Was Fr. Panlilio’s victory in Pampanga constitutional?

Article II, section 6 of the Philippine constitution reads: “The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.”

This was the basis of a complaint filed at Comelec against Fr. Panlilio, the governor-elect of Pamapanga, by another gubernatorial candidate, Ely Pamatong.

Fr. Panililio resigned as a parish priest before filing his candidacy, but, inevitably, his campaign rhetoric, his nickname (Father Ed), in fact everything about his campaign drew on the claimed higher moral standing of the church over the sordid world of secular politics (exemplified perfectly by Panililio’s main opponents, the wife of an alleged jueteng lord and the son of an actor).

Let’s turn it around. What if you, reader, were to run along to Fr. Panililio’s vacated parish and proclaim that you wanted to be the parish priest there. Unless you are already a priest of some kind, I would imagine that the religious authorities would boot you out pretty quickly. How come it doesn’t work the other way around, especially when constitution states that the separation of Church and State is supposed to be “inviolable”?

The rigid and hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic poses particular problems. After all, Fr. Panililio’s boss is the Pope. That seems a clear conflict of interest to me, especially in such areas as family planning.

Although Fr. Panililio was running for governor, it is worth pointing out in passing that there is a specific prohibition against religious party list groups running for Congress. Needless to say, this being the Philippines, this was flouted in the last election by at least two groups, as pointed out by “zapper” in mlq. CIBAC was associated with Eddie Villanueva’s Jesus is Lord and BUHAY was a creation of Mike Verlarde’s El Shaddai. Guess what, the sons of Brother Eddie and Mike Verlarde are their parties’ respective nominees.

Fr. Panililio faces problems not only with the secular laws governing the role of religion in public life, but, as pointed out by mlq, with religious law, which seems quite clear and unequivocal on this point.

Canon 285, Sec. 3: Clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power.

From what I have read, Fr. Panililio seems a decent and well-meaning man and I am quite sure that he would make an infinitely better governor than either Lilia Pineda or Mark Lapid. I would probably have voted for him if I were a Pampanga voter. Still, that is not really the point. There are well rooted historical reasons for separating religion from “the exercise of civil power”, recognized both by Philippine constitutional law and the Canon Law. It seems to me that Father Ed has broken these laws.

Comments

[mlq3]

the problem was that one of the drafters of the 1898 malolos constitution was a priest; and the phil. army had a vicar-general, aglipay. and that aglipay ran for the presidency in 1935. the armed forces maintains a chaplain's corps.

a protestant minister is a congressman in Manila, wearing a roman collar. events are marked by masses and santo ninos peep over the shoulders officials or the large madonna promintly displayed elsewhere,

panlilio has been on a kind of priestly reprieve. he cannot impart any of the sacraments except baptism and extreme unction in an emergency. he may not say mass. but he has not been defrocked

[Jon Limjap]

I think Cardinal Vidal issued a statement where he said Panlilio must defrock if he really wants to continue his political career.

I hope Fr. Ed follows his advice.

[Dude]

Dude, I find it funny that you talk about adherence to the laws in the Philippines. Haven't you lived here long enough?

[vic]

The Greatest of Them All, the late Tommy Douglas, Premier of Saskatchewan, Leader of New Democrats (Socialist) chosen by all Canadian as the Greatest Canadian of all Time Was a Baptist Minister.
If the law of the land qualify all its citizens to become its leaders, then a Priest, A Minister of any Religion, an Imam, or a Rabbi has every right to participate. They have to deal with their own Religion in their own rule.

[Carla]

I agree about the conflict of interest. Will contraceptives be withheld from public hospitals in Pampanga with Fr. Ed as governor?

Bishop Cruz said something to the effect that Fr. Ed's victory was a "shame" for the laity, which had to elect a priest because no civilian appeared to be good enough. That's true, too, and is the reason why his election fails to cheer me up, phenomenal as his campaign appears to be. I don't think theocracy is the direction we should be moving towards. If people still believe that priests embody supreme moral authority even in the political arena, that's not really progress.

[Pampanga Voter]

I guess the question that the Supreme Court has to answer (if somebody bothers to raise it) is where the separation of the Church and State begins.

*A Catholic worshipper like Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo heeds the Catholic policy of family planning-unconstitutional?
*A Catholic priest gets elected-unconstitutional?

What does the "church" part in "separation of church and state" mean? Does the "church" include the policies of the church? The members of the church? The priests of the church?

I would hope that this question be resolved after Panlilio is given enough time to prove his effectiveness as governor. If he is effective, I hope that people just let the question hang in the air for the moment. If he turns out to be inept boot him out throught the Supreme Court.

[Pampanga Voter]

In my point of view, "effectiveness" would mean a governor who can eradicate the problem of shabu in Pampanga. I don't really think jueteng is a big deal nor a problem really, despite the newspapers and media's constant focus on it. A few tens of pesos gambled never really hurts anybody, and I do believe that people have a right to spend their hard earned money the way they want. But the use of shabu has social repercussions that go beyond the user. Users of this drug in the end go through some stage of psychosis that has implications for crime and violence, robbery, and that's why it should be stopped.

If Panlilio makes a dent in eradicating this disease keep him. (He also has to keep the economy going strong). If not boot him out like Lapid before him.

[Jon Limjap]

Dude,

Torn is a free man. If he wants to talk about Pinoy politics, he's free to do so. If he wants to live here, he's free to do that too.

It's his problem, not yours.

[torn]

Thanks, great points everyone. Pamapanga voter, I too have been wondering what "the separation of Church and State" really means. One interpretation might be that it is there to stop politicians from promoting religion through their secular position -- such as requiring all citizens to attend church.

If the aim of the framers of the constitution was simply to prevent a theocracy, then perhaps having a priest (or, as vic says a vicar or an imam) as a governor does not violate the constitution.

Yet, on the other hand the role of religion is so pervasive in Philippine public and private life there seems great scope for conflict. For example, during the Erap presidency capital punishment did take place. Yet the Catholic Church, particularly during the papacy of John Paul II, was strongly opposed to it. So which version of the law would a priest-politician follow.

The separation of church and state is currently a hot topic in Thailand too. Section 2 of a new draft constitution has refers to Buddhism as the "state religion" which is obviously going to be opposed by the sizeable Muslim minority in the south.

No doubt debating these issues is how constitutional lawyers make their daily crust.

All in all, I agree with Carla, that remarkable though Panlilio’s campaign was, his victory does not really represent progress.

[Pampanga Voter]

I wouldn't worry about a medieval form of church dominance sweeping Pampanga politics though. I think liberal democracy is well-entrenched enough in Pampanga society for "the church" to be able to control politics Anyway, majority of Kapampangans historically were and presently have strong ties to the Church.

See, the Spaniards and the Catholic Church have been good to us during the colonial period, so it's not really a problem for the province to vote a pro-church candidate. Put it this way: Pampanga is proud of its Catholic heritage the way Moros in Mindanao are proud of their Islamic heritage.

I'm an atheist myself, but I have no problem voting for a Catholic priest or my Cabalens being too religous. But if it's a Muslim, well that's another matter.

[Info Tech, Profits, and jobs]

Uhmm... I can say that people really wants the power! the power to govern! Human cannot be contented of what they have. instead, they always complain of what they don't have. No one seems to play the part of a follower, all of us just wanted to be the leader. Its simple logic. If then all Filipinos became a leader, who then will follow? No one of course. No ones left to be govern yet results to WAR as no one wants to listen to one idea. Conflict! So much for that... better surf than argue... Check this out ya -> Business Process Outsourcing