Priest admits receipt of P2M pork money

Quiapo Church. H. Abanil / Wikipedia

MANILA — Former Quiapo Church rector Msgr. Josefino Ramirez admits receiving P2 million as donations from Magdalena Luy Lim Foundation established by Janet Lim Napoles, in a statement sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

This was contrary to earlier reports of Luy’s entry in his records for May 10, 2007, which showed that Ramirez was issued a Metrobank check for P2.

5 million.

Luy’s entry also revealed that Ramirez’s check came from Sen. Bong Revilla’s worth P50 million PDAF project and was forwarded to him through the non-existing nongovernment organizations (NGOs) created by Napoles.

Ramirez also admitted that Napoles donated P434,451 (as recorded in Luy’s entry for Oct. 16, 2008) for his airplane ticket and the plane tickets of four Chinese priests representing China to the World Apostolate Congress of Mercy in Rome. Ramirez said he attended the congress as coordinator of Divine Mercy for Asia.

Luy’s entry however stated that the said amount which was coming from the bank accounts of Napoles’ NGOs was used to buy tickets for Ramirez’s travel to Europe.

However, he emphasized that he received the money in “in utmost good faith and without any knowledge as to the source of the funds,” and that Napoles’ mother was an ardent devotee of the Divine Mercy.

“She used to help my charities since 2004, most especially the apostolate for China because this is the only way that she can thank the Lord for the gift of her Catholic faith as a Chinese. Before she died, Magdalena Luy Lim requested her children to continue helping the apostolate projects of the Divine Mercy in the Philippines and in China, through the foundation,” Ramirez said in an Inquirer report.

“Hence, donations were made by the Magdalena Luy Lim Foundation for the various projects of the Divine Mercy in the Philippines and in China,” he added.

With reports from Nancy Carvajal, Philippine Daily Inquirer