Archbishop Gilbert Garcera elected CBCP President

Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of the Archdiocese of Lipa has been elected President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. He will begin his term on December 1.

The CBCP elected Archbishop Garcera on Saturday, July 5, 2025 at their 130th plenary assembly in Anda, Bohol.

Priest of the Archdiocese of Caceres

Archbishop Gilbert Armea Garcera, 66, was born in Magarao, Camarines Sur on February 2, 1959. He attended the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary in Naga City where he received his Bachelor of Philosophy, then proceeded to the Holy Rosary Major Seminary where he earned his Bachelor of Sacred Theology. In 1979, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Caceres.

He was assistant parish priest at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist in Naga City, vice rector of the Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Penafrancia from 1991 to 1992, and rector of San Francisco Parish in Naga City in 1997, where, eventually he became the parish priest after a year.

At the Archdiocese of Caceres, he was Archdiocesan Director of the Caceres Catechetical Ministry from 1987 to 1995, member of the Presbyteral Council of Caceres from 1985 to 1998, Commission on Communications from 1988 to 1991, and elected to the Board of Trustees of Naga Parochial School, Naga City from 1995 to 2001.

Archbishop Gilbert Garcera, CBCP President-elect

Bishop of Daet

He became the third Bishop of Daet on April 4, 2007, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, succeeding Bishop Benjamin J. Almoneda. He was ordained bishop on June 29, 2007, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga City.

Archbishop of Lipa

He was appointed Archbishop of Lipa on February 2, 2017. He succeeded Archbishop Ramon Arguelles. He was installed on April 21, 2017, as the sixth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Lipa.

As Archbishop of Lipa, Archbishop Garcera has been instrumental in moving for the National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio to become an international shrine. If approved by the Vatican, it will be the second international shrine in the Philippines, after the International Shrine of Our Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo City.

Communications and Mission

He worked with Radio Veritas Asia from 1992 to 1995 and with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' CBCP Monitor from 2001 to 2003. He was also with the Catechism for Filipino Catholics (CFC) Speakers' Bureau of the Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education (ECCCE). He has also served as National Director of the Pontifical Mission Society Philippines and Executive Secretary Ad Interim of the Episcopal Commission on Mission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

CBCP

He chaired the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life from 2017 to 2021 and currently serves as a member of the CBCP Permanent Council.

He will succeed Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, Bishop of Kalookan, as the CBCP's President and will serve for the next two years.