Concerned Catholics Call for Quichocho Resignation

By Neil Pang
Guam Daily Post
September 5, 2016

http://www.postguam.com/news/local/concerned-catholics-call-for-quichocho-resignation/article_6487d05e-7334-11e6-83f8-971b32629a50.html

The Concerned Catholics of Guam have called for the resignation of Danny Quichocho from the Archdiocesan Finance Council.

In a statement released to the media yesterday, CCOG stated that Quichocho's conflict of interest with his positions as an officer and board member of the Redemptoris Mater Serminary corporation make him untenable as a member of the finance council.

Quichocho is currently the treasurer of the RMS Board of Directors and was appointed to the AFC by Archbishop Anthony Apuron after Apuron fired the previous council on grounds that their terms had expired.

"He cannot serve two masters," said Dave Sablan, president of CCOG.

Sablan referred to a media interview in which Quichocho was seen effectively endorsing claims made by Rev. Pius Sammut, then-secretary of RMS and the Blessed Diego Theological Institute.

"By supporting the position taken by Fr. Pius and Archbishop Apuron regarding the Yona property, Quichocho has taken an adversarial position against the Archdiocese of Agana’s request that the RMS corporation deed the Yona Property back. He is currently violating his oath and his allegiance," stated the release.

The oath mentioned in the statement refers to the oath made by members of the AFC to act in the best interests of the Archdiocese of Agana upon acceptance of the post.

Though statements made by Archbishop Hon hold that the RMS property is owned and under the purview of the Archdiocese of Agana, others such as CCOG hold that the wording expressed in the deed restriction placed on the RMS property effectively transfer ownership from the archdiocese to the RMS corporation.

Thus, the requests issued by Hon that the RMS corporation deed the property back become all the more poignant.

Sablan told the Post that the AFC is meant to be "completely independent and is in charge of the protection of the patrimony of the church."

While the archbishop is tasked with the management of church patrimony and its various assets, the AFC is tasked with ensuring that usage of church patrimony is accompanied by equal or better benefit to the people of the church.

The statement concludes, "Therefore, Danny Quichocho should resign or be removed immediately from the AFC."

Other potential conflicts of interest

Though the CCOG statement only specifically targets Quichocho for resignation, Sablan stated that there are potentially other instances of conflicts of interest on the current AFC.

Of particular note is Deacon Dominic Kim, who also serves as the archdiocesan finance officer.

Sablan explained that, because the AFC is required to submit reports of receipts and expenditures to the archdiocesan finance officer, there is another potential instance of a conflict of interest.

The AFC has been under scrutiny of late following the statement released by former members of the previous AFC that contradicted comments made by Apuron and other church officials.

CCOG and other concerned lay organizations have demanded financial transparency from archdiocese authorities.