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Cardinal Sees Good, Bad Sides In Panlilio Bid

By Dona Pazzibugan, Tonette Orejas
Philippine Daily Inquirer 3/24/2009

MANILA, Philippines—Without raising any objection to the idea, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said Monday that a Catholic priest like Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio running for president in 2010 would have its “good side and bad side.”

Rosales said the issue was not a religious one, but a question of character and qualification.

“The issue here is, ‘Is this a person of integrity? Is this a person who won’t cheat, won’t steal, won’t lie? Is this person compassionate?’ That will be the issue,” the cardinal said on the Catholic Church-run Radio Veritas.

A movement has been launched to field Panlilio as a presidential candidate, with Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca as his running mate.

Over the weekend, Panlilio told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that he was open to the possibility of seeking the presidency.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz and San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto said Sunday they were worried that the priesthood was being used for political ends. Cruz said Panlilio should resign from the priesthood if he wanted to continue in politics.

Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo Monday joined the two bishops in calling on Panlilio to leave the priesthood if he intended to run for president.

Fed up with system

Rosales said people asking a priest to run for the country’s highest public post, which he described as unprecedented, was a sign that Filipinos were fed up with the usual kind of politicians seen every elections.

“I’ve been reading about it in the newspapers. That is good and that is also not good,” Rosales said.

The Manila archbishop said it was good because people were fed up with the system.

“Regardless of who you put in position, it’s the same thing; only the faces change. The people have come to realize this, so now even a priest wants to run [for president]… because the people are fed up with the [political] system,” Rosales said.

Let people speak

He said that even if people staged an EDSA revolt over and over, “we end up with the same thing.”

“So now the people are saying, ‘All right let’s have a priest’ in the hopes that there will be real change in our country,” Rosales said.

He said the bad side of having a priest run for president was that the Catholic Church would be accused of interfering in politics.

“That’s what we want to avoid because that’s not supposed to be… [But] the people themselves are saying that the issue here is corruption, theft, bribery; it is not an issue of religion,” he said.

Support from other churches

As the Catholic Church has maintained that it would not endorse any political candidate, Rosales said he would stay on the sidelines should Panlilio run.

“I don’t want to meddle because that’s politics. But believe me, wherever the Church would find a person who is honest and good, it is not only the Catholic Church that will give its support but also other churches,” the cardinal said.

He urged the electorate to change and not be swayed by vote buying.

Panlilio said he would not resign from the priesthood should he decide to seek the top public post.

“I will insist on my right. That’s how I love my priesthood,” Panlilio said when sought for a reaction to Cruz’s suggestion that he seek a dispensation from the Vatican should he stay in politics.

“If [the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines] makes me quit and initiate it, OK lang (that’s OK),” Panlilio said.

Aniceto has yet to ask him to leave the priesthood. It was Aniceto who suspended the priest’s ministry work in May 2007 when Panlilio ventured into politics.

Other canon lawyers

The governor said other canon lawyers did not have the same opinion as Cruz, a canon law expert. Panlilio was Cruz’s secretary when the latter served as bishop of Pampanga until 1989.

The governor said he had yet to decide whether he would heed calls for him to run for president.

“I’m still hoping somebody can give it a try. He should be advocating and practicing good governance and eager to help in making a better Philippines for poor Filipinos,” he said.

He said local priests were not totally one with him in that plan and clergy members close to him were scheduled to meet him on Monday night to discuss the issue.

Lay leaders

Pampanga Bishop Roberto Mallari said, “I will not campaign against Among [Father] Ed because I stand for what he stands for.”

But Mallari said he would prefer that lay leaders enter politics. “We want [Panlilio] to return to the ministry, but it is still he who will decide,” he said.

In Isabela, Gov. Grace Padaca said she was overwhelmed by a surge of support generated by a movement that seeks to field Panlilio and her in next year’s presidential elections.

Second look

“I was at first overwhelmed, and could not help but ask, ’Why me?’ But as these expressions of support are starting to mount, we can’t help but take a second serious look at it. Right now, I’m interested to find out how our people would respond to this call in the coming days,” Padaca said.

She said groups from various sectors were volunteering because they were “hungry for change.”

Padaca said she was agonizing over the clamor for her to run for vice president.

“If only this cup is taken away from me,” she said. “I wish there were more people with fire in their belly.”

Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo sneered at efforts to convince Panlilio to run for president, saying this should explain why the self-styled anti-jueteng priest had been frequenting Metro Manila’s media outlets.

With reports from Christian Esguerra and Gil Cabacungan Jr. in Manila; Melvin Gascon and Leoncio Balbin Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon; and Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas

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