Environmentalist is new CBCP head

Faced with a growing scandal, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday elected a human rights advocate and environmentalist as its next president.

The two-year presidency of Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, 61, and the current CBCP vice president, begins in December, the CBCP News said.

Elected as vice president was Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, a protege of the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin and known for his close ties to the Aquino family.

The bishops elected Palma after the incumbent president, Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar, reportedly decided not to seek a second term.

It is tradition in the CBCP that the vice president succeeds the president.

The bishops also chose Dumaguete Bishop John Du as treasurer, and Msgr. Joselito Asis as secretary general. Their terms also start on December 1.

Palma was archbishop of Palo, Leyte, before he was transferred to Cebu to replace Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

He gained a reputation as a human rights advocate and environmentalist while he served in Eastern Visayas.

Palma was bishop of Calbayog before he was named archbishop of Palo in 2006.

Palma was also very critical of then Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan when the latter was assigned to Eastern Visayas because of the human rights abuses that happened during the latter’s watch.

Pope Benedict XVI sent a message to the CBCP in time for its plenary assembly and election of new officers.

“He greets all the bishops and assures them of his spiritual closeness. His Holiness prays that this time of reflection and renewed dedication in the service of the Gospel will bear abundant fruit for the Church and the society,” Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said in a letter sent to Odchimar.