Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation from the pastoral governance of the archdiocese Metro Cebu (Philippines), presented by Cardinal Ricardo J. Vidal, for reasons of age. He is succeeded by Mgr. Jose Serofia  Palma, Archbishop of Palo to date. Archbishop Jose Palma Serofia was born in Dingle in the Archdiocese of Jaro, March 19, 1950. He studied philosophy at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary and theology at St. Joseph Regional Seminary. He received his Licentiate in Sacred Theology at St. Thomas of Manila, and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Jaro August 21, 1976.

After a year as parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Jaro, was a teacher and educator at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary and later became rector of St. Joseph Regional Seminary. Meanwhile, he also held various positions in several diocesan commissions. In 1997 he was pastor at the Parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Jaro. Appointed 28 November 1997, by Pope John Paul II, titular bishop of Vazari Diddi and auxiliary of Cebu, was consecrated January 13, 1998. On 13 January 1999 was transferred to the See of Calbayog. On 18 March 2006 was promoted to Archbishop of Palo. From December 1, 2009 is the vice-president of the Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.