Archbishop says Panlilio to remain a priest forever

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto said the archdiocesan tribunal is now studying the petition of Gov. Eddie Panlilio for “dispensation” from priesthood, but he stressed that Panlilio, who is seeking re-election, will remain “a priest forever.”

Aniceto told The STAR that the priestly vows that Panlilio took could not be dissolved even with the approval of his petition for dispensation.

“He is a priest forever and an approval of his dispensation petition would only mean he will no longer be able to practice his priestly authority on a permanent basis,” Aniceto said.

This is contrary to Panlilio’s earlier view that the permanence of dispensation has remained “debatable.”

Panlilio was parish priest of Betis in Guagua town in this province when his authority to administer sacraments was suspended after he decided to enter politics and run as an independent candidate for governor in the 2007 polls.

Aniceto noted that while Panlilio has formally submitted a petition for dispensation, another priest, Cris Cadiang, has not filed such a petition despite his running for vice mayor of Angeles City.

Cadiang abandoned the priesthood way back in 2003 and later got married in civil rites. Recently, he announced his vice mayoral bid with Tony Mamac as his mayoral candidate reportedly under the Liberal Party (LP).

In a recent visit, however, LP presidential bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said the party’s national leadership has yet to decide on their bets in Angeles City.

This, amid reports that Panlilio, now the LP provincial chairman, has been reluctant to endorse Mamac as he is known as an owner of “girlie bars” in Pampanga and Tarlac.

Aniceto, however, said priests who are given dispensation from their priestly ministries are still bound to observe celibacy. “They cannot marry,” he stressed.

The archbishop also said it “will take time” before the archdiocesan tribunal can decide on Panlilio’s petition.

Aniceto was against Panlilio’s entry into politics in the 2007 elections.

Panlilio whose victory as an independent candidate was hailed as a “miracle,” is again pitted against Lakas-Kampi-CMD candidate Lilia Pineda who he defeated by 1,147 votes in the 2007 polls.

The Commission on Elections’ Second Division is expected to issue its ruling any time on the recount of gubernatorial votes, as petitioned by Pineda.