Category Archives: Churches

Church of St. Rose of Lima (Bagacay, Albay)

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Church of St. Rose of Lima

The Church of St. Rose of Lima was said to have been started in 1660 (stamped on the church entrance), the year Bacacay became independent from Tabaco.    In 1952, it was heavily damaged by super typhoon “Trix” and again, in 1987, by another super typhoon, “Sisang,” which destroyed the roof and broke its glass windows.

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

Its 2-level façade, built with volcanic rock from Mayon Volcano, has semicircular arched main entrance with a poorly conceived and totally inappropriate white-painted concreteportico  built over it.  An earlier, late 1900s photo of the church shows it without one.

 

It is flanked by paired pilasters and statued niches with single pilasters at the end.  Above is a triangular pediment with a centrally located oculus. The church’s orientation is peculiar as it faces northwest instead of the bay, contrary to the stipulations of the Laws of the Indies.

The 3-storey bell tower

On the left is the 3-storey bell tower with a domed roof and receding storeys. Also on the left side of the church are the ruins of the old church and belfry, with meter-tick walls of volcanic rocks an high windows.  Outside the church is a statue of the risen Christ.

The church’s modern interior

Church of St. Rose of Lima: Bes St., Bagacay, Albay. Tel: (052) 487-2003. Feast of St. Rose of Lima: August 30.

How to Get There: Bacacay is located 502.6 kms. (a 10-hour drive) from Manila and 37.2 kms. (a 1-hour drive) from Legaspi City.

Bacacay: A Blend of History and Nature (Albay)

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From Sto. Domingo, Bernard and I motored to the nearby town of Bacacay where we paid a courtesy call on, and had lunch with, 72 year old, first term Mayor Tobias B. “Tobing” Betito, the former vice-mayor and schoolteacher, at the newly renovated (last 2008), 2-storey municipal hall.  Mayor Betito granted us the use of an Isuzu Crosswind and the services of a driver so that we can explore Cagraray Island, the home of the 20-hectare, world-class Misibis Resorts, Estate and Spa.

The 2-storey municipal hall

Before leaving for Cagraray Island, we walked over, across the street, to the Church of St. Rose of Lima (a Peruvian saint).

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Church of St. Rose of Lima

At the left side of the church are the ruins of the old church and belfry.  My guess is these are the ruins of the church built in 1660.  The present church was probably built in the 1800s.

The old church ruins

We next walked over the hardly discernable remains of Roca Baluarte in Brgy. 3.  Formerly a Spanish-era fort with a lookout tower used to warn against Muslim pirates, it was converted into a beach resort but now lies abandoned, amidst nipa palms and mangroves, after the resort was ruined during super typhoon Reming (international name: Durian) that hit the Bicol Region on November 30, 2006.

Roca Baluarte
Mayor’s Office:  Municipal Hall, Poblacion, Bacacay, Albay. Tel: (052) 588-3243.  Website: www.bacacay.gov.ph.

Sto. Domingo: Birthplace of the Sarung Banggi (Albay)

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The next day, Bernard and I left the Governor’s Mansion in Legaspi City and took a jeep to Quick & Hearty for a buffet Filipino breakfast.  Here, we met up with Mr. Martin A. Calleja, head of Bicol Adventures Philippines and Viento de Mar Beach Resort in Bacacay. After breakfast, we made a short stopover at the DOT Region V office at Rawis where we met up with Regional Director Maria O. Ravanilla.  From here, we made the short 11.5 km. drive to the nearby quaint town of Sto. Domingo.

The author with Bernard and Dir. Maria Ravanilla

Sto. Domingo, formerly called Libog (a corruption of the Bicol term libot meaning “roundabout”), is nestled at the foot of Mayon Volcano. The town is noted for its numerous beach resorts along the jet black sand Kalayukaii Beach in Brgy. Kalayukaii, located 3 kms. east of the town.  At the Spanish-era (the former tribunal and presidencia built in 1832) municipal hall in Plaza Pugad Lawin, we made a courtesy call on Mayor Herbie  B. Aguas.

The municipal hall and fountain at Plaza Pugad Lawin

Also at the plaza, across the fountain and municipal hall is the picturesque Church of St. Dominic Guzman, the town’s most prominent landmark.

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Church of St. Dominic Guzman

The town is also the birthplace of Potenciano V. Gregorio (May 19, 1880-February 12, 1939), the composer of the famous local ditty Sarung Banggi (meaning “one night”), the best known song in the Bicol dialect, on May 10, 1910.  The 8-day (May 18-25) Sarung Banggi Summer Festival, which features a folk song festival, immortalizes this love song and pays tribute to its illustrious local son.   His ancestral house was burned when a fire hit the town in 1961.

Potenciano V. Gregorio Mausoleum

On May 2005, Mayor Aguas, together with then Albay Gov. Fernando and First District Rep. Edcel Lagman, had Gregorio’s remains exhumed in La Loma Cemetery and brought home to Sto. Domingo for a municipal vigil and reinterred at the town’s cemetery with military honors. In 2006, a mausoleum and his bust, also at the town plaza, was erected and his remains transferred there.  In 2010, Gregorio was declared a municipal artist by the Sangguniang Bayan.

Mayor’s Office: Municipal Hall, Plaza Pugad Lawin, St. Domingo, Albay.  Tel: (052) 435-1357.
Department of Tourism Regional Office V: Rawis, Legaspi City.  Tel: (052) 435-0085 and 482-0715.  Fax: (052) 482-0712. E-mail: dot_bicol@yahoo.com. Website: www.wowbicol.com.

Church of St. Dominic of Guzman (Sto. Domingo, Albay)

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Church of St. Dominic Guzman

First built in 1785 with wood and basag (bamboo splits), the second church was built with lava blocks in 1789 and completed in 1832.  Built with forced labor, during its construction, a mixture of lime, egg albumin and tangguli (molasses) was used to bind its massive stone walls. Burned in 1882, the present picturesque Church of St. Dominic Guzman was built with piedras ladradas, chiseled balustrades and twin domes.

The church’s Baroque facade

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

The church’s Baroque façade has a semicircular arched main entrance flanked by rectangular windows and two bell towers with dome-shaped roofs, giving it a graceful symmetry.  On the second level is a centrally located statued niche flanked by two occoli while the triangular pediment’s tympanum also has an occoli.

The church’s modern interior

Church of St. Dominic of Guzman: Tel: (052) 258-7111. Feast of St. Dominic of Guzman: August 4.

How to Get There: Sto. Domingo is located 469 kms. (a 9.25-hour drive) from Manila and 11.5 kms. (a 19-min. drive) northeast of Legaspi City.

Church of St. John the Baptist (Taytay, Rizal)

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Church of St. John the Baptist

The town’s first church (Visita de Sta. Ana de Sapa) was a chapel made of light materials near the shores of Laguna de Bay dedicated to its patron saint, John the Baptist.

Due to frequent flooding from the shores of Laguna de Bay, it was transferred by Jesuit Fr. Pedro Chirino (who documented the Tagalog language as well as the way of life of Filipinos from his interactions with the inhabitants, forming the basis for his book Relación de las Islas Filipinas) to its present site, a higher location in a hill which called San Juan del Monte where the parish has remained to this day.

The Early Renaissance facade

The town’s church, started in 1599 and completed in 1601, was considered to be the first church built by the Jesuits out of stone outside Manila.

Bas-relief of the Holy Eucharist.  The fluted Ionic pilasters are both topped by angels.

In 1630, a larger church was constructed by Fr. Juan de Salazar. In 1632, a typhoon blew away the roofing of the new church, which was soon replaced with the help of the townspeople.

Bas-relief of Crossed Keys. The two symbolic keys form a St. Andrew’s Cross. These keys appear on the coat-of-arms of the Holy See,Vatican City and of every pope since the 12th century.

In 1639, the church sustained significant damage when the Chinese, during their revolt against Spanish authorities, set fire to the church.

Bas-relief of a cross between two lambs. The lambs represent the faithful coming to Christ (represented by the Cross)

St. Pedro Calungsod (the second Filipino declared as a saint by the Catholic Church) once served as an altar boy in the church in 1666 and then serving as assistant to Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores in the Marianas in 1672 (when both were martyred). In 1768 (under secular priests) and 1864 (under Augustinian Recollects), additional works were made to the church.

Statue of St. John the Baptist

During the Philippine–American War, both the church and the convent were reduced to ruins. After the war, the church was reconstructed. Massive renovations in the 1970s left very little of the original Classic façade.

Jandy with the church interior in the background

The present church, built with concrete, shows no traces of the old Jesuit church. In 1992, the National Historical Institute (NHI), now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), unveiled a historical marker in the church.

NHI plaque installed in 1992

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

The church’s Early Renaissance facade has three levels of superpositioned, fluted pilasters (the first level is Doric and the other two Ionic).  The first level has a semicircular arch main door with canopy (a later addition), with a semicircular arch statued niche above it and along the flanks.

The walls of the second and third levels are decorated with pairs of huge bas-reliefs of the Crossed Keys and a Cross between two lambs and one of the Holy Eucharist.  The triangular pediment, topped by a cross, is lined with dentils.

The four-storey square bell tower, on the right side of the church, has semicircular arch windows and is topped by a pyramidal roof.  On the left side of the church is a huge statue of St. John the Baptist.

The main altar

Church of St. John the Baptist: J. Sumulong St., Brgy. San Isidro, Taytay, Rizal.  View Map>>> Tel: (632) 8658-6489.  Feast of St. John the Baptist: June 24.

How to Get There: Taytay is located 23.4 kms. from Manila and kms. (a drive) from Antipolo City.

Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (Sta. Cruz, Laguna)

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Church of the Immaculate Conception

The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, first built by  Franciscan parish priest Fr. Antonio de la Llave in 1608 and enlarged in 1672 by Fr. Miguel Perciva with the addition of 2 wings (giving the church the form of a cross).  It was improved in 1850 by Fr. Juan Antonio Marzo who built the principal nave and convent and remodeled the 5 altars.  The church was destroyed during the July 18, 1880 earthquake and was reconstructed by Fr. Antonio Martin de Vidales in 1881 (assisted by Filipino Fr. Gregorio Ercilla, his coadjutor).

Church of the Immaculate Conception – Interior

On January 26, 1945, during the liberation in World War II, the church was partly destroyed by fire,  leaving only the walls and stairs of the convent.  The present church, a reconstruction in 1948 (through the initiative of Fr. Mariano O. Limjuco), now has an Early Renaissance facade with a pair of large pilasters supporting a plain pediment.  Inside is a bas-relief of the Stations of the Cross, a main altar with a stained glass rendition of the Blessed Mother and the apostle John watching over the crucified Jesus Christ and stained glass depictions of the Joyful and Glorious Mysteries.  On its left is its heavy, massive 3-storey bell tower topped by dome.

Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception: Pedro Guevarra Ave., Brgy. Poblacion, Santa Cruz 4009, Laguna.  Tel: (049) 537-0211.

Diocesan Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua (Pila, Laguna)

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After our museum visit, we next dropped by the town’s present Early Renaissance-style Diocesan Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua, the first Antonine church in the country.  Located beside the Liceo de Pila (founded in 1947), it was built in 1849 by Frs. Antonio Argobejo and Domingo de Valencia but, during the July 18, 1880 earthquake, was badly damaged and its bell tower toppled.  It was then repaired by Fr. Damaso Bolaños and finished by Fr. Francisco de Santa Olalia.

Diocesan Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua

Its bell tower was rebuilt by Fr. Lope Toledo.  The convent, completed in 1849, was also seriously damaged during the 1880 earthquake.  On July 9, 2002, it was proclaimed as a diocesan shrine by Bishop Francisco O. San Diego of the Diocese of San Pablo. Two relics of St. Anthony of Padua are enshrined behind the tabernacle.  During healing masses, devotees flock to the shrine for a chance to touch the miraculous relics.

The church interior
The church’s Early Renaissance facade, divided into 3 segments by superimposed Doric columns, has a semicircular arched main entrance.  On the second level is a statued niche flanked by pedimented windows.  The pediment, with its balustraded raking cornice, has a statued niche framed by an arched order.  On its left is the 3-storey bell tower with pointed roof.
Diocesan Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua: San Antonio St., Brgy. Sta. Clara, Pila, Laguna.  Feast of St. Anthony of Padua: June 13

Church of the Immaculate Conception (Los Banos, Laguna)

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Church of the Immaculate Conception

From the municipal hall, we next drove a short way to the town’s Church of the Immaculate Conception.  First built as a chapel from 1613, it was later destroyed by fire in 1727 and rebuilt in stone on its present site by Fr. Domingo Mateo OFM in 1790.

The church’s interior

The belfry, sacristy and tile roofing were supervised by Fr. Manuel Amat in 1852.  The convent and bell tower were destroyed during the 1863 earthquake but repairs were made during the administration of Frs. Manuel Rodriguez and Gilberto Marin in 1880. During World War II, it was headquarters and garrison for the Japanese forces. Across the church is the Liceo de Los Banos.

Liceo de Los Banos

Church of the Immaculate Conception: Brgy. Timugan, Los Banos, Laguna. Feast o the Immaculate Conception: December 8.

Stopover at Tayabas (Quezon)

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Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel

Last July 13-14, I,  together with fellow travel writer Bernard Supetran, were invited by photographer friend Lee Llamas to cover the Maubanog Festival in Lee’s hometown of Mauban in Quezon. Bernard and I met up at Starbucks Magallanes were we were picked up, around 11 AM, by a chartered Nissan Urvan.  Joining us were Lee’s photographer friends Ms. Baby de la Cruz (a just returned overseas contract worker from Kuwait), Mr. Dax Cruz (a balikbayan from Canada) and Dr. Omar Cacabelos (a dentist).  All, including Lee, are members of Gruppo i4i (eye for eye), a band of professional photographers who offer a wide range of services to clients.  We were in for a long haul, the trip to Mauban taking all of 190 kms.  Along the way, we made stopovers for toilet breaks, lunch at Chowking and a photo ops at Tayabas City.

The church’s beautiful interiors

This wasn’t my first visit to this city, the first being during a Holy Week break in 1999 when Tayabas was still a municipality (it only became a component city in 2007).  Still an eye opener was its 103-m. long Minor Basilica (it became such on October 18, 1988) of St. Michael the Archangel, the best preserved and the most beautifully-decorated church complex in the province.  It is also the longest Spanish colonial church in the country and also one of the oldest.   Its bell tower contains an 18th century clock (the only one of its kind in the country) that chimes every 30 minutes.  The church interior has seven altars, all done in the Neo-Classical style, an antique organ at the choir loft, a balcony below the beautiful dome and beautiful trompe l’oeil ceiling paintings.  The adjacent convent was used as a Japanese garrison during World War II.  This beautiful church is now listed, by the National Museum, as one of 26 National Cultural Treasures.

The Casa Communidad de Tayabas

Nearby is the Casa de Communidad, the biggest stone house ever restored by the National Historical Institute. It was first built in 1776 as a tribunal  by gobernadorcillo Francisco Lopez and made into a lavish edifice from 1831 to 1837 by then gobernadorcillo Don Diego Enriquez.  Apolinario dela Cruz (a.k.a. Hermano Pule) was hastily tried and sentenced to death here in 1841 by a Spanish court for leading a revolt. It was later used as a Spanish Armed Forces headquarters (May 29, 1898), as the Central High School Building (March 12, 1901), as the Tayabas Provincial Hospital (1941) and the Japanese Army headquarters until it was burned by American bombing on March 15, 1945.  In 1950, it was used as the Central School Building No. 2.  The building was renovated in 1973 (Exec. Order No. 2601) and 1974 (Exec. Order No. 3750) and was declared a National Historical Landmark on June 1, 1978. It now houses a museum, municipal library, art and culture center, and tourism office.   The building was in a sorry state of disrepair when we arrived and is currently being restored again. 

The Spanish-era Malagunlong Bridge

Back on the road to Mauban (now just 14 kms. away), we gain made a short photo op, 2.4 kms. outside of Tayabas City, at a modern, girder-type concrete bridge along the highway to view, at the upstream side, the Malagunlong Bridge, the oldest in the province and one of the few remaining Spanish colonial, arch-type bridges in the country.  The bridge, now unused, was built of adobe stone, limestone and molasses and started  by Spanish Franciscan parish priest Fr. Antonio Mateus in 1840 and completed 10 years later.  It is 445 ft. long and has five spans.  About 230 m. after this bridge, we arrived at the junction going to Mauban.

Gruppo i4i: Suite 609, Angelica Manor, San Antonio Village, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. Tel: (632) 775-6017.  Mobile number: (0919) 427-0754.  Website: www.gruppoi4i.com
City Mayor’s Office:  City Hall,J.P. Rizal St., Tayabas City, Quezon.  Website: http://tayabas.ph.

The Church Bells of Paracale

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The bells of Paracale Church

Our longest stopover was at the Church of Our Lady of Candles in Paracale, my second such visit.  However, my visit here was notable as this was my first time to climb a church bell tower (and two at that at each end of the facade). The towers were approached by first climbing a steep stair from the nave to the choir loft and, from there, another less steep stair, but with a very low opening, to the towers.  The left belfry has two medium-sized bells bells  while the right belfry has two big and older (circa 1888) bells and a small bell. One of the newer bells had a recognizable signature stating that it was cast in 1920 by the Hilarion Sunico Foundry (the foundry has made 176 bells since 1872 and its last known bell was cast in 1937).  Some of the bells have visible cracks and all are colored blue-green possibly due to oxidation.  The towers had panoramic views of the municipal hall and town proper as well as the mountains beyond.