ENGINEERING Regent Fr. Franklin Beltran, O.P. was installed as the 13th parish priest of Santisimo Rosario Parish last August 9, after being elected by a majority of members of Dominican Province of the Philippines.
Beltran replaced Fr. Jaime Alamillo who served for six years, and bested fellow nominee Fr. Hilario Singian during the election last June 8.
Beltran’s new position was confirmed by the Dominican Provincial Fr. Quirico Pedregosa, O.P. on July 13. He was formally appointed by Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, archbishop of Manila, on July 20.
“Handling the whole parish widened my ‘territory.’ It is [actually] a matter of leading your parishioners to God,” Beltran said, noting that the parish also covers Far Eastern University and the Perpetual Help College.
An alumnus of the UST Central Seminary, Beltran was ordained priest in 1976. He was sub-prior of the Priory of St. Thomas Aquinas since 2008.
He was vice rector of the Angelicum colleges in Quezon City and in Jaro, Iloilo, and occupied the same post at Aquinas University in Legazpi from 2000 to 2006.
He finished his master’s and doctorate degrees in South East Asian Studies and Philosophy at Centro Escolar University in Manila.
“I believe that my 33 years of priesthood indicates that it is the will of God for me to be able to handle the people’s spiritual formation, recollection and retreat [as parish priest],” Beltran said.
