Pope Francis appoints Iba priest as San Fernando bishop

Pope Francis has named a priest from the Diocese of Iba in Zambales as the new bishop of San Fernando City, La Union. Fr. Daniel Presto was appointed as the sixth bishop of San Fernando, replacing Bishop Rodolfo Beltran, who died last year, according to CBCPNews, the official news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Presto served as administrator of the Iba diocese after Florentino Lavarias was named archbishop of San Fernando City, Pampanga, in 2014.

The bishop-elect was born in Mangaldan, Pangasinan, on April 7, 1963. At 27, he was ordained priest and assigned to the Diocese of Iba in 1990. — TINA G. SANTOS