Capalla is new CBCP president

The Catholic episcopacy in the Philippines elected yesterday Davao City Archbishop Fernando Capalla as president of the powerful Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo was elected vice president in elections held at a retreat house in Tagaytay City.

Capalla, 67, assumes the post amid sex scandals rocking the country’s Roman Catholic Church, involving Antiplo Bishop Crisostomo Yalung and Novaliches Bishop Teodoro Bacani Jr.

Yalung resigned as Antipolo bishop and has since been working as a librarian in the Vatican while Bacani is still under investigation by the Vatican which has temporarily named a papal administrator to the newly created diocese.

Capalla is a vocal supporter of peace talks between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

CBCP elections are held about 10 months before the Philippines’ presidential elections, in which the Catholic Church plays an influential role. Next year’s presidential elections is set on May 10.