Filipino bishops elect Duterte critic as new president

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Manila, Philippines – The Philippine Conference of Catholic Bishops chose Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan as its new president on July 8. He will begin his two-year term as conference chair on December 1.

David, 62, who has served as conference vice president for the past four years, will replace outgoing president Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, ucanews.com reported.

He is well known as a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs. In 2017, he compared the thousands of victims to “slaughtered sheep”.

Duterte told David in 2019, “You know if you’re a priest and want to attack me … Listen, son of a bitch, get out of your pulpit. Don’t use religion. Come here. In the church , you attack me. When I retaliate, it will be hit.

Ucanews.com reported that the bishop was also among several priests accused of sedition after videos were posted online accusing Duterte’s family of being involved in illegal drug operations.

David’s Diocese in the Philippine capital, Manila, was among the first to congratulate him.

“It is with great joy that our shepherd (…) has been elected the new president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines,” he said in a Facebook post.

David attended the Jesuit Seminary in San José and Ateneo de Manila University, where he studied theology with the former Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, now Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Evangelization Peoples.

Ucanews.com reported that David also holds a doctorate in theology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

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