Archbishop Emeritus Jesus Tuquib. (Photo courtesy of CBCP News)
Archbishop Emeritus Jesus Tuquib of Cagayan de Oro died on Aug. 1 following a long illness. He was 89.
Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro said Archbishop Tuquib died at 5:30 p.m. in the city’s Maria Reyna-Xavier University Hospital. The late prelate served as Cagayan de Oro’s archbishop for 18 years from 1988 to 2006.As prelate of Cagayan de Oro, he led successful demonstrations against the opening of a casino in the city.
In an open letter addressed to then Philippine president, Fidel Ramos, Archbishop Tuquib said the casino would “gradually and surely destroy many of our positive and moral values." "We want to express in very strong terms our conviction that the spirit of restraint and dedication to honest work is still the fundamental dimension of human existence," read the letter. Archbishop Tuquib was born on June 27, 1930, in the town of Clarin, in Bohol province. He was ordained a priest for Tagbilaran Diocese in 1959. In 1973, he was appointed the first bishop of Pagadian, a post that he held until 1984 when he was named coadjutor archbishop of Cagayan de Oro. In 1988, he assumed the pastoral governance of the archdiocese, succeeding retired Archbishop Patrick Henry Cronin. Tuquib attended the San Carlos Minor Seminary in Cebu. He obtained his degree in theology from San Carlos Major Seminary.