A former secretary of the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin became a bishop almost 39 years to the day when his former principal urged people to go to the military and police headquarters along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) to protect troops and their commanders who had defected from the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Fr. Rufino "Jun" Sescon Jr., a former private secretary to Sin and a former Quiapo Church rector, was ordained as bishop on Tuesday, Feb. 25, by yet another one of Sin’s former aides–Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas.

Cubao Bishop-Emeritus Honesto Ongtioco, and Antipolo Bishop Ruperto Santos, also presided over his ordination, while Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula served as the homilist.

Who is Fr. Rufino “Jun” Sescon?

Born on April 20, 1972 in Manila, Sescon took college in San Carlos Seminary and pursued a Master of Arts in Systematic Theology at San Carlos Graduate School of Theology.

He further studied at the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School, taking up Master of Arts in Philosophy from 1994 to 1997.

By September 19, 1998, he was ordained as a priest at the Manila Cathedral, with Sin as his ordaining prelate.

From his ordination until 2001, Sescon was Sin’s assistant private secretary and served as the prelate’s the private secretary from 2001 to 2005.

He assisted Cardinal Sin during the second EDSA People Power Revolution in 2001 that ousted former president Joseph Estrada.

During his thanksgiving message, Sescon acknowledgedCardinal Sin and other EDSA heroes "for nurturing the early stage" of his priesthood. He also assured that the late cardinal's spirit lives on.

"The EDSA spirit continues because our faith impels us to be generous, as to become the conscience and prophets of society," Sescon said.

His appointment as bishop by Pope Francis came on Dec. 3, 2024 while he was the rector of the Quiapo Church.

Sescon chose “Gratia," which means grace in Latin, as his episcopal motto, inspired by St. Paul and the motto of his batch in San Carlos Seminary.

In his homily, Advincula said that Sescon has always relied on "nothing else but the Grace of God."

"Grace! That is what Father Jun has been. That is what Father Jun has always given—grace," Advincula shared.

Sescon has also taken various leadership and membership roles in different organizations and committees within the church.

He served as the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Manila and Chaplain of the Sto. Niño de Paz-Greenbelt Chapel and the Mary, Mother of Hope-Landmark Chapel.

Until 2024, he was the Executive Director of the Catholic Mass Media Awards, the Commissioner of the Formation of the Laity and Christian Communities, and Priest-in-Charge of the Council on Formation of the Archdiocese of Manila.

Sescon will be installed as Balanga bishop in a ceremony at the Cathedral-Shrine Parish of Saint Joseph in Balanga on Saturday, March 1.