ANGELES CITY—The outspoken parish priest of the Holy Rosary Parish here is now the new bishop of the Diocese of Caloocan.
Pope Francis has appointed San Fernando, Pampanga Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, also known as “Apung Ambo,” as the new Caloocan bishop. This was officially announced at 12 noon on Wednesday at the Vatican (6 p.m. Philippine time).
David, a known Bible scholar and environmentalist, will be the second bishop of the diocese since its establishment in 2003, according to news emanating from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
David is actively involved in promoting his environmental advocacies.
David formed Sagip Sapang Balen to save Sapang Balen creek, which emanates from a spring that runs from west to east and meanders in seven villages in this city.
The creek is heavily polluted due to many structures along its riverbanks as creekside residents and a slaughterhouse throw garbage into the waterway.
David’s environmental group, Subli—which means return to Mother Earth—is actively pursuing ecological advocacies, a major component of which calls for the proper collection, recycling and disposal of material wastes via the establishment of material-recovery facilities in every town and cities of Pampanga.
Subli’s works also involve people’s education and action on the preservation of water sources through reforestation and other pro-environment activities.
Another advocacy of David is “back to tap water.” David said its main intention is to encourage Filipinos to return to tap water and avoid or reduce the consumption of bottled water as he justified this action, which he said, is borne by the church’s desire to help reduce the sources of activities that degrade the environment and also help promote the well-being of the public in terms of an affordable cost of living.
David was born on March 2, 1959 in Betis, Guagua, Pampanga. He was ordained as priest on March 12, 1983.
A CBCP report said Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of San Fernando on May 27, 2006. He was ordained Bishop on July 10, 2006.
David finished his college seminary formation at the San Jose Seminary, Ateneo de Manila University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Pre-Divinity degree. He later took his Master of Arts degree in Theology at the Loyola School of Theology, also in Ateneo, and proceeded to earn his Licentiate in Sacred Theology degree from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium in 1988.
The following year, he took up Doctorate degree in Sacred Theology, also at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
At the CBCP, David was member of the Permanent Council from 2007 to 2013, and just recently, was elected chairman of the Permanent Committee of the CBCP for Church Heritage.
He also chaired the Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate of the CBCP from 2009 to 2015.
The Caloocan Diocese was erected in 2003 from the Archdiocese of Manila. The diocese comprises Caloocan City-South, Malabon City and Navotas City.
The Caloocan Diocese has been without a bishop since January 2013 after the resignation of Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez due to health reasons.
For more than two years, the diocese was being administered by Antipolo Auxiliary Bishop Francisco de Leon.
1 comment
Apung Ambo would make a good choice as Bishop of Kalookan.He is a bright light in the Church hierarchy who ministers to the poor in the margins of society.May he empower his new flock by enlarging the hapag-layko program of his diocese.