Eddie Panlilio

Eduardo "Among Ed" Tongol Panlilio (born December 6, 1953) is a Filipino former Roman Catholic priest and Governor of Pampanga.

He was suspended from his priestly duties upon announcing his intention to run as governor.

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.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law, specifically 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.

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.

He was elected governor in May 2007 in a three-way race against incumbent governor Mark Lapid and provincial board member Lilia Pineda.

Panlilio was named "Filipino of the Year" for 2007 by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Panlilio was suspended from the priesthood by his superior, San Fernando archbishop Paciano Aniceto, for running for governor of Pampanga in 2007.

This means that he is forbidden by the Catholic Church to practice priesthood or perform any of the sacraments reserved to priests.

Panlilio ran for the position of governor of Pampanga province in the 2007 Philippine general election.

Panlilio defended his controversial decision to enter politics 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.

Without any political party, he won over his two competitors, provincial board member Lilia Pineda and re-electionist governor Mark Lapid (both allies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo).

He defeated Pineda by a slim margin of 1,147 votes out of over 600,000 votes cast.

Panlilio was inaugurated as the 26th governor of the province of Pampanga on June 30, 2007.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago administered the oath of office.

During the inauguration, the new governor vowed to stop corruption and to make the province an example of a "new dawn in Philippine politics".

On July 4, 2007, Among Ed began serving his term amid the province's hope to erase its reputation of being the country's Vatican of "jueteng" or illegal gambling.

Pampanga has had a long history of patronage politics and corruption.

One of Panlilio's achievements in office was to increase the province's revenue from quarry taxes.

It is suspected that under previous governors, notably Mark Lapid and Lito Lapid, the large quarry industry was riddled with corruption and graft.

The increased tax base has led to fighting among mayors over the new revenue.

On August 27, 2007, Panlilio campaigned to bring his government closer to the Kapangpangans by leading the caravan "Pamisaupan (Helping One Another)" in Pampanga.

Panlilio and his team delivered bags of cement, toilet bowls, boxes of floor tiles and cans of paint to San Luis Hospital which had only 2 doctors, 8 nurses and 10 midwives to serve 140,000 residents of San Luis, Pampanga, San Simon, Pampanga and Candaba, Pampanga.

Panlilio further vowed to improve the facilities and conditions in the province's 9 district hospitals including the Diosdado Macapagal Provincial Hospital from funds (P143-million development fund) and private groups' contributions.

Panlilio stated, What we are doing is bringing the provincial government's services to the people to make health, education and livelihood assistance accessible to them.

The capitol's P37-million special education fund (SEF) would be utilized for the SEFs of towns.

Panlilio, launched the White Ribbon campaign on October 1, 2007, to engage the people of Pampanga to get involved in the crusade for good governance and good citizenship.

Some 70 people gathered and white ribbons marked with words "Good Governance" and handbills with messages were distributed.

Panlilio stated: "I believe that the spirit of the white ribbon is still very much alive. This campaign is really a call and for a response to people to be involved in good governance and good citizenship."

On October 13, 2007, Panlilio admitted that a palace staff personally gave him a brown paper gift bag with 500,000 Philippine pesos (P1,000 bills in 5 bundles, P100,000 each).

Panlilio confessed that money changed hands after the meeting "because as a priest and a public officer, I should not lie. I believe that since the money came from Malacanang, I also believe it is public money. So I should be accountable for it and transparent about it."

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called the meeting with 200 officers of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap), an organization of governors, mayors and other local officials.

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.