PH bishops elect next leader in Lipa prelate

Lipa Archbishop Gilbert Garcera —Photo from CBCP/Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Saturday elected Lipa Archbishop Gilbert Garcera as its next president. In a statement, the CBCP said Garcera, 66, will assume his post on Dec. 1, 2025.

He will succeed Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, who will complete his second and final term as president in November.

“Garcera will lead the bishops’ collegial body for the next two years,” the CBCP said, noting that its officials serve two-year terms and may be reelected once, for a maximum of four years.

READ: CBCP: New officials to be elected in Bohol gathering this week

Garcera currently serves as regional representative for Southeast Luzon on the CBCP Permanent Council.

Since 2017, he has been archbishop of Lipa, which is “a home to more than 3.3 million Catholics.”

Aside from this, Garcera previously chaired the CBCP Commission on Mission and Commission on Family and Life, the CBCP said. “Before becoming a bishop, he also served as assistant secretary general of the CBCP, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Mission, and national director of the Pontifical Mission Society,” said the CBCP.

Garcera was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Caceres in 1983 and was appointed bishop of Daet in 2007.

The archbishop also served within the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences as chairman of the Office on Laity and Family and as director of its yearly Synodal Leadership for Asian Bishops Seminar.

In 2014, Garcera became one of three Philippine bishops who served as delegates to the Synod on the Family at the Vatican.

Garcera will lead the CBCP starting in December, along with Zamboanga Archbishop Julius Tonel, who was elected as vice president. /cb