CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – No less than Pope Benedict XVI is expected to grant dispensation to former governor Fr. Eddie “Among Ed” Panlilio whose bid for the gubernatorial polls next year has been confirmed here by Pres. Aquino.
Fr. Larry Sarmiento, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of San Fernando on the case of Among Ed, said that Panlilio himself requested for the dispensation only last Friday morning, a few hours before the President arrived at the Heroes’ Hall here to lend support to local candidates of the Liberal Party (LP).
The President announced during his visit that Panlilio would be the LP’s candidate against Gov. Lilia Pineda who is seeking re-election with her son Dennis Pineda as running mate under the local party Kambilan.
“The dispensation letter is being prepared by Msgr. Edgar Pangan and it will soon be forwarded to Among Ed for his signature. Then the archdiocese will forward it to the Vatican for the approval of the Pope himself,” Sarmiento said.
He said that such dispensation letter prepared by an archdiocese “is usually approved” by the Pope.
“We are preparing the dispensation letter because Among Ed is now interested in politics and has the desire to leave his priestly ministry,” Sarmiento noted.
He stressed, however, that the dispensation should not be interpreted politically. “The Church is non-political,” he said.
Panlilio has remained under suspension by Catholic authorities in the archdiocese headed by Archbishop Paciano Aniceto since he opted to run for governor in the 2007 elections. He won against Lilia Pineda who, however, defeated him in the 2010 polls.
The suspension, which in effect was a form of dispensation, never reached the Vatican. “This time, the Vatican’s approval of the dispensation would formalize everything,” Sarmiento explained.
He also explained that despite the dispensation, Panlilio would remain a priest. “But his priestly powers would be taken away from him,” he added.
This means that while Panlilio’s priestly functions could be clipped, he continues to be bound by his vow of celibacy.
Some 2,000 members of the LP and their supporters gave Panlilio a standing ovation that lasted two minutes after the President named him gubernatorial candidate.
At the provincial Capitol about a kilometer away, however, Pineda and other local candidates belonging to her local Kambilan party filed their certificates of candidacy (COC’s ) with the Commission on Elections, as their entourage of supporters clogged traffic that lasted for hours along the MacArthur Highway.
Some LP local candidates who attended the LP meeting with the President were held by the traffic on their way to also file their COC’s.
