by Joel V. Ocampo
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, currently serving as the vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippine (CBCP), was elected as the new president of CBCP. The announcement was made by the CBCP News on July 8, 2021, around 11:00 in the morning, Manila time.
Bishop Ambo, as he was fondly called, was born on March 3, 1959. He grew up in the town of Betis in Guagua, Pampanga. As a seminarian, he was formed in the Mother of Good Counsel Minor Seminary in Pampanga, and at the San Jose Seminary, Ateneo de Manila University. He was ordained a priest March 12, 1983 in the Archdiocese of San Fernando. From 1986 to 1991 he studied for Licentiate and later a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. On May 27, 2006 he was appointed Titular Bishop of Guardialfiera and Auxiliary of San Fernando, by Pope Benedict XVI.
As a bishop, he led various CBCP commissions, including: Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) and Commission on Cultural Heritage of the Church. From 2017 to present, Bishop David served as the CBCP Vice President.
LOVE AND CARE FOR THE MARGINALIZED
Apart from his beautiful and practical homilies, Bishop David is known for initiating pastoral programs and services for the last, the least, and the lost in the Diocese of Kalookan. This includes the following: