Category Archives: National Cultural Treasures

Church of St. James the Apostle (Guagua, Pampanga)

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Guagua’s Church of St. James the Apostle

From Bacolor, we next proceeded to Brgy. Betis in the woodworking (furniture, guitars, pool sticks, etc.) town of Guagua, my late father’s hometown, where we were welcomed by Sangguniang Bayan member Anthony Joseph “Tonton” Torres and Guagua councilor Roy Sunglao at the 17th-century Church of St. James the Apostle. The church, now honored as one of 26 National Cultural Treasures by the National Museum, has a profusely ornamented, two-level, German Baroque façade with decorative, coupled columns and skillfully arranged flora,  spirals and intricate curvilinear carvings decorating the projecting portico. The church’s wooden entrance doors are intricately carved with the “Dreams of Jacob” from the Old Testament.

The breathtaking trompe l’oeil dome

Its awe-inspiring interiors are something else. The huge, elaborate retablo is furnished with authentic icons, while spectacular murals of 19th century artist Simon Flores, as well as the father-and-son team of Macario and Jose Ligon (finished before World War II), fill the walls. The interpretation of the Bible is painted on the entire wooden ceiling and the breathtaking trompe l’oeil dome, truly the Philippine’s version of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. At the center of the plaza, fronting the church, is the first artesian well in the Philippines, built by Fr. Manuel Camanes in the late 19th century. Before leaving Guagua, I bought some yema and pastillas as pasalubong.  Check out my Business Mirror article “Tripping on History and Culture in Pampanga.”

Pampanga Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (PCVB): c/o Everybody’s Café, Nepo Mall, Brgy. Del Pilar, City of San Fernando, Pampanga.  Mobile number: (0917) 245-4834.  E-mail: poch168@gmail.com.

Church of the Immaculate Conception (Guiuan, Eastern Samar)

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Church of the Immaculate Conception

After attending the star-studded and colorful Sangyaw Festival of Tacloban City, Jandy and I decided to get some “rest and recreation” at the progressive town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar, our first in the province. To get there, we left the city after lunch, proceeded to downtown and boarded an airconditioned Van-Van van.  The trip took just 3 hrs., made possible by the opening, in the late 1990s, of the South Samar Coastal Road which cut land travel time to Guiuan by about 2 hrs..  As usual, we crossed the beautiful, S-shaped San Juanico Bridge (the country’s longest) into Samar, traveling along a coastal highway which runs past mountains, steep cliffs, distant rock islands and boat-filled bays, then making a right at a T-junction (the left goes to Borongan City) to an occasionally potholed asphalt road all the way to Guiuan.  We arrived there by 4 PM and were guests at the house of Ms. Vibina “Bebeng” Juaban. 

San Juanico Bridge

The best way to explore this coastal town is by hired tricycle.  Vestiges of Spanish era history can be seen at the “fortress Baroque” Church of the Immaculate Conception, considered to be the finest in the Eastern Visayas.  Started in the 1630s, it was rebuilt in stone in the early 18th century.  From 1844 onwards, Fr. Manuel Valverde and Pedro Monasterio renovated the church, covering the roof with tiles. In 1854, Franciscan friars added a transept and baptistery and built a massive bell tower (which once served as a watchtower) on top of a seaside bastion of the fort.   

The church belfry

The church’s façade has triple but slim engaged columns, arches and carvings at the pediment’s borders and 3 entrances with elaborately carved, hardwood doors.  Inside are a single nave with a main altar and two side altars, a beautiful retablo from Franciscan times, a Rococo frontal with the Augustinian emblem and old santos.  The church is enclosed within the partially preserved quadrilateral fort of cut stone, said to be the best and most regularly planned in all the Visayas. Today, this church has been declared as a National Cultural Treasure (unique structures that possess outstanding artistic, historical and cultural values that are significant to the nation), one of 26 named as such by the National Museum in 2001. 

Church of St. Peter & St. Paul (Calasiao, Pangasinan)

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This church is one of the largest in Pangasinan.  The original church was destroyed by earthquake and burned in 1736 during the Palaris Revolt.  The present structure was built in 1753 by Fr. Dalmau, burned in 1852 and rebuilt from 1853 to 1858 by Fr. Ramon Suarez.

Church of St. Peter & St. Paul

Church of St. Peter & St. Paul

The massive March 16, 1892 earthquake damaged the church. The massive July 16, 1990 earthquake destroyed its bell tower. Msgr. Luis B. Ungson reconstructed the church, restoring the bricked front wall, antique statues and the ceiling’s original floral motif. In 2001, the church was declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

The restored 5-storey bell tower

The restored 5-storey bell tower

The church is 88.3 m. long, 25 m. wide and 27.3 m. high.  The adjoining sprawling convent is 75 m. long, 25 m. wide and has two yards.  The church’s imposing Renaissance-style brick and cement facade has columns that rise from the first level to the window sill.  Its pediment has a well-defined cornice and a statued niche at the tympanum flanked by two circular windows.  Its 30-m. high, hexagonal, 5-storey bell tower, one of the best in the province, has pinnacles at each level, arched windows with columned jambs and cantons at the corners.   Its retablo mayor, ornately decorated with statues of saints, is massive and complex woodwork is seen at the back.

The church interior

The church interior

Church of St. Peter & St. Paul : Poblacion West, Calasiao, Pangasinan,

How to Get There: Calasiao is located 207 kms. from Manila.

 

Tour of Batan Island: Mahatao (Batanes)

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Batan Island circuit road

On my second day in Batanes, I paid a courtesy call and asked for assistance from Gov. Vicente S. Gato and Tourism Officer Elmo Merin at the Provincial Capitol (built from 1794 to 1798 as the Casa Real or Spanish Governor’s residence) in Basco.  The Capitol fronts the grassy plaza leading down to Kanyuyan Port and Beach in Baluarte Bay.  Gov. Gato, a keen promoter of Batanes’ tourism potential, gladly allowed me the use of a Toyota Revo to be driven by Mr. Luciano “Anong” de Guzman.  He also assigned Ms. Joy Gabaldon and Mr. Jose “Boging” Astudillo as my guides.

The Provincial Capitol

Our route around the 35.5-sq. km., generally mountainous Batan Island skirted the west coast through Mahatao and Ivana to Uyugan. The winding circuit around the island took nearly 1.5 hrs. This included stopovers for photo ops and a longer wait to replace a flat tire.  All throughout, I was rewarded with a vista of sheer limestone cliffs alternating with gently rolling hills, great boulder beaches and some black and white sand beaches hemmed in by a broad fringing reef.  

Reliving the “Sound of Music” at Payaman

The wind-swept, vast and sprawling Racuh a Payaman, at Mahatao’s outskirts, is a huge track of communal pastureland preserved by the villagers.  Popularly called the “Marlboro Country of Batanes,” cattle, carabao and horses grazed at its endless array of rolling hills.  A photographer’s and nature lover’s delight, the hills have a breathtaking view of Mt. Iraya, the Pacific Ocean, the Mahatao Lighthouse and nearby fields hedged with trees that break the wind’s full fury, allowing root crops to grow.   They say this the place to catch a breathtaking Batanes sunrise.  Here, I can’t help but do a “Sound of Music  pose. 

Church of San Carlos Borromeo
At Mahatao town proper is the venerable San Carlos Borromeo Church, in Mahatao, one of 26 churches listed as National Cultural Treasures by the National Museum.  First built by Dominican friars in 1789, the present church dates to 1873.  It has an espadana-style façade (with two round arches at roof levels for the bells) and massive buttresses at the outer walls (which serve as stairways for servicing its then cogon-covered roof).    At the church courtyard and at the elementary school grounds are Spanish-era stone lampposts used as guiding lights to guide fishermen and early mariners safely to the anchorage just beyond the town’s seaport.   The town’s Spanish-era bridge also retains its centuries-old features.  

Stopover: Church of Nuestra Señora Patrocinio de Maria (Boljo-on, Cebu)

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Church of Nuestra Señora Patrocinio de Maria

Standing on a small plateau near the beach, this church was destroyed in a piratical raid in 1782. The present masonry church was started by Fr. Ambrosio Otero in 1783, continued by Fr. Manuel Cordero in 1794 and was finished by Fr. Julian Bermejo.

The convent

Fr. Bermejo also built a stone fence to enclose the church and convent.  An organ was installed on the choir loft in 1880.  The large convent and church were restored by Fr. Leandro Moran (parish priest from 1920 to 1948).

The church pilasters

The church has a main nave, a transept and is 65 m. long, 12 m. wide, 12 m. high and its walls are supported by 28 2-m. thick pilasters made with mortar and lime.  Their beautifully decorated and elegant interior has ornate, gilded, 18th century retablos with wooden railings with Chinese-inspired tracery.  The Pseudo-Baroque-Rococo communion rail, with ornate silverwork, has been stolen. The austere Classic facade has three levels, an elongated pediment and is decorated with bas reliefs and floral and geometric motifs.

The bell tower

The rectangular, fortress-like bell tower, built in 1701, has fort windows used to show cannons to defend against Moro pirates. The sound of its silver bells reached Oslob and Alcoy. But in 1802, they were stolen by Muslim hordes led by Datu Orendain (because of their weight, the Moro vinta sunk). Today it has 3 bells. The L-shaped convent, also built and finished in 1841, by Fr. Bermejo, still has its original tile roof.  Its ground floor now houses a museum.  Outside, at the epistle side of the church is an enclosed cemetery with an arched entrance.  An old school building, built in 1940, is now the Catholic Womens League (CWL) headquarters.

A blockhouse

This relatively well-preserved church is the oldest remaining original stone church in Cebu.  It is now listed by the National Museum  as a National Cultural Treasure.  In 1998, this church was declared for conservation and restoration and, in 1999, technical studies have been undertaken, with the help of the German government, to pursue conservation and restoration efforts.

Church of St. Peter the Apostle (Loboc, Bohol)

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On my own, I made a short visit to Loboc’s Church of St. Peter the Apostle, listed by the National Museum as a National Cultural Treasure.  Built in 1602 by Fr. de Torres, it is the second oldest church in Bohol.  The present church was built in 1734. 

Church of St. Peter the Apostle

Inside are remarkable nave paintings done (from May 1926 to July 1927) on the walls and ceiling by three artists (Canuto Avila and son Ricardo, Ray Francia), the biggest number of murals on religious subjects.  The ceiling was retouched in 1995 by Cris Naparota.   It also has a Neo-Gothic pulpit with a late 19th century sounding board (portavoz) and 5 retablos between the transept and sacristy. 

Bell Tower

Outside the church, near the riverbank, is the separate 21-m. high, 4-storey octagonal stone bell tower, built after 1768.   It has 7 bells, the oldest dated 1863 and 2 others dated 1914 and 1937.  The tower also has a large wooden matraca (a cranked noisemaker) dated 1899 and a clock from Altonaga Co., acquired through public subscription and installed in 1893.   The bell tower was almost destroyed during the construction of the unfinished Loay Bridge, a folly of the Marcos era which was supposed to be part of an elevated expressway just across the road.  Timely objection by the Lobocanons prevented its destruction.  The project was discontinued. 

Church of Pope St. Gregory the Great (Majayjay, Laguna)

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Before departing for Manila, we passed by the Majayjay town center to visit the town’s imposing Spanish-era Church of Pope St. Gregory the Great.  A wedding was in progress when we arrived.  Named after the town’s patron saint (whose feast is held on 12 March), the church suffered successive destruction by fires (1576, 1606, 1660 and 1711) before it was strengthened and enlarged, to its massive and present form, from 1711 to 1734 by Fr. Jose de Puertollano through the forced labor of its 4,000 townspeople.

Church of Pope St. Gregory the Great

The church was again repaired in 1839, 1842 and 1848, because of typhoon damage, and further improved in 1892 when its roof was replaced with galvanized iron by Fr. Gregorio Platero.   During the Philippine-American War, the church became the headquarters of American forces.  The church was repaired again in 1912.

The church interior

This unusually tall, stone and brick colonial Baroque church, with its commanding view of the town and Laguna de Bay, has 6-m. thick adobe walls covered with vines and moss, vaulted halls and enormous and unusual 16.5-m. high solid buttresses supporting a bell tower (with 5 century-old bells) at the rear.  Of equally huge proportions, the tower is topped by a pointed roof and is accessed by concrete steps that also lead to a catwalk above the ceiling (called langit-langitan) that, in turn, leads to the crossing above the transept. The 60-m. long and 17-m. wide nave has balconies on both sides, 3 impressive altars, antique relief statues of saints, azulejo-tiled floor and 5 elaborate retablos (altar backdrops) constructed on the wide pilasters supporting the lateral bays of the capiz window-lined transept.  The adjacent convent, one of the earliest surviving examples in the country, houses a small museum of old parish documents and ecclesiastical silver.  It was slightly defaced when part of it was converted into St. Gregory Academy (later to be renamed Liceo de Majayjay). 

After our church visit, we again passed by Mr. Flory Rosales’ home to thank him personally for the assistance he gave us.  The ladies and Robert also went to the nearby market to buy the fruit of the month of October – lanzones.  As I would say, “Never leave Majayjay without it!” (a pun of the American Express commercial).  I stayed behind to do some people-watching.  One thing noticeable is the unusual number of horse-riding men I saw passing me by.  Majayjay certainly is not your one-horse town.   After a while, my companions returned, all toting 5 kgs. each (at PhP37 per kilo) of the luscious fruit.  These, plus the extra pasalubong of lanzones Mr. Rosales gave us, made us look more like visiting fruit dealers.  Thus fully laden, we all happily went our way back to Manila.

Visita Iglesia (Tayabas and Lucban, Quezon)

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Today being Good Friday, Jandy and I also joined Jun and Jane’s relatives for the visita iglesia, the traditional visit to 7 churches.  We motored to the nearby town of Tayabas, just  23 kms. from Sariaya, and dropped by the St. Michael the Archangel Minor Basilica were we recited the 14 Stations of the Cross.  The longest Spanish colonial church in the country and also one of the oldest, this 103-m. long church was first built by the Franciscans in 1585, repaired in 1590 by Pedro Bautista, changed into brick in 1600, destroyed by an earthquake in 1743 and later rebuilt and enlarged in 1856 by building a transept and cupola. The church’s roof was changed to galvanized sheets in 1894 and its belfry contains an 18th century clock, the only one of its kind in the country, that chimes every 30 minutes.  It was made into a minor basilica on October 18, 1988 and has an antique organ, a balcony over the altar and a now unused tunnel from the altar. 

St. Michael the Archangel Minor Basilica
Our second and final stop of the visita iglesia was the town of Lucban, a quiet old Franciscan town of 35,128  people whose name was derived from a delicious fruit of the same name which looks like a small pomelo or suha. The “poor man’s Baguio,” Lucban lies 1,500 feet above sea level at the cool, damp shadow of Mt. Banahaw de Lucban whose clear, ice-cold waters flow through the little canals of the town.  It is almost as cool as  Baguio City in December.  There are also has numerous old and stately Spanish colonial houses.
 
Church of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
Here, in front of the town’s shady plaza, is the moss and vine-covered Church of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa.  It was first built in 1593, ruined in 1629, reconstructed between 1630-1640, seriously damaged by fire in 1733 and reconstructed in 1738. Its convent was built in 1743.  It was partially destroyed in 1945 during World War II and finally reconstructed by the Philippine Historical Commission in 1966. However, it’s somewhat modern interior, which enshrines the venerated image of San Isidro Labrador, doesn’t blend in with its centuries-old exterior (my opinion).   The church is surrounded by gardens and grottos and fenced in by old stone walls called quince-quince.