Video games turned movies

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – It’s a question that supporters of governor-elect Fr. Eddie Panlilio and even mediamen had wanted to ask but had been shy to do so.

In an interview with The STAR yesterday, Panlilio, however, said he would not mind being asked about his uneven skin pigmentation, which has given rise to rumors that he is suffering from skin cancer.

Panlilio, whose sense of humor is known among his former parishioners in Betis in Guagua town, said, “I really don’t mind it. It’s like having the map of Pampanga on my face so I don’t have to buy a map.”

He said his case is scientifically called “vitiligo” which he stressed is not a disease and definitely not contagious.

Scientific journals define vitiligo as “a pigmentation disorder in which the cells that make pigment in the skin are destroyed.”

“It’s a pigmentation disorder that afflicted Michael Jackson. In the case of Jackson, he undertook measures to speed up the de-pigmentation that transformed his skin white all over,” Panlilio said.

He said he first noticed he had vitiligo some four to five years ago, and attempted to remedy this by applying lotion. But he said he later accepted his disorder when the lotion failed.

“Initially, it disturbed me. It sort of affected my social security, but then one does not give attention to this anymore as one grows older,” he said.

Panlilio said he expects the white patches to eventually spread all over his body and make him look like a Caucasian.

Meanwhile, Panlilio said he is set to take up a crash course in public administration at the Ateneo de Manila University.

He said the course will last for weeks and that he expects it to acquaint him further with “undertaking governance.”

Panlilio also reiterated his plans to go back to full priesthood after his three-year gubernatorial term.

Reacting to criticisms from Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz who urged him to quit the priesthood, Panlilio insisted that his superior is San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto who, in earlier interviews, said the priest-turned-politician remains a priest although with suspended priestly powers.

Aniceto said Panlilio could apply for full priesthood again after his political term but that he must undergo a “certain process.”

“Archbishop Aniceto has jurisdiction over me, not Archbishop Cruz or even Cardinal Vidal,” he said.