Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Members of the clergy, friends, and relatives gather for the solemn Thanksgiving Mass of Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David at the San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City on December 14, 2024. Pope Francis formally elevated Pablo Virgilio David to the rank of cardinal in the Catholic Church during the Ordinary Public Consistory for the Creation of New Cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican last December 7, 2024.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Rowegie Abanto

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176093228023620211214-cardinal-pablo-david-thanksgiving-MT27.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">Pablo Virgilio David at the San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City on December 14, 2024. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (UPDATED) — Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David has revealed that some Catholic lawmakers whom he said confessed involvement in the corruption of multibillion-peso flood relief funds sought his moral and spiritual guidance.</p><p>In a <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND58IrM3LpM&amp;t=348s">40-minute interview</a> with ABS-CBN News&#x27; Karmina Constantino on her YouTube channel &quot;KC After Hours&quot;, David discussed how his Catholic faith began, his personal relationship with Jesus, and the large-scale embezzlement of taxpayers&#x27; money.</p><p>The cardinal, who is also president of the Catholic Bishops&#x27; Conference of the Philippines and bishop of Kalookan, shared that &quot;some&quot; of those allegedly involved in the flood control scandal sought his counsel, saying, &quot;at some point, they get bothered by their conscience also.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/10/20/cardinal-ambo-david-assumes-titular-church-in-rome-1143">Cardinal Ambo David assumes titular church in Rome</a></div><p>David did not disclose the names nor the number of legislators who approached him, but he confirmed that the personalities came from &quot;both&quot; the Senate and the House of Representatives.</p><p>He also did not say when the lawmakers sought his advice.</p><p>&quot;Well, now many of them are waking up. And that&#x27;s good. Nasasaktan na sila. That means buhay &#x27;yung conscience nila. Hindi pa &#x27;yan patay. Buhay pa &#x27;yan. Pwede pa &#x27;yang magbago. Kasi affected sila,&quot; he said.</p><p>(Well, now many of them are waking up. And that&#x27;s good. They are hurt. That means their conscience is alive. That is not yet dead. That&#x27;s still alive. They can still change because they are now affected.)</p><p>During congressional hearings, some senators and House members were implicated in the corruption of public money through a kickback scheme that also involved officials from the public works agency and the executive department. </p><p>All of them denied any wrongdoing.</p><p>&quot;We will not turn down people who, in all honesty, are really seeking our spiritual and moral advice, despite their reputation,&quot; said David, who has been calling for accountability in the widespread infrastructure corruption and even attended rallies that condemn it.</p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/7/cbcp-chief-on-flood-control-projects-make-corruption-shameful-again-0005">CBCP on flood control projects: &#x27;Make corruption shameful again&#x27;</a></div><p>The corrupt lawmakers seeking his advice meant there was &quot;guilt on their part also,&quot; David said, adding that &quot;they can recognize that the country needs moral recovery.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Our country is sick,&quot; he said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>ARE THEY WILLING TO BE JAILED?</strong></div><p>Following explosive revelations of massive corruption of billions of pesos worth of funds, the Marcos government is under pressure to act swiftly on the demands of the public to jail the corrupt and recover their ill-gotten money.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/6/group-vows-louder-anti-corruption-protests-on-nov-30-1709">Group vows &#x27;louder&#x27; anti-corruption protests on Nov. 30</a></div><p>When asked whether the corrupt politicians are willing to turn themselves in to the authorities, David said, &quot;They didn&#x27;t go to that extent.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Nung sabihin ko lang... &#x27;What are you willing to admit? Hanggang saan?&#x27; Siyempre tahimik sila, and then merong tipo na, &#x27;I know the legal implications of that,&#x27;&quot; the cardinal said. </p><p>(When I asked, &quot;What are you willing to admit? Up to what extent? Of course, they were quiet, and then some also said, &quot;I know the legal implications of that.)</p><p>&quot;&#x27;Am I ready to face those legal implications?&#x27; Parang gano&#x27;n (Something like that), it&#x27;s an offer, at least they know they are aware of it,&quot; he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/20/-we-re-ready-bjmp-preps-new-qc-jail-wing-for-flood-control-indictments-1233">&#x27;We&#x27;re ready&#x27;: BJMP preps new QC Jail wing for flood control indictments</a></div><p>But David stressed that confession alone is not enough. </p><p>There should be repentance among offenders that is followed by &quot;the act of reparation,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Penance can be restitution. Isoli mo ang hindi iyo (Return what is not yours).&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/6/cbcp-senate-coup-attempt-raises-suspicion-of-cover-up-amid-corruption-probes-1237">CBCP warns Senate coup attempt raises &#x27;suspicion of cover-up&#x27; amid corruption probes</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ht7tzDfs1yg?&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abs-cbn.com%2F&amp;source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zengv9kvGA4?&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abs-cbn.com%2F&amp;source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David has revealed that some Catholic lawmakers whom he said confessed involvement in the corruption of multibillion-peso flood relief funds sought his moral and spiritual guidance.</p>

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David has revealed that some Catholic lawmakers whom he said confessed involvement in the corruption of multibillion-peso flood relief funds sought his moral and spiritual guidance.

Cardinal David reveals some lawmakers who admitted involvement in flood control scam sought his advice

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Cardinal David reveals some lawmakers who admitted involvement in flood control scam sought his advice

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 20, 2025 02:12 PM PHT

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Updated October 20, 2025 10:40 PM PHT

Read More:

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David

Cardinal Ambo David

Flood Control

Flood Control Corruption

Flood Control Scandal

Senate

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