By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 22:15:00 02/26/2008

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales on Tuesday hailed the advocates of good governance and responsible citizenship in Pampanga as a continuing version of the real meaning of Edsa I.

In Pampanga, he said the people chose to exercise the people power seen in Edsa I by working to elect a leader chosen on the basis of moral standards.

Gov. Eddie Panlilio, a Catholic priest of 27 years, became that leader.

In his homily at the first Central Luzon Clergy Day at the Paskuhan Village here on Monday, Rosales said he did not personally know Panlilio nor has he given him advice. They met for the first time on Monday.

Panlilio said the cardinal's view was "very affirming."

"The cardinal has emphasized the crusade for transparency, accountability and good citizenship in Pampanga," he said. The crusade began during the May 2007 elections that saw Panlilio challenging two political giants in the province.

Rosales, who sat with the papal nuncio, Archbishop Joseph Edward Adams, and Panlilio during lunch, said the Roman Catholic Church will "not answer to the people" if Panlilio commits a wrongdoing while serving as governor.

Panlilio, in a separate interview, said he was aware of the burden he imposed on the Roman Catholic Church and has been trying to prove that a priest like him can remain faithful to Christian teachings and thus commit no wrongdoing as an elected official.

In Monday's program, the host, Fr. Raul de los Santos, called Pampanga "very fortunate."

"It is the only archdiocese with two auxiliary bishops and where the governor is a priest," he said.

Panlilio has not attended rallies for or against President Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday, the 22nd anniversary of Edsa I.

"It is more important to be channeling our energies to developing a critical mass of Christian communities that abide with and live by good values within or outside government," he said.

On the eve of the Edsa I commemoration, the Kapampangan Marangal, a civil society group advocating responsible citizenship, launched the book "Luid Ka (Stories and Images of the Kapampangan Crusade for Good Governance)."

Sociologist Randy David said it was fitting that the book was launched on the anniversary of the 1986 People Power.

"The coincidence is an important reminder to us that the history we make at the local level is an integral part of the larger tapestry of the Filipino nation's achievements," David said.

"It is also a way of telling us that whatever we do at the local level may not amount to much unless we can once and for all correct the bigger systemic dysfunction at the national level," he said.

The Kapampangan, he said, "cannot ignore the looming crisis in the national government."

"How the crisis at that level is ultimately resolved will also determine the long-term course of politics in our province," David said.