Tala-oc to be installed as Bishop of Kalibo

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan - Thousands of Catholic parishioners will gather this week for the installation of the new Bishop of the Diocese of Kalibo.

His Excellency Most. Reverend Jose Corazon Tumbagahan Tala-oc will be installed as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Kalibo in solemn rites at the Saint John the Baptist Cathedral in Aklan's capital town on July 20.

The solemn rites will start at 10 a.m. with a procession of bishops and priests into the Cathedral.

The installation rites will be witnessed by a host of clergy, religious and lay faithful.

Prior to the Canonical installation rites on Wednesday, a welcome mass at the Saint John the Baptist Cathedral will be held on July 19 followed by a dinner reception at the Aklan Catholic College Gymnasium with the religious, civic and lay leaders.

Tala-oc, now 61, becomes the fourth prelate of the Diocese of Kalibo. A native of Tagas, Tangalan, Aklan, Bishop Tala-oc was born on June 16, 1950 and was ordained priest on April 9, 1979.

He was appointed to the episcopacy by Pope John Paul II on July 30, 2003 and was installed as the fourth Bishop of Romblon on September 3, 2003. He finished his philosophy studies at the St. Pius X Seminary in Roxas City, and theology at the University of Sto. Tomas’s central seminary in Manila.

On May 25, 2011, Tala-oc was appointed Bishop of Kalibo by Pope Benedict XVI to take over the reins of Diocesan Administrator Fr. Ulysses Dalida.

The diocese was created on January 16, 1976, and erected on July 15, 1976, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Capiz. The first bishop was Juan Nilmar. The second bishop was Gabriel V. Reyes, installed on January 12, 1993 and the third bishop was Jose Romeo Lazo, installed on January 8, 2004.