Don’t imitate me, Panlilio tells priests
This question surfaced after he advised the clergy yesterday not to enter politics and instead “train” their flocks to become good citizens and good public officials.
“Instead of aspiring to be in politics, the country’s clergy should instead focus (on forming) people from all walks of life and make them strive for good governance and responsible citizenship in the barangay, parish, diocesan, municipal, provincial and national levels,” Panlilio said during the homecoming of the Alumni Priests Association of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) at the UST Central Seminary in Manila.
“It’s something he should have applied to himself first,” Vice Gov. Joseller Guiao said in reaction to Panlilio’s statement.
The governor has been at odds with Guiao and members of the provincial board and the Pampanga Mayors’ League (PML) over various issues.
Panlilio took a leave of absence from the priesthood to run for governor in the mid-term elections last year, but Guiao quoted San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto as saying that the governor was actually suspended.
“What I gather from the archbishop is that he (Panlilio) is still a priest, but his powers as priest have been suspended,” Guiao said.
Panlilio is set to meet with Guiao and the provincial board members today after he wrote them seeking forgiveness for whatever wrong he had done.
Guiao described the meeting as a “good starting point” for a possible reconciliation.
In his speech at UST, Panlilio virtually expressed his disappointments as a governor, saying that priests in politics are likely to be buffeted by various forms of black propaganda that have dominated local politics.
“With black propaganda from adversary groups, it is not easy to run for public office when the power of money and muscles dominate the election campaign,” he said.
In last year’s elections, Panlilio won by 1,147 votes over former provincial board member Lilia Pineda, mother of Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda, the PML president.
Pineda has a pending electoral protest against Panlilio, while there is talk of a supposed recall move against him.
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