By I. Inojales | 06:15 PM July 05, 2025
ANDA, Bohol — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has elected Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of Lipa as its next president.
The election took place Saturday during the opening day of the CBCP’s 130th plenary assembly in Anda, Bohol. Garcera, 66, will succeed Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, whose second and final term as CBCP president concludes in November.
Garcera, who currently serves on the CBCP Permanent Council as regional representative for Southeast Luzon, will officially assume the post on December 1, 2025, for a two-year term. Under CBCP rules, officials serve two-year terms and may be reelected once.
Appointed Archbishop of Lipa in 2017, Garcera has held various key positions within the CBCP, including chairperson of the Commission on Mission and the Commission on Family and Life. Earlier in his ministry, he served as assistant secretary general of the CBCP, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Mission, and national director of the Pontifical Mission Society.
Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Caceres in 1983, Garcera was named Bishop of Daet in 2007 before being appointed to Lipa a decade later. On the international stage, he previously chaired the Office on Laity and Family of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) and represented the Philippines at the 2014 Synod on the Family at the Vatican.
Also elected was Archbishop Julius Tonel of Zamboanga, who will serve as CBCP vice president. Tonel, 68, will take over from Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara of Pasig, whose term likewise ends in November. Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Davao in 1980, Tonel served as Bishop of Ipil before becoming Archbishop of Zamboanga in 2023. He has also chaired the CBCP Commission on Liturgy and currently heads the CBCP Committee on Bishops’ Concerns.
Both Garcera and Tonel, along with other members of the CBCP Permanent Council, will formally begin their new duties on December 1, 2025.
