Pablo Virgilio David | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Bishop of Kalookan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Church | Catholic Church | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Province | Manila | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| See | Kalookan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appointed | October 14, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Installed | January 2, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Deogracias Iñiguez Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other posts |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous posts |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Orders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordination | March 12, 1983 by Oscar Cruz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consecration | July 10, 2006 by Gaudencio Rosales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created cardinal | December 7, 2024 byPope Francis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Pablo Virgilio Siongco David (1959-03-02)March 2, 1959 (age 66) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Denomination | Roman Catholic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motto | Kenosis (Emptying oneself to receive God's will)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ordination history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Styles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reference style | His Eminence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spoken style | Your Eminence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religious style | Bishop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Informal style | Cardinal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| See | Kalookan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pablo Virgilio "Ambo" Siongco David (born March 2, 1959) is aFilipino Catholic prelate who has served asBishop of Kalookan since 2016, andpresident of theCatholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines from 2021 to 2025.Pope Francis made him acardinal on December 7, 2024.
Preferred to be known by his nickname "Ambo" or "Apu Ambo" ("grandfather Ambo"),[1] he previously served asAuxiliary Bishop ofSan Fernando from 2006 to 2015. David was named apapabile and a potentialdark horsecandidate in the2025 conclave.[2]
Pablo Virgilio David was born in Betis,Guagua,Pampanga, on March 2, 1959. He is the 10th of the 13 children of Pedro David and Bienvenida Siongco.[3] One of his siblings is the sociologist and public intellectualRandy David.[4] He determined his vocation early and asked to attend the minor seminary at the age of ten.[5] From 1970 to 1974 he attended Mother of Good Counsel Minor Seminary inSan Fernando, Pampanga, for his secondary education. He earned his bachelor's degree in pre-divinity studies fromAteneo de Manila University in 1978, studied for several years at San Jose Seminary in Loyola Heights, Quezon City, and received his master's degree in theology from the Loyola School of Theology in 1984.[6][7] During his student years he participated in demonstrations against theMarcos dictatorship.[1][5]
David was ordained a priest of theArchdiocese of San Fernando by ArchbishopOscar Cruz on March 12, 1983. He worked first for a year as an assistant pastor,[6] where he continued his anti-government political activities.[5] He then became director of his alma mater, Mother of Good Counsel Seminary, until 1986. From 1986 to 1991, he studied abroad, earning alicentiate and then adoctorate in sacred theology from theCatholic University of Louvain, a school he chose because of its "progressive" reputation,[5] and he studied at theÉcole biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem,[6] where he learned Aramaic to enable him to continue his scholarly work on theBook of Daniel.[5]
Returning to the Philippines, David held various leadership and teaching roles at Mother of Good Counsel Seminary. In 2002, he became director of the seminary's Theology Department, while continuing to teach Sacred Scripture. Also in 2002, he was elected vice-president of the Association of Catholic Biblical Scholars of the Philippines and vice-president of the Archdiocesan Media Apostolate Networks.[6]
On May 27, 2006, he was appointed byPope Benedict XVI to be auxiliary bishop of San Fernando and titular bishop of theGuardialfiera.[6][8] He was consecrated as a bishop byManila Archbishop CardinalGaudencio Borbon Rosales, with San Fernando ArchbishopPaciano Aniceto andJaro ArchbishopAngel Lagdameo as co-consecrators.[9]
In 2008, David was one of five bishops elected by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to attend the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in October.[10] He also won back control of shrine atApung Mamacalulu from the private interests that owned the site of the chapel and commercialized it. He made it a site for popular pilgrimages and initiated the celebration of Mass there, which had previously been prohibited.[5][11]
Pope Francis named David as the secondBishop of Kalookan on October 14, 2015, succeedingDeogracias Iñiguez Jr.[12][13] David was installed in theCathedral of San Roque on January 2, 2016. He also took on the responsibilities of pastor of the cathedral parish.[14]
He has served as a member of the CBCP's Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate, and he was elected to a four-year term as that organization's vice president in December 2017.[10]
David has been a critic of PresidentRodrigo Duterte'swar on drugs.[10][15] On July 19, 2019, thePNP–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed charges against David, fellow bishopsHonesto Ongtioco andSocrates Villegas, and members of theopposition for "sedition, cyber libel, libel,estafa, harboring a criminal, andobstruction of justice".[16][17] The charges were dropped in 2020.[18]
On September 10, 2019, Ateneo de Manila University conferred him its Bukas Palad Award for his service to the poor and his advocacy for fight social justice.[19]
David was electedpresident of CBCP by its 130 members on July 8, 2021, succeeding ArchbishopRomulo Valles on December 1. ArchbishopGilbert Garcera succeeded him in 2025.[13][20][21]
TheCatholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines selected David, BishopMylo Hubert Vergara, and CardinalJose Advincula to represent the Philippines in the Universal Phase of theSynod on Synodality that took place at the Vatican on October 2023 and October 2024. Other Filipinos joining the Synod were CardinalLuis Antonio Tagle, by virtue of his office as Pro-Prefect of theDicastery for Evangelization, and Dr.Estela Padilla, a lay Filipino theologian, nominated byPope Francis.[22]
In October 2023, David was elected as the Asian representative on the 7-member Commission on Information of that year'sSynod of Bishops.[23] In February 2024, David was elected as the vice president of theFederation of Asian Bishops' Conferences at the central committee meeting inBangkok, succeeding ArchbishopMalcolm Ranjith.[24][25]
.svg)
On October 6, 2024, Pope Francis announced he planned to make David a cardinal and elevated him in the December 7 consistory.[26] David was named cardinal-priest ofTrasfigurazione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo.[27] He is the tenth Filipino to join theCollege of Cardinals,[28] the third Filipino made a cardinal by Pope Francis, the first Filipino made a cardinal while not yet an archbishop, and the first cardinal from the Diocese of Kalookan.[1] He is in the rarely seen position of a cardinal who is suffragan to another cardinal, the Archbishop of ManilaJose Advincula.[1] Just as he had refused to use the title "Excellency" which is normally accorded a bishop,[5] as cardinal he said that he was "scandalized" by the use of the title "Eminence" for cardinals and hoped it would be abolished.[1] He has said he expects no new assignment, rather to remain as bishop of Kalookan.
On October 23, 2024, theSynod of Bishops elected David a member of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod.[29]
During aSimbang Gabi homily on December 24, 2024, David criticized Israel'sGaza war, saying that the biblical Israel is different from the State of Israel and that "if the Holy Family were to look for an inn today, they would not stay in Bethlehem but in the Gaza Strip and find a collapsed house in which to give birth to the Son of God".[30]
On January 12, 2025, Pope Francis named him a member of theDicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.[31]
David was one of three cardinal electors from the Philippines (the others beingLuis Antonio Tagle and Advincula) to participate in the2025 conclave that electedPope Leo XIV. On April 24, David was among the earliestcardinal electors to give an interview about the forthcomingconclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis.[32] Prior to and during the conclave, some media outlets listed David as a potentialdark horse candidate for the papacy.[2][33] The Italian media reported afterwards that Cardinal David went as far as getting more votes than that of the early frontrunner, Cardinal Tagle, during the early rounds of the conclave.[34]
David is also a critic ofonline gambling. In July 2025, the CBCP released apastoral letter condemning such, likening it to aplagueepidemic.[35] He criticized the government for fueling online gambling addiction, describing the Internet as a "digital highway" where people fall to new forms of exploitation.[36] ThePhilippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) subsequently argued that it helps generate revenue for the government.[37] David rejected PAGCOR's defense, comparing it to legalizing illegal drugs just for the sake of increased government income.[38]
David took canonical possession of his titular Church,Trasfigurazione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo, in Rome on October 19, 2025 as announced by theOffice for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.[39]
David has authored several works of popular theology.[5]
With his co-editor Nina L.B. Tomen he has created three volumes focused onAngeles City, one on the devotion centered on the statue depicting the burial of Jesus Christ known as Apung Mamacalulu,Apung Mamacalulu: The Santo Entierro of Angeles City; another on popular religion in the old town of Betis there; and one on Holy Rosary Parish Church,Pisamban Maragul: The Living Church of Angeles City, designed to be presented to Pope Francis on his visit to the Philippines in January 2015. David said: "The Pope knows well that many old heritage churches in Europe have practically become dead churches or sheer museums. The book is not just about an old building; it is about a living Church." Its 350 pages included archival documents, memoirs of parisioners, and rare photographs. It concerned the church structure and its furnishings, but also documented nonmaterial expressions of faith that deserve preservation: popular devotions, rites, rituals, traditions, sacred music and other nonmaterial forms of faith.[40][41]
Also with Tomen,The Gospel of Mercy According to Juan/a (Makati City, Philippines: St. Pauls Philippines, 2016). The Juan/Juana of the title refers to any ordinary person, male or female. A collection of essays by each of the authors, with a co-authored preface.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Bishop of Guardialfiera 10 July 2006 – 14 October 2015 | Succeeded by Adilson Pedro Busin |
| Preceded by | Bishop of Kalookan 2 January 2016 – present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines 1 December 2021 – 30 November 2025 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cardinal Priest ofTrasfigurazione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo 7 December 2024 – present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Vice-President of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences 1 January 2025 – present | |
Dioecesis Kalookana | |||||||||||||
| Territories |  | ||||||||||||
| Ordinaries | |||||||||||||
| Cathedral | |||||||||||||
| Shrine |
| ||||||||||||
| Parishes |
| ||||||||||||
| TheRoman Curia |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan See ofManila | ||
| Metropolitan See ofCebu | ||
| Metropolitan See ofCotabato | ||
| Metropolitan See ofCapiz | ||
| See ofKalookan | ||
| Suburbicarian diocese |
| |
| Titular churches |
| |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
