CBCP LEADERSHIP | Filipino Catholic bishops elect Duterte critic as head of influential church association

July 8, 2021 , 05:19 PM

By Beatrice Puente, News5 Digital

(July 8, 2021) – Filipino Catholic bishops on Thursday elected a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte as the new head of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in a move that could increase tensions between the Church and State.

Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, who has been criticizing Duterte for his brutal and bloody war on drugs policy, will serve for at least two years as president of the 135-member organization and is eligible for reelection.

David, who served as vice president, will begin his term by December 1, replacing Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles.

David, 62, was ordained a priest in 1983 at the Archdiocese of San Fernando in Pampanga province, north of the capital, where he was born. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in May 2006 as Titular Bishop of Guardialfiera and Auxiliary of San Fernando.

Pope Francis later uprooted him from his hometown to lead the Caloocan diocese in September 2015 after more than two years of vacancy. He succeeded Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez who resigned from the post because of his health condition.

Under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, David took on an outspoken approach in airing his dissent to the controversial war on drugs policy which has killed more than 6,000 people.

Rights groups said there could be up to 30,000 deaths including vigilante-style executions.

In 2017, he stood with the family of the drug war victim, Kian Loyd Delos Santos, in calling for justice after the 17-year-old schoolboy was gunned down in a drug raid in Caloocan City. It was among the most controversial cases and the only one that led to the murder conviction of three cops.

David has received death threats from unknown sources because of his position in the drug war. Duterte has also singled him out in 2018, accusing the bishop of stealing from mass offerings. The president even threatened to “decapitate” David.

Last year, David and the members of the CBCP issued a pastoral letter condemning the passage of the draconian legislation against terrorism. Duterte’s officials said this move violated the separation of the church and the state, a claim which the prelates disputed.

“Our only influence is on conscience, because it is our duty to form consciences, and we are accountable to God for this. We draw inspiration from both the Scriptures and the magisterium of the church,” David said in a news conference last year.

David took philosophy and theology degrees at the Ateneo de Manila University before he studied at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium from 1986 to 1991, obtaining his licentiate and doctorate.

He has helped improve the level of education in various archdiocesan seminaries given his background. David had also taught Sacred Scripture at the seminary.

As one of the leading Bible scholars, he was elected vice president of the Association of Catholic Biblical Scholars of the Philippines and the Archdiocesan Media Apostolate Networks.

He will serve as head of the CBCP until 2023 with Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara as vice president.

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