Antonio Fortich

The Most Reverend Antonio Yapsutco Fortich
Bishop of Bacolod
Province	Negros Occidental
Diocese	Diocese of Bacolod
See	Bacolod
Installed	January 13, 1967
Term ended	January 31, 1989
Predecessor	Manuel Yap
Successor	Camilo Gregorio
Orders
Ordination	March 4, 1944 (priest), February 24, 1967 (bishop)
Personal details
Birth name	Antonio Yapsutco Fortich
Born	August 11, 1913 Sibulan, Negros Oriental, Philippine Islands
Died	July 2, 2003 Bacolod, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Residence	Bacolod City
Parents	Ignacio Fortich (father), Rosalia Yapsutco (mother)
Alma mater	Ateneo de Manila

Antonio Yapsutco Fortich (August 11, 1913 - July 2, 2003) was a Catholic bishop and social activist who lived in Bacolod in Negros Occidental in the Philippines.

Early years

Antonio Yapsutco Fortich was born on August 11, 1913 in Sibulan, Negros Oriental. He attended elementary and high school in Dumaguete, going on to the Ateneo de Manila for college and theological studies (San Jose Minor and San Jose Major seminaries). His parents, Ignacio and Rosalia Yapsutco Fortich, were well-to-do farmers and he was the elder and only son in their family of two.

Styles of Antonio Fortich
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop
Posthumous style	not applicable

Career

On March 4, 1944, at the height of the World War II, Fortich was ordained by Michael O'Doherty, Archbishop of Manila. His first assigned in Bacolod City and was active in work that empowered the poor. Bishop Fortich was known to his followers as "Commander Tony". Like his superior, Jaime Sin, the Cardinal Archbishop of Manila, he was an ardent opponent of Ferdinand Marcos. Bishop Fortich spoke against the hanging judges of Manila known as the Guillotine Club. He was one of the first people to alert the government to the illegal activities of timber poachers, who had stripped hundreds of acres of forest in Negros. He supported the election of Joseph Estrada as president of the Philippines, and when it became clear that Estrada was using his position to accumulate personal wealth, the bishop withdrew his support.

Bishop Fortich set up co-operatives composed of small landowners and sugar workers, in order to break the debt cycle suffered by Filipino sugar workers. In doing so, the bishop antagonised large landowners, including congressman Armando Gustilo, who at one stage tried to intimidate him by lobbing a hand grenade into his house.

Death

Bishop Fortich died on July 2, 2003, aged 89.

Awards

Honored as Domestic Prelate in 1958

Awarded by the University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos the Honoris Causa: doctor of Philosophy for Humanitarian service in 1969