Cebu prelate elected next CBCP head

MANILA, Philippines—Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma was elected Saturday afternoon as the incoming president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the conference’s news agency said.

Meeting in Manila, the CBCP plenary assembly voted the 61-year-old Cebu archbishop as  their new president while Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socartes Villegas was elected vice-president, CBCPNews said.

The bishops also chose Dumaguete Bishop John Du as their next treasurer and Msgr. Joselito Asis as their new secretary general, it added.

Their terms of office will begin in December.