MANILA - Cotabato Archbishop-emeritus Orlando Cardinal Quevedo turned 80 on Monday, which means he is no longer eligible to vote in a possible papal conclave.

In case of a future papal death or resignation, the Philippines, which is the only Catholic-dominated nation in Asia, will only have one representative in the conclave — Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle.

Quevedo was the eighth Filipino to be made a cardinal and the first who hails from Mindanao.

He was the leading Catholic figure who pushed for the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which provides the basis for the establishment of a new autonomous Bangsamoro region.

Pope Francis made him a cardinal in a consistory in the Vatican in 2014 and was assigned with the titular church of Santa Maria Regina Mundi a Torre Spaccata in Rome.

It was November last year when the pontiff accepted the resignation of Quevedo as archbishop of Cotabato. He was succeeded by Archbishop Angelito Lampon.

The late Pope Paul VI decreed in 1971 that only cardinals who are aged 79 and below are qualified to enter the conclave. He also limited the number of cardinal electors to 120, although from time to time, popes had breached this number a bit.

Aside from Quevedo, more cardinals will turn 80 this year and will, therefore, lose their right to vote in a possible papal conclave, including Cardinal Edwin O'Brien of the United States and Poland's Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the former secretary of John Paul II.

At present, there are only three living Filipino cardinals: Quevedo, Tagle and Manila Archbishop-emeritus Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, who is now 86 years old.