SISTER Regina Kuizon, superior of the Religious of Good Shepherd (RGS) Province of the Philippines and Japan from 2014 to 2020, died on Monday afternoon, June 26. She was 60.
Her death was announced by the religious congregation on Monday.
“We are grateful to God for the gift of Sr. Gina’s life generously given in service to the Congregation, to the Church and country,” the congregation said in a Facebook post. “We give her back to God after 30 years of consecrated life as a Religious of the Good Shepherd.”
Kuizon earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University in 1983.
During her time as a UST student, she served as Special Reports editor of the Varsitarian from 1982 to 1983.
Kuizon returned to the University in 1985 and worked as assistant publications adviser of the Varsitarian. She joined the Good Shepherd sisters in 1990.
Jose Wendell Capili, University of the Philippines vice president for public affairs and a Varsitarian Witness assistant editor from 1986 to 1987, said Kuizon was a “luminous presence” in his stint as a campus journalist.
“She understood ‘vocation,’ ‘meaning,’ and ‘purpose’ and shared many of her insights about these with people she worked with,” Capili said on Facebook.
“When I last saw her during a reunion early this year, Sr. Gina did not disclose her health issues. Till the very end, she was inspiring, thinking more of what she could do for others and less about her personal concerns,” Capili added.
Award-winning writer Victor Emmanuel Carmelo “Vim” Nadera, Jr., a former Varsitarian editor in chief, said Kuizon’s decision to enter religious life came as a surprise.
“Laking gulat ng marami sa kaniyang pagma-madre. May nagsasabing si Pope John Paul II ang bumago sa buhay niya. Ito ay nang hawakan ng Santo Papa ang pisngi ng dating si ‘Gina Kuir,’” Nadera told the Varsitarian.
But, according to Nadera, Kuizon never lost her journalistic side.
“Parati siyang handang makinig. Kasinghanda ng kaniyang bag na kaniyang bitbit palagi. Matanong. Mausisa. Mapaglimi. Kung baga, lagi’t laging nasa kaniya ang kaniyang pagiging peryodista!”
Kuizon was employed by multiple Catholic publications between 1985 and 1990. In a previous interview with the Varsitarian, she referred to this period of five years as a “training in disguise” for her future endeavors in the convent.
In August 2001, Kuizon was invited to work as communications coordinator in Rome, Italy, for the 2003 General Chapter of the Good Shepherd sisters.
Kuizon flew to Rome in 2002 and became the highest-ranking Filipina in the RGS as she worked as director of communications of the congregation from 2003 to 2009.
From 2014 to 2020, Kuizon served as the provincial superior of the RGS in the Philippines and Japan.
She was also co-chairwoman of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of Women in the Philippines from 2016 to 2019.
Kuizon’s wake will be held at the Good Shepherd Chapel in Quezon City from June 27 to 29.
A funeral Mass will be offered on June 30 at 4 p.m. in the same chapel. Kuizon’s remains will be placed at the Good Shepherd Columbary.
