Meet Pablo Virgilio David, the warm yet fierce cardinal from Caloocan
Following the passing of Pope Francis, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David, the bishop of Caloocan and a recent appointee to the cardinalate in December 2024, has emerged as a potential candidate for the papacy, listed among the "papabile."
With the Holy See now vacant, he became a popular choice, even being included in CNN International’s list of papal candidates alongside fellow Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. As the upcoming conclave approaches, attention turns to Cardinal David and his leadership of the church as the bishop of Caloocan. Get to know him more below.
His moments of 'firsts'
Hailing from Pampanga, David experienced a spiritual calling at the young age of 11, which led him to enter the Mother of Good Counsel Minor Seminary in his home province.
He was ordained a priest in 1983 before he decided to spend a year at the École Biblique in Jerusalem and five years at the Flemish campus of the University of Leuven in Belgium.
He became the first Filipino non-archbishop to be elevated in the cardinalate, making him the first from his suburban diocese of Kalookan to receive the red hat.
Unlike his three predecessors—Julio Rosales, Jaime Sin, and Ricardo Vidal, who were all cardinals before leading the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines—David, 66, is the first to assume the presidency of the conference while still holding the rank of bishop.
In December 2014, he officially became a cardinal, becoming the 10th Filipino to hold the title.
He is also set to become the next Vice President of the Federation of Bishops' Conferences of Asia.
A fierce defender of human rights
The CBCP president made waves in 2017 when he spoke out against former president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs in his diocese. At the time, he stressed that drug problems in the country must be handled by an expert and that the government should boost its rehabilitation programs instead.
“Allow experts in various fields to take part in coming up with an in-depth study of the root causes of the illegal drug problem in the country,” he said at the time, per CBCP News report.
“I wish he could redirect some of his energies towards waging ‘war against poverty,’ especially by decentralizing progress in the country towards the countryside,” David said.
Several killings allegedly took place in Caloocan, Malabon, and Navotas during the drug war, which he said was an "awful" scene.
"In the bloody, bloody drug war, we were literally picking up dead bodies in my diocese, in all three cities, and the carnage was really awful," he said in an interview with America Magazine.
He was the one who buried Kian Loyd delos Santos, a 17-year-old Kalookan youth who was shot dead by the police after he was accused of being a drug runner—a claim his family disproved. His case became one of the prominent exhibits of Duterte’s extrajudicial killings.
Despite holding a bishop post, David was not spared from death threats, with Duterte even accusing him of using drugs. "David! Nagdududa nga ako bakit ka sige ikot diyan nang gabi. Duda tuloy ako, pu**** ***, nasa droga ka," the former president said during his speech in Davao City in 2018. While this forced David to halt his nightly routine of praying the rosary while walking around the cathedral, he did not stop from voicing his dissent and performing his duties.
“No threat or intimidation can stop me from carrying on with my spiritual and pastoral duties as a bishop,” David said.
In 2019, he and other bishops faced sedition charges, which were eventually dismissed due to lack of evidence.
Stance on the LGBTQ+ community
When it comes to the LGBTQ+ community, David highlighted that he wants to see every person as a human being beyond labels of gender, sexuality, or any other defining trait.
"I see [a] strong tendency to label people [based on] gender, sexuality, political affiliation, religion and all of that... Where I come from we’re just human beings. In the Filipino language, there is a same word for man and woman. If I’m talking about a person I just say ‘tao’ and that ‘tao’ can be a man–male or female, a man or a woman," he explained in a press briefing, per LiCAS News.
He also shared how CBCP fully supports the anti-discrimination bill protecting the queer community.
In case you didn't know, David found out that he had been appointed as a cardinal through WhatsApp, when the procurator at the Collegio sent him a congratulatory message. He initially thought it was a joke, saying that he hadn't received prior notice.
"It felt like being caught in a whirlwind. I did a five-minute breathing exercise, which instantly calmed me down,” he recalled.
"[It] felt like Elijah standing by the mouth of a cave and feeling a soft breeze that penetrated my soul and prepared me for this new chapter of my life and ministry as a bishop, as a servant of God’s people. I said, 'Ok, Lord. My life is in your hands,'" he added.
Before Francis' passing, one of David's notable moments with him was when they met at the Synod Hall in October 2024.
"Don’t take things too seriously, Pablo. Take it with a grain of humor, God’s humor. Ok?” the Pope told David at the time, to which the latter replied, "I’m here for you—in whatever way I can be of help. Please give me your blessing.'"
David is among the cardinal electors who will elect the next Pope, which is set to happen next week.
He is the brother of sociologist and professor Randy David and the uncle of journalist Kara David.
