Fr. Cyril “Jojo” Buhayan Villareal of St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in the Municipality of Dao will be the new bishop of the Diocese of Kalibo in Aklan.
The Chancery of the Archdiocese of Capiz announced Villareal’s appointment by Pope Leo XIV as the 5th bishop of the Diocese of Kalibo.
Villareal is set to replace Bishop Jose Corazon Tala-oc, who retired last year.
“Let us pray for our new bishop as he takes on this sacred mission,” said the Diocese of Kalibo in a statement.
“Kabay nga padayon ka nga tuytuyan kag bendisyonan sang Dios sa imo bag-o nga misyon (May God continue to guide and bless you in your new mission),” said the St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in a separate statement.
The bishop-elect is a native of Municipality of Mambusao, where he was born in 1974.
Villareal began his priestly training at St. Pius X Seminary in Roxas City, where he graduated high school in 1991 and earned his degree of A.B. in Philosophy in 1995.
Villareal went on to study theology at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila and a master’s degree in theology from the University of Vienna in Austria.
Villareal was ordained as a priest in May 25, 2001 at the Immaculate Conception Metropolitan Cathedral in Roxas City.
During that time until 2004, he served as assistant dean of Theology at the Sancta Maria Mater et Regina Seminarium in Roxas City.
For five years in 2005 to 2010, Villareal was in Vienna as assistant chaplain of the Filipino Catholic Chaplaincy in the Archdiocese of Vienna and assistant priest at the Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
When he returned to his native Capiz, Villareal served in various capacities including becoming the Archdiocesan Administrator of the Archdiocese of Capiz in 2021–2023 with the transfer of Jose Cardinal Advincula as Archbishop of Manila. (With reports from the Chancery of the Archdiocese of Capiz)
