David to assume CBCP top post tomorrow

MANILA, Philippines — Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, a known critic of President Duterte’s war on drugs, will take over as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) tomorrow.

David, 62, currently the CBCP’s vice president, will replace Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles.

David was elected CBCP president during a plenary assembly last July.

The Caloocan bishop had described the Duterte administration’s drug war as “illegal, immoral and anti-poor.”

David believes that the war on drugs targeted only street-level pushers instead of the suppliers and manufacturers of these illegal substances.

Born in Guagua, Pampanga, David was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of San Fernando in 1983.

In 2006, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese, a post he served for around 14 years until he was transferred to the Caloocan Diocese in January 2016.

David previously chaired the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate. He was among the five Filipino delegates to the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in the Vatican in 2008.

In 2019, the Ateneo de Manila University conferred the “Bukas Palad Award” on David for his service to the poor and for his courage in speaking out against violence and human rights violations.