By Villamor Visaya, Jr./PNA
GAMU, Isabela — Pope Francis appointed Nueva Segovia Auxiliary Bishop David William Antonio as the new bishop of Ilagan, the diocese covering the 34 towns and three cities of Isabela province.
Fr. Gregorio Marvic Uanan, chancellor-judicial vicar of the Diocese of Ilagan and parish priest of the Our Lady of Guibang, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday that the new appointee will be the fifth bishop of the diocese in Isabela province, while continuing his mandate as Apostolic Administrator of San Jose in Occidental Mindoro.
“His formal installation at the diocese will be announced soon,” Uanan said, adding that the appointment of Antonio was made public in Rome on Wednesday, November 14.
He will succeed Bishop Joseph Nacua, 73, who resigned from the post for health reasons in 2017. Nacua, the first Filipino Capuchin bishop, had served the post for almost eight years.
It was in March 2018 when Antonio, 54, was appointed apostolic administrator of San Jose after Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Antonio Palang.
Born in Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur, Antonio was ordained priest of Nueva Segovia in 1988. He was appointed to the episcopacy in 2011. He was also Pope Benedict XVI’s last appointee that was ordained to the episcopate in the Philippines before he resigned in 2013.
Antonio is the incumbent chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Commission on Vocations.
