Pope Leo XIV has appointed Jaro Archbishop Midyphil Billones as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Kabankalan following a leadership transition in the local Church, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines announced Friday, August 14.
The appointment was announced in an Aug. 11 letter from the Dicastery for Bishops and made public Friday.
Bishop Louie Galbines who headed the Diocese of Kabankalan was installed bishop of Bacolod at the San Sebastian Cathedral on Tuesday
Billones will oversee Kabankalan in a caretaker capacity until a new bishop is formally appointed and installed. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Jaro within the ecclesiastical province covering Western Visayas, the CBCP said..
Galbines, who was bishop of Kabankalan for about eight years, replaced Bishop Patricio Buzon as head of the Diocese of Bacolod, Buzon retired after 10 years at the helm of the Diocese of Bacolod..
Billones, a former auxiliary bishop of Cebu, has served as the archbishop of Jaro since April 2025, the CBCP said..*
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