Eddie Panlilio | |
---|---|
Eddie Panlilio in 2007
|
|
26th Governor of Pampanga | |
In office June 30, 2007 – June 30, 2010 |
|
Vice Governor | Yeng Guiao |
Preceded by | Mark Lapid |
Succeeded by | Lilia Pineda |
Personal details | |
Born |
Minalin, Pampanga, Philippines |
December 6, 1953
Nationality | Filipino |
Political party | Independent (2007-2009; 2014-present) |
Other political affiliations |
Liberal 2010-2014 |
Profession | Priest (suspended) |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Eddie "Among Ed" Tongol Panlilio (born December 6, 1953) is a Kapampangan Filipino Roman Catholic priest and Governor of Pampanga. He was suspended from his priestly duties upon announcing his intention to run as governor. He was elected governor in May 2007 in a three-way race against incumbent governor Mark Lapid and provincial board member Lilia Pineda. In February 2010, following a recount of votes due to an election protest, the Comelec ruled that Lilia Pineda had won the 2007 election over Panlilio.
Panlilio was named "Filipino of the Year" for 2007 by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Eddie Panlilio was born in Minalin, Pampanga on December 6, 1953. He is the sixth of seven children of Gervacio Cunanan Panlilio and Catalina Tongol. He is afflicted with vitiligo, a rare skin disease.
After finishing elementary school at the Minalin Central Elementary School, Panlilio enrolled the Don Bosco Academy, Pampanga his sophomore year after spending a year at the Don Honorio Ventura College of Arts and Trades (DHVCAT). Panlilio was in and out of several seminaries as he went through a long discernment process, and after finishing his theology at the St. Augustine Major Seminary was ordained priest on December 13, 1981.
For fifteen years, Panlilio was the director of the Social Action Center of Pampanga (SACOP), which worked with communities displaced by lahar following the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. He established the micro-lending program Talete Panyulung ning Kapampangan Inc. (TPKI), based on the Grameen Bank-approach. Now on its 20th year, TPKI released P2 billion in loans to small entrepreneurs in Central Luzon.
Panlilio was suspended from the priesthood by his superior, the archbishop of San Fernando, for running for governor of Pampanga in 2007. This means that he is forbidden by the Catholic Church to act like a priest or perform any of the sacraments reserved to priests. The Code of Canon Law (cf.Canon 285.3) forbids priests from occupying political posts.Bishop Leonardo Medroso, chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Canon Law cited a conflict between a role in politics and in the church.