CBCP assigns Cubao bishop, priest to key tribunal post

December 15, 2025 – 5:04 PM

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The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has appointed two new officials of the National Tribunal of Appeals, which hears appeals in canonical cases from diocesan tribunals nationwide.

In separate appointment letters dated Nov. 21, the CBCP, through its then president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, appointed Cubao Bishop Elias Ayuban Jr. as bishop moderator and the Fr. Bryand Restituto as judicial vicar.

The appointments were approved by the CBCP Permanent Council during its regular meeting on Nov. 19.

As moderator, Ayuban, a Claretian canon lawyer, is tasked with administrative oversight and vigilance over the tribunal in accordance with the instruction

Dignitas Connubii

Before becoming a bishop, Ayuban worked for several years at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Restituto’s functions as judicial vicar will be carried out under CBCP statutes governing the national appellate tribunal.

Also a canon lawyer, he is currently the CBCP assistant secretary general. He previously served as an associate judge of the Marriage Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Palo and later as its judicial vicar.

CBCP statutes provide that the National Tribunal of Appeals functions according to norms established by canon law for tribunals of second instance, including

Canon 1439, paragraph

The NTA is the Church’s second-instance ecclesiastical court in the country. It hears appeals of cases decided by diocesan or regional ecclesiastical tribunals when a judgment is contested.