Fr. Ed Panlilio for President

Fr. Ed Panlilio is the 6th of the Panlilio brood of seven. He was born in Minalin, Pampanga on December 6, 1953 to parents Gervacio Cunanan Panlilio and Catalina Tongol. Gervacio married Eddie’s stepmother, Maria Restinia Regala-Panlilio, a principal of San Pedro Elementary School. The 53 year-old priest has made his mark as a prime-mover for social development, a dedicated and well-loved priest and pastor, and a leader. He is afflicted with vitiligo, a rare skin disease.

Panlilio ran for the position of governor of Pampanga province in the 2007 Philippine general election. Panlilio defends his controversial decision to pursue a political role as a logical continuation of his ministry for the poor, whom he sees as having been exploited and neglected for too long by successive administrations of corrupt and uncaring politicians.

His experience under the Social Action Center spurred him to announce his intention to run as the governor of the province. Because of this, he was suspended from his priestly ministry and is forbidden to perform any duties as a priest, including saying Mass. He won over his two leading competitors, provincial board member Lilia Pineda and re-electionist governor Mark Lapid (both allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), winning over Pineda by a slim margin of only 1,147 votes out of a total of over 600,000 votes cast for all three candidates.

Among Ed though, according to the news flash, is still waiting for the signs before he finalizes his decisions. He said it will depend on the public’s clamor for him to run, which I believe will now pour in after hearing the announcement.

But if you surf around the net many issues regarding Governor Ed Panlilio of Pampanga will run for president in the coming 2010 election.

What do you think?