Retired Sorsogon bishop Arturo Bastes dies at 80
MANILA, Philippines – Retired Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes, known for speaking out on sociopolitical issues such as mining, died at the age of 80 on Sunday, October 20.
The news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) confirmed in a Facebook post that Bastes died at 6:30 am on Sunday. CBCP News has not provided further details about his death.
Born in Loboc, Bohol, on April 1, 1944, Bastes was ordained a priest of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) on November 28, 1970. The SVD is a group of missionaries founded in the Netherlands in 1875 and is now composed of more than 5,700 people across 79 countries, including the Philippines.
In 1997, the late Pope John Paul II named Bastes bishop of Romblon and, in 2003, bishop of Sorsogon. The Diocese of Sorsogon covers the province of Sorsogon, 516 kilometers away from Manila, and is now composed of more than 770,600 Catholics.
He retired as Sorsogon bishop at the age of 75 in 2019, under Pope Francis, and was succeeded by Bishop Jose Alan Dialogo.
Outspoken shepherd
Bastes was known for his strong positions on national issues.
During the Aquino administration, Bastes urged Catholics to disobey immoral measures such as the proposed reproductive health law, which was eventually signed by then-president Benigno Aquino III. He said bishops “are willing to be imprisoned together with our priests and protest the immoral things.”
A critic of mining operations in Bicol, he also criticized Aquino’s policy on mining. He “chaired a fact-finding body that investigated in 2006 the controversial polymetallic mines in Rapu-Rapu, Albay, and recommended the cancellation of the operation permit of Lafayette Philippines Incorporated,” according to GMA News Online.
Under the Duterte presidency, Bastes criticized then-president Rodrigo Duterte for firing then-vice president Leni Robredo as his anti-drug czar. “The decision of Duterte is shameful! He is treating the Vice President just like a housemaid of his cabinet,” Bastes said.
He also opposed Duterte’s proposal to declare martial law to curb rebel attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. – Rappler.com