Church of St. John of Sahagun (Tigbauan, Iloilo)

Posted on 27 February, 2014 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Just 5 kms. from Guimbal, I made my last stopover at Tigbauan where I visited its old reddish coral and limestone church which was built, together with the convent, by Fr. Fernando Martin in 1867. The convent was destroyed during the January 25, 1948 Lady Caycay earthquake.

Church of St. John of Sahagun

Its facade has fine Spanish Churrigueresque stone carvings; a sustained crescendo rising from the elaborate Baroque main entrance arch (with a cherub with bent wings marking its keystone) upwards through its 3-storey height into cornice, keystones, pilaster and spandrels, prolix with whorls and scrolls following foliate and floral designs. Its pilasters, reminiscent of Mexican estipites, are decorated with floral motifs.

The fine Spanish Churrigueresque facade

The main entrance

The image of the Augustinian St. Nicolas of Tolentino, ensconced in an elaborately carved rectangular niche in the first tier, is flanked by pilasters embellished with flowers and upon it is a depiction of San Juan.

A cherub with bent wings marking the main entrance’s keystone

The Augustinian motif

The little image of the Holy Jesus (Sto. Nino) is on the following tier. The finely carved Augustinian motif of the pierced heart and bishop’s hat, capping the exquisite masterwork of unknown artists, is surrounded by a retablo-like floral frieze which fills the central section.

The image of the St. Nicolas of Tolentino in an elaborately carved niche

The little image of the Holy Jesus on the following tier

A pair of little angles is located at the sides and floral designs rest on the base of the triangular pediment. Behind its rectory was the first Jesuit school for boys in the Philippines established in 1592 by Fr. Pedro Chirino, S.J..

How To Get There: Tigbauan is located 22.48 kms. from Iloilo City, 4.8 kms. from Guimbal and 11.2 kms. from Oton.

Church of St. Nicolas of Tolentino (Guimbal, Iloilo)

Posted on 27 February, 2014 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

About 20 kms. past San Joaquin and 8 kms. past Miag-ao, I again made a stopover at Guimbal where I visited its gorgeous and ornate church. It was started by Augustinian Fr. Juan Aguado (parish priest from 1742 to 1744, 1753) using yellow sandstone/coral rock called igang quarried from Guimaras Island Fr. Juan Campos (1769 to 1774) finished it by adding the half dome covering the segmental pediment as well as the paired columns with lintel.

The gorgeous Church of St. Nicolas of Tolentino

The church was damaged during the July 13, 1787 earthquake, further enlarged in 1893 by Fr. Jose Orangren, burned in December 1895 and restored a month later by Fr. Agustin Llorente (who also built the current bell tower). It was also seriously damaged during the Japanese Occupation and the January 25, 1948 Lady Caycay earthquake.

Rosettes on the main entrance arch

The church’s facade has paired, rounded pilasters, with Corinthian capitals; archetypal, classic finials; Morrish-inspired spires; and a lintel that seems to support a half dome, which almost covers the segmental pediment.

Statued niche on the right

Statued niche on the left

The curved lines of the upper side wall starts from the ends of the lintel. The semi-circular arched doorway, flanked by statued niches, has decorative, Asian-inspired rosettes following the outline of the arch.

The paired Corinthian pilasters

Detail of Corinthian capital

The 4-storey bell tower, on the church’s right, has semi-circular arch windows on the square-shaped second and third storeys, and pointed arch windows on the hexagonal-shaped fourth storey.

The 4-storey bell tower

The convent, built by Fr. Juan Campos in 1769, was destroyed during the 1948 Lady Caycay earthquake. Fronting the church is a beautifully manicured park while nearby is the new municipal hall as well as old municipal hall (Casa Real).

Side facade

The Casa Real, the first municipal building of Guimbal, was also the site of the tribunal and a school. Recently renovated, it now houses the Hall of Justice (Regional Trial Court, Municipal Circuit Trial Court, Guimbal Municipal Police Station and the Bureau of Fire Protection).

New Guimbal Municipal Hall

Old municipal hall (now Hall of Justice)

How to Get There: Guimbal is located 28.48 kms. (a 30 to 35-minute drive) from Iloilo City, 4.8 kms. from Tigbauan and 8 kms. from Miag-ao.

Taytay Boni (Miag-ao, Iloilo)

Posted on 27 February, 2014 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

On your way to Iloilo International Airport, we again passed the town of Miag-ao. Here, we made a short stopover at Taytay Boni, a Spanish-era bridge that once passed through a creek and connected Miag-ao with Guimbal, before the construction of the national highway.

Taytay Boni

Now enclosed within a small park, this stone bridge’s name was derived from the Ilonggo term taytay (meaning “ bridge”) while “Boni” is the name of its construction foreman and cantero-mayor (major carpenter) Bonifacio Neular.

It was built in 1854 through forced labor, during the term of gobernadorcillo Miguel Navales. The large, yellow-colored coral stone slabs (tablea or tabreha) used for its construction were transported from Igbaras, located 5 to 6 kms. from the site, by means of karosas, sleds pulled by carabaos. Lime was used to hold the stone slabs together.

The bridge was still passable before and after the World War II but was partly damaged during the January 25, 1948 Lady Caycay (magnitude 8.2) earthquake. The bridge now rests on dry land, a result of the ground opening up during the earthquake and sucking in large amounts of water. The bridge is located at Crossing Kamatis, about a kilometer from the town proper, between Brgys. Kirayan Sur and Igtuba.

How To Get There: Miagao is located 40.04 kms. from Iloilo City, 12.2 kms. from San Joaquin and 8 kms. from Guimbal.

Church of San Joaquin (Iloilo)

Posted on 27 February, 2014 by Benjie Layug — 2 Comments ↓

During the start of the Antique Heritage and Media Familiarization Tour, we passed by San Joaquin town on our way to Antique, making a short stopover at the town;s Spanish-era cemetery (Campo Santo) and its iconic mortuary chapel (capilla).

San Joaquin Church

Too bad we didn’t make a stopover at its equally iconic, Spanish-era church, a listed National Cultural Treasure. On our way back to Iloilo International Airport, I specifically requested our driver to make a slight detour to make a stopover there.

Statue of St. Francis of Assisi

Statue of San Pedro Regalado, patron saint of bullfighters

This church, the country’s most militaristic, was started in 1859 and completed in 1869 by Augustinian Fr. Tomas Santaren (parish priest from 1855-86) using gleaming white coral rock quarried from the shores of Punta Malagting, Brgy. Igcadlum in Igbaras town.

The Augustinian seal on top of the main entrance

The church’s simple, three-level, old weathered stone facade has a central arched main entrance flanked by paired columns (which divide the rectangular sections into three segments) and the two statued niches of St. Francis of Assisi and San Pedro Regalado, the patron saint of bullfighters.

The single, tapering bell tower

The choir loft level, decorated by two horizontally arranged niches and round central window, is set apart from the two levels by a simple architrave. Ornamentation can be found in rosettes along the cornice and around the edges of the niches and capitals.

The triangular pediment

The church’s central attraction, however, is the fascinating high bas-relief sculpture of intricately carved (even the expression of agony by soldiers are visible) stonework spread on mosaic blocks (each carved and set in place) on its triangular pediment (with the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows on its top), entitled Rendicion de Tetuan. It was added halfway through construction by Fr. Santaren with the assistance of Spanish Engr. Felipe Diez and a Filipino (some say Chinese) carver.

The bas relief

Detail of bas relief

Originally pigmented red, blue and yellow, it depicted the Battle of Tetuan (Morocco, 1859), part of the Spanish-Moroccan War of 1859-1860, in which Spanish troops under Prime Minister Leopoldo O’Donnell, 1st Duke of Tetuan, defeated the Moorish troops of Moroccan Crown Prince Muley Abbas and recaptured the Spanish city of Tetuan on February 6, 1860.

Plaque

Black soot covers many areas of the facade, a result of the January 29, 1943 fire ordered by Col. Macario Peralta to prevent the church from being used by the Japanese. The church was also heavily damaged during the January 25, 1948 Lady Caycay earthquake.

The church’s interior

Spanish infantry and cavalry are shown breaking the Moorish defense against a backdrop of minarets and date palms. It is a larger than life depiction of the struggle between Christians and the Moros of Mindanao and Sulu. Inside are three carved limestone retablos. The sprawling ruins of the convent have an oval well and a kiln for baking bread.

How To Get There: San Joaquin is located 53.5 kms. from Iloilo City and 12.2 kms. from Miag-ao.

San Jose de Buenavista (Antique)

Posted on 27 February, 2014 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

On our way back to Iloilo, we entered the Antique provincial capitol of San Jose de Buenavista to drop off Leah at her residence. Along the highway, as we were about to enter the town proper, we passed by the ruins of the old San Pedro Church.

San Jose de Buenavista

San Pedro Church Ruins

Locally called Lumang Simbahan (“old church”), it was built by Augustinian friars during the Spanish era. This 77 m. long and 14 m. wide, Latin cross-shaped church has 3 gates. According to legend, the church was burned by the pet monkey of a priest. The church remains unrestored to this day.

Provincial Capitol

Evelio B. Javier Freedom Park

We soon entered the capitol proper and made a short stopover there. In front of the Antique Provincial Capitol building is the EBJ Freedom Park, named in honor of the late Gov. Evelio B. Javier who was assassinated on February 11, 1986 by an unknown assassin. A marker here marks the spot of his assassination.

Museo Antiqueno (Old Provincial Capitol Building)

Nearby is the old, American-era Provincial Capitol building, now the Museo Antiqueno.Operated by the Binirayan Foundation, Inc. (BFI) and was inaugurated on April 27, 2007, this museum houses the Lola Masing Center for Culture and Peace, a multimedia resource facility that provides learning and instructional materials and services on culture, gender and peace studies, as well as the memorabilia of the late governor Evelio B. Javier at the EBJ Gallery.

How to Get There: San Jose de Buenavista is located 97 kms. (a 2.5-hr. drive) from Iloilo City.

This travel blog, a diary of the author’s local and international travels, aims to provide the reader with news and information on people, places and events that would interest the avid traveler and tourist. But, it also aims to be much more, providing insights on the wonders of this beautiful country, as well as the world, beyond the strict confines of the city. Have a BLAST seeing old churches, exotic temples, educational museums as well as palm-fringed islands; white sand beaches; thundering waterfalls; placid lakes; fiery sunsets; turquoise seas; cathedral-like caves; swirling rivers; majestic mountains; stupendous, amphitheater-like rice terraces; awesome volcanoes and the like. Get to know the movers and shakers in the tourism industry; find out where to titillate the palate; rejuvenate your body; feed your adrenalin, unwind and relax; satisfy your craving for history and culture; and find out what's being celebrated and where.

BENJAMIN “BENJIE” LAYUG, an architect by profession (he finished his B. S. Architecture degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1982), is an avid reader, traveler and free-lance travel writer in his spare time, contributing articles to Travel Update, Philippine Daily Inquirer, COLORS, TODAY, 7107 Islands Magazine, Business Day, Bluprint and the Business Mirror.

He is also the author of the following travel books:

A Philippine Odyssey (New Day Publishers, 2005)
Pathfinder’s Travel Guide: Boracay (Great Books Trading, 2006)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Churches (New Day Publishers, 2007)
A Tourist to Notable Philippine Historical Landmarks, Monuments and Shrines (New Day Publishers, 2010)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Museums (New Day Publishers, 2012)

Some of his books now appear in the local library shelves of the National Library of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Sto. Tomas, U.P. Diliman, Centro Escolar University, San Sebastian College, Miriam College, Silliman University, to name a few, as well as internationally at the National Library of Australia and the University of California Berkeley Library.

Now a senior citizen, he is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest, active travel blogger in the country today. He also has a lifestyle blog called F.Y.I.:Firing Your Imagination (www.firingyourimagination.blogspot.com). Benjie has traveled to two-thirds (53) of the country’s 81 provinces and over 20 countries in 4 continents.