Pope Francis has appointed San Fernando (Pampanga) Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David as the new Kalookan bishop which was officially announced at 12 noon on Wednesday at the Vatican (6 p.m. Philippine time).
David, a known Bible scholar and environmentalist, will be the second bishop of the diocese since its establishment in 2003, according to news emanating from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
David is actively involved in promoting his environmental advocacies.
David formed Sagip Sapang Balen to save Sapang Balen creek which emanates from a spring that runs from west to east and meanders in seven villages in this city.
The creek is heavily polluted due to many structures along its riverbanks as creek side residents and a slaughterhouse throw away garbage in the waterway.
David was reported to put a curse on anyone who throws garbage in the creek.
David’s environmental group “Subli (which means return to Mother Earth)” is actively pursuing ecological advocacies; a major component of which calls for the proper collection, recycling and disposal of material wastes via the establishment of material recovery facilities in every town and cities of Pampanga.
Subli’s works also involve people’s education and action on the preservation of water sources through reforestation and other pro-environment activities.
Another advocacy of David is “back to tap water.”
David said its main intention is to encourage Filipinos to return to tap water and avoid or reduce the consumption of bottled water as he justified this action which he said is borne by the church’s desire to help reduce the sources of activities that degrade the environment and also help promote the well-being of the public in terms of an affordable cost of living.
David was born on March 2, 1959 in Betis, Guagua, Pampanga. He was ordained a priest on March 12, 1983.
A CBCP report said Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of San Fernando on May 27, 2006. He was ordained Bishop on July 10, 2006.
David had secondary schooling at the Mother of Good Counsel Seminary in the City of San Fernando and finished his college seminary formation at the San Jose Seminary, Ateneo de Manila University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Pre-Divinity degree.
Thereafter, he took his Master of Arts degree in Theology at the Loyola School of Theology, also in Ateneo, and proceeded to earn his Licentiate in Sacred Theology degree from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium in 1988.
The following year he took up Doctorate degree in Sacred Theology, also at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
At the CBCP, David was member of the Permanent Council from 2007 to 2013 and just recently was elected chairperson of the Permanent Committee of the CBCP for Church Heritage.
He also chaired the Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate of the CBCP from 2009 to 2015.
The Kalookan diocese was erected in 2003 from the Archdiocese of Manila. The diocese comprises Caloocan City-South, Malabon City and Navotas City.
The Kalookan diocese has been without a bishop since January 2013 after the resignation of Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez due to health reasons.
For more than two years, the diocese was being administered by Antipolo Auxiliary Bishop Francisco De Leon.
