New CBCP president

We do not actually know the goings-on inside the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) or even the thinking of the bishops. So it is difficult to know whether there is something between the lines, sort of, in its recent election of Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles as its new president.

But first some noteworthy points. The outgoing CBCP president, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, has actually finished his second and final term as the group’s head. And Valles was his vice president. So it’s not that Valles’s election is surprising.

Villegas was head of the CBCP when President Rodrigo Duterte, the former Davao City mayor, was sworn in as president. He was also the group’s head when the bishops spoke against the extra-judicial killings that dominated the Duterte administration’s fight against illegal drugs and when the President began lashing back at priests and the Catholic Church.

That is probably why Villegas’s replacement by Valles immediately had some tongues wagging even before the latter could make a differ- ence in the CBCP. The point that Villegas, who has been critical of some of Duterte’s policies, is being replaced by a Davao prelate had some people questioning motivation. Was this meant to mend the frayed Duterte-CBCP relationship?

But whether that was the motive or not, Malacañang’s reaction could very well be used as a gauge. Consider this statement from Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Valles’s election:

“Our warm congratulations to Archbishop Valles as he leads the Catholic faithful in the country, towards developing a deeper spiritual life and for the Church to have a more open dialogue and cooperation with the government, especially in working for the poor and the marginalized.”

Unlike Villegas, Valles knows the Duterte psyche better. That they have co-existed in Davao City can be proof of that. But then, it would also be unfair to prejudge Valles’s leadership of the CBCP based on his past dealings with the President. Being CBCP president, after all, is different from being head of a “mere” archdiocese.

But it’s an interesting development.