Dispensing Panlilio

“THERE WAS a secret consistory in which he declared that from his early years he was always, with all his spirit, inclined to the secular condition; but that his mother had wished absolutely that he should give himself to the ecclesiastical state, and he had not believed he should oppose her will. But since his mind and his desire and his inclination were still for the secular life, he besought His Holiness Our Lord, that he should condescend, with special clemency, to give him a dispensation, so that having put off the robe and the ecclesiastical dignity, he might be permitted to return to the secular estate, pursue a political career, even contract matrimony; and that he now prayed the Holy Father to give his consent willingly to such a dispensation.”
A record of the request of Cardinal Cesare Borgia for dispensation from his own father Pope Alexander VI transplanted to a not-too-impossible scenario in the case of the Pampanga governor.
A scenario first broached by Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz after Panlilio won the governorship: “Leave the priesthood, get married, start a political dynasty.” The sarcasm not lost in that unsolicited advice.
No, the Honorable Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio has not asked for a dispensation. As a matter of course, Panlilio has made a mantra of his desire to return to the priesthood. Even as running for the Senate in the Noynoy-Mar ticket remained an open option for him.
Neither then has Panlilio asked for re-admission to the priesthood, notwithstanding his expressed desire to be so.
San Fernando Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David says: “As far as we are concerned, he has yet to inform us of his intention to be readmitted to the priesthood.” And the Church is not pressuring Panlilio to return. Neither will the issue of dispensation be forced upon him.
Furthered the foremost intellectual of the Church in Pampanga: “Among Ed can either decide to seek readmission to be able to perform his priestly duties or seek dispensation. It all depends on him now, but he cannot seek an extension of his suspension since it was only agreed that he would be suspended from performing his priestly functions for only one term.”
Yeah, as Among Ambo once said, Panlilio could not have his cake and eat it too. Sooner than later, he’s got to choose between the priesthood and politics.
Panlilio could not invoke yet another God-a-calling pretext in either option. He had used this up when he fancied himself as presidentiable, disposing of it like a used rag when he made the supreme sacrifice – in absolute disobedience to God’s call – of making way for Noynoy Aquino.
Running now in Aquino’s ticket for senator would make Panlilio an opportunist, a horse-trader – swapping his presidential ambition for a slot in the senatorial line-up. Going this route, Panlilio would need more than dispensation. A public absolution will be much in order.
Discernment, a process Panlilio so liked to profess, will help him out in finding his true calling, or what’s best for him for now.
For starters, he should seriously consider the words of Among Ambo: “He should return to us. He is a good priest and the priesthood would surely be the best thing for him and not politics.”
That’s short of telling Panlilio he is a political failure. And that’s no shortening the truth. That Panlilio is a political failure.
Look how Panlilio has become totally irrelevant to Pampanga politics. The fact that his so-called civil society groups are now clamoring for City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez to run for governor is an indictment of Panlilio’s failure at the Capitol.
If he indeed was cut-out for governor, shouldn’t we be hearing shouts for his re-election by now?
A streamer strung at the fence of Heroes Hall in the City of San Fernando proclaims: MAYOR OCA – guelingan mu kailangang kailangan king kapitolyo (Your greatness is what’s most needed at the Capitol). It was put up by “the parishioners of Betis.” Yes, the very same people who formed the very core of Panlilio’s run for the governorship.
If that is not a slap on Panlilio’s face, I do not know what is.