On January 7, 2008, Bishop Leonardo Medroso, chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Canon Law and bishop of Tagbilaran diocese, Bohol, issued the appeal to priests to stay away from politics, ahead of the May 2010 elections. He cited Code of Canon Law, prohibition, Canon 285, which forbids all clerics from entering politics and that priests "cannot have an active role in political parties unless the need to protect the rights of the Church or to promote the common good." Three priests—Msgr. Crisanto de la Cruz, Fr. Ronilo Maat Omanio and Fr. Ed Panlilio—who ran in the last elections were suspended from their pastoral duties as a result of their entry into the political arena. Only Panlilio won.