, Quirino – Bayom­bong Bishop Ramon Villena said yesterday that his stand against mining projects and any form of illegal gambling remains and that he is “relentless as ever” in calling for an end to irregularities in government.

Reacting to allegations that Catholic bishops were turning a blind eye to corruption in government, Villena said, “I am as relentless as ever in calling for their stoppage as well as to other activities that would only destroy our moral fiber.”

Villena, whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction covers this province and Nueva Vizcaya, was appointed by President Arroyo as chairman of the Regional Development Council of Cagayan Valley.

Mining, a priority of the Arroyo administration, has become a controversial issue here, with Villena leading anti-mining groups against the entry of more mining firms in this province and Nueva Vizcaya. 

But local officials in Nueva Vizcaya have expressed support for the mining industry, as the province now hosts three major mining ventures – the Didipio gold-copper project of the Australian-New Zealand-owned Oceana Gold Philippines at the Quirino-Nueva Vizcaya border; the exploration of the British-owned MTL-FCF in Runruno, Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya; and the project of the Australian-owned Royalco-Philippines in the Pao-Kakiduguen area.

Meanwhile, jueteng is no longer rampant here and in Nueva Vizcaya as a result of the relentless drive of the Church against illegal gambling, Villena said.

Villena, a ranking official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, denied allegations that he has sought financial favors from President Arroyo.

“I never asked money from the President, and I will never do it,” he said in reaction to accusations by Fr. Robert Reyes, the so-called “running priest,” that some clerics have asked money from Mrs. Arroyo. 

If he would request for something from the President, Villena said it would be for the poor, not for any personal interest. In an interview, Reyes claimed that some bishops were benefiting from Mrs. Arroyo’s “financial generosity” and even said that she funded a bishop’s project to build a church.

These favors, according to Reyes, are “probably making the Church, especially the bishops, go slow or careful in taking a definite stand and making a categorical statement” against corruption in the Arroyo administration.