Crispin Barrete Varquez

Crispin Barrete Varquez was born on December 5, 1960, in Sevilla, Bohol, to Sinforiano Varquez and Justina Barrete, and is known as 'Bishop Bai'. He studied philosophy at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Tagbilaran and theology at St. Augustine Major Seminary in Tagaytay. He was ordained a priest on April 14, 1989, for the Diocese of Tagbilaran. His posts included Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro from 1989 to 1991, Our Lady of Fatima in Nueva Ecija from 1991 to 1992, formator at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary from 1992 to 1995 and again from 1996 to 2000, Panglao from 1995 to 1996, Our Lady of Lourdes in Tagbilaran with the office of Vicar Forane from 2001 to 2005, St. Joseph Cathedral in Tagbilaran from 2005 to 2007, and Vicar General in 2007. His episcopal motto is Humilitas et Simplicitas, Latin for 'Humility and Simplicity', confirmed by two non-Wikipedia sources. His conference service included the CBCP commissions on Catholic Education and on Culture from 2009 to 2011, on Bioethics and on Ecumenical Affairs from 2011 to 2013, East Visayas regional representative on the Permanent Council from 2013 to 2017, the office for Women as member from 2013 to 2015, vice-chair from 2015 to 2019, and chair from 2019 to 2025, vice-chair of the Basic Ecclesial Communities committee from 2019 to 2021, and membership in the Mutual Relations commission from 2023 to 2025; as of September 2026 he was vice-chair of the Committee on Bishops' Concerns and a member of the Social Action, Justice and Peace commission.

On August 4, 2007, he was appointed Bishop of Borongan, succeeding Leonardo Medroso. He was consecrated on October 18, 2007, in Tagbilaran, with Medroso as principal consecrator and Surigao bishop Antonieto Cabajog and Palo archbishop Jose Palma as co-consecrators, and installed on November 8, 2007. No consecration venue is shipped: neither opened source names one. On September 10, 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed him the eighth Bishop of Tagbilaran, succeeding Alberto Uy, who had been transferred to Cebu in 2025; the diocese had been without a bishop for more than a year, after the first choice, Fr. Gerardo Fortich Saco Jr., appointed in March 2026, withdrew before his episcopal ordination. Varquez was installed on October 27, 2026, at St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral in Tagbilaran, with Archbishop Alberto Uy of Cebu leading the installation, Cardinal Jose Advincula preaching the homily, and Apostolic Nuncio Charles Brown expected in attendance. The roster row still lists him at Borongan and is not changed here; the dossier applies the transfer, closing Borongan on the September 10 appointment date following the transfer pattern used elsewhere in this series, while noting that a reader comparing sources will see the vacancy dated from the October 27 installation instead.

In the window, his public record is environmental advocacy and conference service, not liturgical governance. He warned against lifting the mining ban in 2021, addressed the 131st CBCP Plenary Assembly in a privilege speech in January 2026, joined two other Samar bishops against mining in Eastern Samar in July 2026, preached on protecting nature at a Nativity Mass in September 2026, and celebrated a farewell Mass with the Borongan Migrants commission in October 2026 after nineteen years as Borongan bishop. None is a governing act concerning the 1962 Missal, and no such act of his own was found in either see.