Talamayan was ordained priest on November 30, 1956, in
Manila, the Philippines. He was an instructor at the
San Jacinto Seminary in Alimanao,
Peñablanca,
Cagayan from 1957 to 1959. He then became the President of
Lyceum of Aparri from 1967 to 1968. He became the Vicar Forane of
Aparri, Cagayan from 1971 to 1986. He was appointed an auxiliary bishop of
Tuguegarao and Titular Bishop of Girus on October 20, 1983. On January 12, 1984, He was consecrated bishop by then
Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop
Bruno Torpigliani at the
Saint Peter Metropolitan Cathedral. Later, he was appointed as the second Archbishop of
Tuguegarao on January 31, 1986, succeeding Archbishop
Teodulfo Domingo. Before his episcopal ordination, Talamayan founded on February 11, 1967, the Lyceum of Aparri, the mother school of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao and the Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary (TAMS). In the field of culture and heritage, he established the Cagayan Ecclesiastical Museum which is located within the Lyceum of Aparri campus in 1967. He also founded the Our Lady of Piat Museum at the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Piat. During his episcopacy, a more permanent structure for the Archdiocesan Archives was built and inaugurated. All these while tirelessly working to preserve and promote Cagayan culture and heritage. Archbishop Talamayan also founded the order of Eucharistic Healers of Mary whose charism was to take care of sick and elderly priests. Fr. Lorenzo Marzo is the first ordained priest. Talamayan was the chairman of the Commission on Health Care of the
Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) from 1986-1999. During Talamayan's 75th birthday on October 19, Philippines President
Gloria Arroyo inaugurated the carillon bells at the Santo Nino Prish and Shrine, San Gabriel,
Tuguegarao City, an added attraction in the region being the first and only bell system in
Cagayan Valley. The birthday celebration also marked the end of his tenure as pastor of the entire archdiocese, with the dioceses of
Ilagan and
Bayombong covering the provinces of
Isabela, and
Nueva Vizcaya and
Quirino, respectively. ==See also==