Monthly Archives: December 2005

Stopover: Church of the Immaculate Conception (Guagua, Pampanga)

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The town’s brick and stone church was started in 1641 and supervised by Fr. Jose Duque.  It was artistically painted by Fr. Antonio Bravo in 1862 and the beautiful dome above the transept was built by Fr. Paulino Fernandez in 1886.

Church of the Immaculate Conception

Church of the Immaculate Conception

Its Classic facade has slender, superimposed and paired Doric columns and a scarcity of decorative elements.  The undulating pediment has a raking cornice in the form of a large scroll.  It also has an oval window at the retablo and geometric motifs within a stilted semicircular arch molding.

The church's interior

The church’s interior

The present stone convent was built by Fr. Manuel Carillo but was recently razed with only the walls remaining.

The altar retablo

The altar retablo

How to Get There: Guagua is located 77 kms. from Manila and 10 kms. south of the City of San Fernando.

Church of St. Augustine (Lubao, Pampanga)

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This church was first built by Fr. Juan Gallegos using light materials.  The present brick and adobe church was started by Fr. Francisco Coronel, continued by Fr. Geronimo de Venasque in 1635 and completed by Fr. Francisco Figueroa in 1638.  It was damaged during the 1645 earthquake and was enlarged in 1829 using masonry materials.  Fr. Antonio Bravo did some repair work in 1877 while Fr. Antonio Moradillo worked on the interior decoration in 1893 (the murals depicting scenes from the life of St. Augustine were probably done during this time).

Church of St. Augustine

Church of St. Augustine

The church was occupied by revolutionaries in 1898, used as a hospital for American soldiers in 1899 and in 1942, during World War II, the dome, transept and roof collapsed during the heavy Japanese bombardment.  The main retablo was undamaged but sunken panels and other liturgical ornamentations done by Italian artist Alberoni were lost.  It was restored from 1949 to 1954 by Fr. Melanio Garcia but was again damaged by a strong typhoon in 1962.

The church's facade

The church’s Neo-Classical-style facade

The church is 82.45 m. long, 21.12 m. wide, 10.50 m. high and has 2.46-m. thick walls.  The simple, plastered stone Neo-Classic-style facade has a semicircular arched main entrance flanked by engaged, fluted pilasters spanned by a lintel frame above which is a rectangular window with the same pilaster and lintel arrangement and flanked by small niches.  Above the window is a statued niche with a small segmental pediment above it and elegant curvilinear lines flowing from the mid-section.  An imaginary triangular pediment masks the roof.

The 5-storey, octagonal bell tower

The 5-storey, stone and brick bell tower

Its only nave was originally painted by Dibella and Alberoni, both Italian artists.  The central retablo is flanked by rectangular openings with triangular segments as well as coupled pilasters on the first level and single columns on the second level.   The 5-storey, 31-m. high stone and brick bell tower, still unrestored, has two square stories and three octagonal.  The convent, at the opposite end of the church, is profusely ornamented.

The church's retablo

The church’s retablo

How to Get There; Lubao is located 83 kms. from Manila and 16 kms. south of the City of San Fernando.

Ocean Adventure Marine Park (Subic Freeport Zone, Zambales)

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After dropping off our luggage and freshening up at the Subic International Hotel, Jandy and I then returned to our Toyota Revo and hied off to Ocean Adventure Park, nestled at Camayan Wharf in the West Ilanin Forest area inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.  Once in, we first had to satisfy our growling stomachs, doing just that with much-needed lunch at the park’s 240-sq. m., 70-pax Ilanin Bay Cafe.

Bottlenose dolphins

The world-class Ocean Adventure, managed by the Subic Bay Marine Exploratorium Inc. (SBME), is the first and most astounding nautical sanctuary in the country and the first and only open-water marine park facility in Southeast Asia.  Opened on September 15, 2001, this 20,000-sq. m. (12,000 sq. m. on land and 8,000 sq. m. on water) park showcases some of the world’s most amazing sea mammals and is home to 8 South American sea lions (Otaria byronia), 6 false killer whales (Pseudorca Crassidens), 4 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus gili) from Japan, and porpoises, all moving about in their inherent, natural habitat (not man-made as in similar parks abroad), fenced off only on one side of the shore.

Park trainers

The park aims to provide guests with what they call “edutainment” (educational entertainment), educating the people on marine life and the rich resources people should learn to value and conserve.  It thus gives the Filipinos an opportunity to truly appreciate the value of marine mammals as partners of humanity in the enormous task of saving our oceans.  The park is currently managed by a team of highly trained professionals, all formerly involved with internationally recognized theme parks such as the Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, Walt Disney World and Florida’s Animal Kingdom. In its effort to protect, preserve and develop wildlife and the forestland, Ocean Adventure also corroborates with the Wildlife in Needs (WIN) Foundation and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Ecology Center, putting up a rescue center within the compound for sick, injured and confiscated wildlife in the Subic Bay area.  About 50 injured animals are presently under the care of experts and veterinarians in the facility.  The WIN Rescue Center is open for public viewing.  Here, visitors can get a peak on how the animals are being cared for and treated.

The Sea Lion Show

The Animal Care Clinic, a behind-the-scene look at how the animals are cared for, offers visitors a chance to view the actual lab work evaluating individual health parameters of the mammals.  The Animal Nutrition Center, on the other hand, is a behind-the-scene look at the kitchen support extended to the animals. Visitors can see how animal food and dietary programs are prepared.   The Sea Lion Show, at the 350-seat Nautilus Theater, starred the adorable and amusing showgirls Brandy, Simba and Thalia.  They amused us, as well as the audience, with their funny antics.

Ocean Discovery Aquarium

Next on my itinerary was the Whale Show at the 700-seat El Capitan Stadium. In between shows, we visited the 280-sq. m. Ocean Discovery Aquarium.  Its arrangement of fresh water and seawater (marine) habitats hosts different species of corals and fishes of the Philippine marine ecosystem, recreating Subic’s marine life at different levels.  The Ocean Discovery Aquarium aims to inspire understanding and help promote conservation of the natural environment by providing the public an entertaining and educational facility that serves as base for protective and educational activities, extending into the surrounding forest watershed and bay area. The 50-pax Learning Center, a classroom and library, offers educational materials and information on marine mammals and marine conservation.  We also visited the 180-sq. m. Ocean Treasures, the gift shop located by the Entry/Exit gate.

The Whale Show

The Whale Show, the main attraction, featured the three awesome false killer whales Cook, Founder and Tonka plus some dolphins. After the show, Jandy and I opted to have our pictures taken, petting a dolphin. For the more “adventurous,” the park also offers a “Whale Encounter Program” at the Encounter Cove where guests get to join in and swim with the whales in the water, pet and feed them and have souvenir photos taken with the gentle creatures.  It also offers a “Dive with the Whales Program” and dive courses.

Ocean Adventure: Camayan Wharf, West Ilanin Forest Area, Subic Bay Freeport Zone.  Tel: (047) 252-9000.  Fax: (047) 252-5883. Manila tel: (632) 706-3344 to 46.  Fax: (632) 706-0808.  E-mail: info@oceanadventure.com.ph. Website: www.oceanadventure.com.

Subic International Hotel (Subic Freeport Zone, Zambales)

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By brother Frank called me one day saying that he had a soon to expire gift certificate for an overnight stay at 209-room Subic International Hotel for me to use. He and his wife Cherry couldn’t avail of it as its day of its expiration just so happens to be their wedding anniversary (December 17).  Their inability to use it was happily my gain.   I left every early in the morning of December 17, bringing along my equally enthusiastic son Jandy.  The 3.5-hour trip to Subic was smooth all the way and uneventful, arriving at the hotel by 11 AM.

Subic International Hotel

We checked in at one of the 5-storey Bravo Wing Building’s 134 de luxe rooms with airconditioning, 21″ cable TV, mini refrigerator, safety deposit box, IDD/NDD phone  (through telephone operator) and bath.  The wing also has 8 suites.

Our de luxe room

As soon as we were checked in, we just chilled out in our room.  The next day was to be spent in the Ocean Adventure Marine Park.

Checked out “Ocean Adventure Marine Park“

Subic International Hotel: Rizal St. cor. Sta. Rita Rd., Subic Freeport Zone, Zambales.  Tel: (047) 252-2222 and 252-6703. Website: www.subichotel.com. Manila booking office: Suite 612, Pacific Bldg., 460 Quintin Paredes St., Binondo, Manila. Tel: (632) 243-2222 to 33. Fax: (632) 243-0852 to 53. E-mail: sales@subichotel.com.