Catholic hierarchy says no to Panlilio.

Byline: Amando Doronila

THE MOVEMENT LAUNCHED BY A NEBULOUS civil society group, oozing with messianic ardor, to draft Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio for president in 2010 to save this country from the rapacity of the much-maligned traditional politicians has roiled the Catholic Church over the very secular notion of separation of church and state in a republican polity. The furor was sparked by the statement of Panlilio that he was open to the possibility of seeking the presidency in response to the civil society call.

The draft initiative seeks to make Panlilio run in 2010 with Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca as running mate. The movement has described this tandem as credible alternatives to the widely reviled trapos, stigmatized as responsible for the degradation of politics over more than 50 years of representative democracy …