Guillermo Dela Vega Afable

Guillermo Dela Vega Afable was born on April 3, 1951, in Davao City, the 11th and youngest child of his parents. He had his elementary and high school education at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao, completed his college seminary training at St. Francis Xavier College Seminary in Davao City in 1972, and completed theology studies at St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary in 1976. His father at first opposed his entering the seminary, wanting him to become a lawyer, but relented when he visited his sick father and was asked why he was at home instead of at the seminary. He was ordained a priest on April 24, 1976, by Archbishop Antonio L. Mabutas, the first priest ordained in his home parish, Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Davao City. He is known as 'Gimmy'. His early priestly posts, with years, rest on Wikipedia alone and are flagged as such: parochial vicar at San Pedro Cathedral Parish from 1976 to 1978; rector of St. Francis Xavier College Seminary from 1978 to 1980; postgraduate studies in liturgy at the Anselmianum in Rome from 1980 to 1985 and in canon law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas; parish priest of San Pablo Parish and director of the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission from 1986 to 1991; missionary in the Solomon Islands under the Mission Society of the Philippines from 1992 to 1995; director of the Bishop Thibault Media Center from 1997 to 2001; parish priest of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Obrero from 1998 to 2001; and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Davao from 1997 to 2002. The Herald jubilee piece confirms the parish-vicar, seminary-formator, and seminary-rector roles without years, and confirms his service as National Spiritual Director of the World Apostolate of Fatima in the Philippines.

He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Davao and Titular Bishop of Vadesi on April 21, 2001, and consecrated on July 12, 2001, at San Pedro Cathedral in Davao City, by Archbishop Antonio Franco, then Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, with Archbishop Fernando R. Capalla and Bishop Generoso Camiña of Digos as co-consecrators. On April 24, 2002, he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Digos, and he succeeded as Bishop of Digos on February 11, 2003, following the resignation of Bishop Generoso Camiña, P.M.E., for health reasons, matching the roster row for the ordinary tenure. Both the coadjutor appointment and the succession day rest on Wikipedia citing the Vatican Press bulletins of April 24, 2002, and February 11, 2003; the bulletins themselves were not opened, so the dates are flagged, not dropped, and the coadjutor tenure is coded rather than folded into prose. His episcopal motto is 'In Veritate et Misericordia', 'In Truth and Mercy', stated explicitly in the Herald jubilee piece. In April 2026 he marked a triple jubilee, 25 years of episcopacy, 50 years of priesthood, and 75 years of baptism, under the theme 'Fiat et Magnificat', with thanksgiving Masses from April 20 to 25, 2026, at the St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary chapel, Our Lady of Fatima Church, Sacred Heart Church in Obrero, and San Pablo Church in Matina, with Nuncio Charles J. Brown presiding on April 24 and the culminating Mass at Mary Mediatrix of All Grace Cathedral on April 25. The jubilee piece spells his predecessor 'Generoso Camina' once, without the ñ; that spelling is not copied.

In the window, no governing act of his own concerning the 1962 Missal was found. His window record is a diocesan celebration, not liturgical governance: on October 5, 2026, he led the Solemn Holy Mass for the triple celebration at Divine Mercy Parish in Sinawilan, Digos City, marking the feast of St. Faustina Kowalska, the solemn dedication of the new parish church, and the formal declaration of the parish as a diocesan shrine, at which Fr. Jay Hector Lituañas, A.A., was formally appointed and recognized as rector of the newly designated shrine. No direct quotation of his appears in the Herald's jubilee piece or in the shrine report, so his quotations list is empty; the jubilee is a celebration of him, not an act by him.