Archbishop of Davao
Archbishop Romulo Geolina Valles, Archbishop of Davao, was born on July 10, 1951, in Maribojoc, Bohol, in the Diocese of Tagbilaran. He completed his secondary studies at Maryknoll High School in Maribojoc and his philosophical and theological studies at St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary in Davao City. He was ordained a priest for Tagum on April 6, 1976. After some years, first as parochial vicar and then as parish priest at Tagum, he continued his studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant'Anselmo in Rome from 1985 to 1990, obtaining a licentiate in sacred liturgy. On returning home he served as teacher and then superior at St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary in Davao City. On June 24, 1997, he was appointed Bishop of Kidapawan. He received episcopal ordination on August 6, 1997, at Tagum, with Gian Vincenzo Moreni as principal consecrator and Philip Francis Smith and Wilfredo Dasco Manlapaz as co-consecrators. On November 13, 2006, he was appointed Archbishop of Zamboanga, and on February 11, 2012, Archbishop of Davao. Within the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines he has served as president of the Commission on Liturgy.