Should Priests Run for the Presidency?

This post covers a topic that we used to shy away from during drinking sessions at PCED in UP Diliman, while we were studying Law, as there can be no end to the debates and discussions thereon: Religion and Politics. But recent political developments have in fact brought issues of religion and politics to the fore.

The Philippines, which is the bastion of Christianity in Asia, is in deep trouble. Our government, on all levels, is corrupt, the public finds nothing wrong with that most deadly sin called Greed. In fact, corruption has been the norm more than the exception.

Let me illustrate how it is for small-time businessmen like me:

Just last Friday, my company in Metro Manila was applying for a building permit which was supposed to cost Php20,000 but the folks in city hall were asking for Php60,000 so that the “papers would move.” We own the commercial property so there is no rent involved (come on, all we wanted to do was fix the ceiling and railing).

I told my accountant we would sit and wait it out. No way were we to pay any grease money to those greedy clerks (who work for the government because they will never succeed in the private sector anyway). But I can imagine how other businessmen feel, behave and justify their actions when rent is running and opportunities are lost by deliberate delays by government (non-)functionaries.

Two years ago, a Catholic priest was voted into office by the province from which our President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo hails. At that time, Pampanga was faced with very little choice — running for governor and spending hundreds of millions of pesos on their individual campaigns were a re-electionist governor and the wife of an alleged jueteng (illegal gambling) lord, both of whom were allies of the President.

The citizens of that province mobilized and supported a parish priest with no political experience and voted him into office. They felt the need for moral leadership because the mayor-warlords allegedly (I have to add this word so I will be safe legally) ran all the rackets in the province and things were in bad shape.

“Among Ed” Panlilio immediately went to work on the income from quarrying and collected in just a few months  the equivalent of more than a decade of “collections” by the local government officials. This “clean up” angered the mayors and they have been doing everything to remove him from office and thwart his programs of setting things right n the province.

You can “google” Among Ed and read more about him in Wikepedia and other web sites. There are 140,000,000 references to the keyword phrase “among ed” and about 152,000 for “ed panlilio.”

Now Among Ed has announced his bid for the presidency of the Philippines. In a press conference at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City. According to the news report:

“Panlilio was a priest for 29 years before pulling a surprise victory in the 2007 gubernatorial race in Pampanga. He is on leave from his priestly duties while serving out his term, but said he would leave the priesthood if he runs for president.

Panlilio stressed that whether he makes his bid formal by filing for candidacy in November would depend on how ready the people are to support the change that he espouses.”

Of course there are detractors, his bishop who wants him to stay a priest and minister to a smaller group of constituents, a lay religious leader in a small town in Pampanga, and the headlines this morning by a national daily that declared him Person of the Year for 2007 are screaming, “Priest turned governor angers prelates”

This from the lay leader:

Banjo Serrano, president of the parish pastoral council in Guagua town, said that while many Catholics in his hometown were not necessarily against Panlilio, they preferred that he return to the priesthood and “lead the laity in the crusade for good governance and moral leadership.”

My retort:

But, Mr. Serrano, as president of the Philippines, would Father Ed Panlilio not in fact be leading the laity in the crusade for good governance and moral leadership. And since the problem of corruption exists on a national level, why do you want him to limit himself to a parish in Pampanga?

From San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, Fr. Panlilio’s superior who “angrily rejected Panlilio’s plans to run for president and leave the priesthood” was quoted saying that

Panlilio’s plan to seek another public office will “further confuse the faithful.”

My retort:

Why would the faithful be confused? It’s pretty simple to me — the country needs moral leadership and Father Ed is a moral man. Why does a church official like Aniceto think that the Filipinos are shallow or unthinking or easily confused? Is his statement reflective of the attitude that priests have toward their flock? If so, then no wonder I do not enjoy the sermons on Sundays.

There are procedural aspects that must be followed if a priest were to run for public office, dispensations from the superiors. etc. The report states further:

“Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a known critic of Panlilio, noted that Church law prohibited priests from running for public office in the first place.

“There is no such thing as a priest on leave,” he said. He said Panlilio’s situation should be properly described as “suspended” from his duties.

“What can be dispensed is the clerical state, not his priesthood. It is already a part of his life. Once a priest, always a priest,” he said.

Of course the news reports carry a lot of statements made by folks, religious and lay, in support of Father Ed Panlilio’s candidacy, but that does not make a good headline, does it?

“Among Ed” is proceeding with caution. A related report avers:

“Panlilio stressed that whether he makes his bid formal by filing for candidacy in November would depend on how ready the people are to support the change that he espouses.

“We are not suicidal. I believe there is no point in pursuing it if we will not have enough support,” he said.

My stand:

1. I will vote for a good man, who has a good team of advisers and workers, and who together have a vision and created a program of action for tackling the problems of the Philippines that I agree with. I will not vote on the basis of personality. I want first to know WHAT it is they hope to achieve while in office, HOW they plan to do this. The WHO comes last, but the WHO must be qualified, confident yet full of humility. If Father Ed is the “man with a plan,” then why not?

This is also my stand, by the way, for voting a new mayor and other local officials into office for Baguio City.

2. A Roman Catholic priest, the same way a pastor of any other religion or sect, should be able to run for political office. Church and state will not be united by a priest holding the top civilian position in the land, for the church and the state have long been separated (um, we do have a set of laws that are different from Church laws).

3. Every Filipino, priest or not, should offer himself up for public service if there is a need for a person of his qualifications and moral character. In fact, this was the recent directive by the Roman Catholic Church — to “evangelize politics.” Why should lay folk be the only ones to “evangelize?”

4. When a nation turns too materialistic and corrupt, spiritual leaders usually feel the need to step up, like Rev. Jesse Jackson in America with his multiple bids for the presidency, Khomeini in Iran (well, the American propaganda was all so against him because he deposed the US-supported Shah of Iran at that time, who lived a pretty ostentatious lifestyle, then abandoned him so that only Egypt offered him sanctuary) and Iran seems to have been happy and peaceful for the decades since, La Salle Brother Rolly Dizon who stepped up with NAMFREL during the snap elections in 1986. So I agree that men and women who have led upright lives should now step up and lead the country until it is back on the right track to prosperity and peace.

Father Ed says he will leave the priesthood if he runs for president. Bad of the Roman Catholic Church to which I belong, but good for the Philippines, to which I also belong.

So what’s the problem?

That he might just win.

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