Priesthood
Villareal was ordained a priest on May 25, 2001, at the Immaculate Conception Metropolitan Cathedral at Roxas City, by the former Archbishop of Capiz, the late Onesimo Cadiz Gordoncillo.
Villareal's first assignment was as an Assistant Prefect of Discipline & Professor of Moral Theology at the Sancta Maria Mater et Regina Seminarium in Roxas, Capiz, a position which he held from his diaconate in 2000, to 2004. Simultaneously, he also was the Assistant Dean of Theology at the same seminary, serving within the same period, before leaving for Vienna in 2005. [1]
Villareal then became an Assistant Chaplain at the Filipino Catholic Chaplaincy, situated at the Archdiocese of Vienna, from September 2005 to September 2010, primarily serving at the Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as an Aushilfskaplan. [2]
Within the same period, he studied and finished his master's degree in Moral Theology at the University of Vienna, where he defended his thesis on "Current Views on Marriage and Sexuality: An Addendum to the Trinitarian Dimension of Conjugal Love" in 2011, under the academic supervision of Dr. Gunther Prüller-Jagendteufel. [3]
In his return from higher studies, he went on to serve as a formator at the same seminary he spent his formation years at, from 2012 to 2016. He became a rector of the Immaculate Conception Metropolitan Cathedral, the seat of the Archdiocese of Capiz, a position he held from 2016 to 2018, replacing Msgr. Victor B. Bendico, who was appointed the second Bishop of Baguio. He then became Rector of the Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion, from 2018 to 2024. [4]
Villareal served as the Vicar general of the Capiz Archdiocese during the tenure of Cardinal Jose F. Advincula as Archbishop. Following the Cardinal's transfer to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Manila, Villareal was elected as the diocesan administrator of the archdiocese during the sede vacante period in June 2021; a position he held until the canonical possession of Archbishop Victor B. Bendico in May 2023. [5]
He served as the parish priest of Saint Thomas of Villanova Parish, in Dao, Capiz , until his appointment to the episcopate in January 2026.
