Romulo Geolina Valles
Romulo Geolina Valles was born July 10, 1951, in Maribojoc, Bohol. He studied philosophy and theology at St. Francis Xavier Major Seminary (Remase), Davao City.
He was ordained a priest on April 6, 1976. He served as assistant parish priest at Christ the King Cathedral, Tagum (1976–1978), as parish priest at San Nicholas de Tolentino, Mati (1978–1982), and as parish priest of Christ the King Cathedral, Tagum, and vicar general (1982–1994), and as scripture teacher at Queen of Apostles College Seminary, Tagum, and liturgy and sacramental theology teacher and rector at Remase.
He was appointed Bishop of Kidapawan on June 24, 1997 and consecrated August 6, 1997, appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Zamboanga on January 9, 2007, and appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Davao on February 11, 2012 (a Herald article gives February 12 - day unresolved), succeeding Fernando Capalla, taking possession on May 22, 2012. He was president of the CBCP (2017–2021).
No decree, permission, suppression, expansion, or transfer of the Traditional Latin Mass by Archbishop Valles, in Kidapawan, in Zamboanga, or in Davao, was found. Tenure dates are now carried at Herald-profile precision (Kidapawan consecration August 6, 1997; Zamboanga appointment January 9, 2007; Davao appointment February 11, 2012, with a Herald article variant of February 12 unresolved); The Kidapawan possession date remains not established; Zamboanga's is January 9, 2007; the Davao possession date (May 22, 2012) is established by the CBCP profile. Capalla's 2011 SSPX letter is his predecessor's, pre-TC, not Valles's act.
The 2011 SSPX letter belongs to his predecessor, Archbishop Fernando Capalla, and is pre-Traditionis Custodes. The CBCP statement of July 22, 2021, is the conference's collective act; Valles was CBCP president until December 1, 2021, but the statement is not his diocesan act. A 2026 society dissolution and an October 4, 2026, retreat-house listing are unattributed and are not cited.