Thursday, June 28, 2007 Malig: Monsignor Governor By Jun A. Malig Cognition
FOR Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, spokesperson of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the election victory of incoming Pampanga Governor Eddie "Among Ed" Panlilio offers fresh hopes for Pampangueños.
However, Quitorio was quick to add that such hope is "a very temporary euphoria," as the priest-turned-governor has to deal with other local officials who have been used to the old ways of doing things and that he has to show his performance, especially in ridding the province of all forms of illegal gambling. Intention, the CBCP spokesperson said, is different from performance.
The CBCP also stressed that, despite Among Ed's election triumph, the Catholic Church is still firm in its stand against allowing priests to enter politics. "The church fears that this would set precedents... No priest is allowed to enter politics," Quitorio was quoted by national media as saying recently.
Unlike Panlilio, the two other Catholic priests who opted to run for public offices in the May 14 elections were not lucky enough. Fr. Crisanto de la Cruz, a diocesan priest, was defeated by Mayor Celso Lobregat in Zamboanga City, while Fr. Ronilo Omanio, another diocesan priest, lost his gubernatorial bid to Governor Josephine Ramirez-Sato in Occidental Mindoro.
Outspoken Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, who once served as president of the CBCP, has reportedly advised Panlilio to "be very careful" in choosing his political advisers, as bad ones might contaminate his noble intentions. "These are the big impediments along his way. He has no single political party... everybody will ally with him. He may get his hands soiled," Cruz was quoted as saying.
Current CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo has congratulated Panlilio, but also expressed his "sympathy" to the latter. He said the priest-turned-governor is facing a "new playing field for which he was not trained in the seminary." He said this political field has "embedded, ingrained and systematic political problems" like illegal gambling.
Lagdameo said the suspension from priestly functions imposed upon Panlilio by Archbishop Paciano Aniceto was meant "to ensure" that there will be no confusion between priesthood and politics, "thus respecting the separation of church and state." The CBCP head also emphasized that he would dissuade any priest from running for public office because "priesthood is already public," with its "peculiar burden and function for the sanctification and salvation of the people."
Earlier, Archbishop Cruz said over dzMM radio that Panlilio should make an ultimate choice whether to become a full-time priest or a full-time politician.
He said that the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy in the Vatican no longer accepts back priests who have chosen politics over priesthood. He stressed that if Panlilio wants to serve as governor, he should leave priesthood for good. "Ang mahirap, isang paa pari, isang paa sa pulitika. Yung isang pa, pari pa siya, naka-leave of absence. There is no such animal as leave of absence, you remain a priest 24 hours a day," the archbishop said.
"Hindi ka puwedeng mamangka sa dalawang ilog, masisira ang bangka. Umalis na siya sa pagka-pari para maging buong-buo siya sa pulitika. Ayoko siyang pangunahan... (pero) kung ako siya, buhos ko pagli-lingkod sa tao, no strings attached. I can get married, I can have a family, I can have a political dynasty," he said.
Cruz expressed in the radio program his doubt on Panlilio's effective performance of his obligations as a priest and a governor at the same time. He said the seminary did not prepare him for such dual tasks. He said "public administration is politics, which is an art of compromise, which is quite muddy not to say dirty."
In the statements of hope and skepticism of the CBCP officials, Panlilio obviously has the burden to prove his "salt" as an effective leader of his home province, which is inhabited not only by devoted Catholics but by people with diverse political, social, and religious beliefs.
