Gerardo Alimane Alminaza

Gerardo Alimane Alminaza was born on August 4, 1959, in San Jose, Sipalay, Negros Occidental, the only child of Felix A. Alminaza and Antonia G. Alimane. He studied philosophy at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Bacolod and theology at the University of Santo Tomas, where he earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology; he later did postgraduate study at Fordham University and earned a Doctorate in Educational Management from the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos. He was ordained a priest on April 29, 1986, for the Diocese of Bacolod. His only parish assignment was in Kabankalan, for about a year after ordination, working with the Columbans; the rest of his priesthood was spent in formation work and study, including service on the staff of the Jaro major seminary and three years as rector of the Sacred Heart Seminary. He learned Sign Language and frequently celebrated Mass in Sign Language in Bacolod and Iloilo. His episcopal motto is Sicut Christus Vivit, from 1 John 2:6, given to him years earlier as a personal motto by Chiara Lubich. His conference service included vice-chair of the CBCP Commission on Seminaries from 2011 to 2013 and chair from 2013 to 2019, vice-chair of the Commission on Social Action from 2019 to 2021, Visayas West regional representative from 2009 to 2011, and head convenor of the Visayas Clergy Discernment Group. Wikipedia's infobox gives his birth as August 14, 1959, and his San Carlos installation as November 14, 2013; both are errors against the contemporary Misyon account, the diocese page, and the roster, which give August 4, 1959, and November 18, 2013.

He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Jaro on May 29, 2008, and consecrated on August 4, 2008, his 49th birthday, at San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod, with Papal Nuncio Edward Joseph Adams as principal consecrator and Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro and Bishop Vicente Navarra of Bacolod as principal co-consecrators; he was installed as auxiliary on August 5, 2008, at St. Elizabeth Metropolitan Cathedral in Jaro. On September 14, 2013, he was appointed the third Bishop of San Carlos, succeeding Jose Advincula, who had left San Carlos for Capiz in January 2012; the see had been vacant since then. He was installed on November 18, 2013. His Jaro auxiliary tenure predates the Traditionis custodes window entirely, so no window act is possible for it.

In the window, his public record is conference leadership and diocesan administration, not liturgical governance. He was elected president of Caritas Philippines and chair of the Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice, and Peace at the 130th CBCP Plenary Assembly in Anda, Bohol, in July 2025, succeeding Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, who had held the roles since 2019; the same report notes that Alminaza was among the church leaders red-tagged in 2023 over human-rights and peace advocacy. In San Carlos itself, the strongest window act is the February 10, 2026 launch of the diocesan safeguarding policy. His other window items are a September 8, 2026 Season of Creation pastoral letter written as Caritas president, an October 3, 2026 appearance at a joint congressional hearing on the Visayas power crisis, and a February 25, 2026 message at the EDSA 40th anniversary mobilization. None is a Traditionis custodes act, and no governing act of his own concerning the 1962 Missal was found.