Category Archives: Churches

Minor Basilca of San Lorenzo Ruiz (Binondo, Manila)

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From the National Shrine of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Sta. Cruz, Jandy and I walked towards Escolta and then turned right at T. Pinpin St. to get to the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz, more popularly known as Binondo Church.  Founded by the Dominicans in 1587, it similarly was built, just like Sta. Cruz Church, to serve Chinese converts.  Built before 1614, the original church was destroyed during the British bombardment in 1762. Its dome was constructed in 1781 by Domingo Cruz y Gonzalez.  St. Lorenzo Ruiz, after whom the basilica was named, trained in this church before leaving for Japan as a missionary. 

Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz


The church was slightly damaged during the June 3, 1863 earthquake and was repaired between 1946 and 1971, after severe the World War II bombing on September 22, 1944 (only the Western facade and bell tower survived), and enlarged.  The basilica’s imposing, still original (with some renovations) Italian High Renaissance facade is buttressed on the sides by pilasters terminating in urn-like decorations.  Its pediment, framed by a foliated scroll and topped by a tower at the apex, has a centrally located small circular window framed by smaller columns and pediment.  

The basilica’s interior


The original 6-storey octagonal bell tower, which suggests Chinese culture, has pedimented window openings and cantons at the angles.  Inside the church are ornate pastel-colored reredos behind the main altar and it houses the image of Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary).  Fronting the church is Plaza de Calderon de la Barca (or simply Plaza Binondo).  

Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz: Plaza Binondo, Q. Paredes St., Binondo, Manila.  Tel: (632) 242-4850 and 242-4041.  Fax: (632) 241-4653. 

National Shrine of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (Sta. Cruz, Manila)

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After lunch at a MacDonald’s outlet in Sta. Cruz, Jandy and I went on a walking tour of 3 of the churches in the vicinity.  Fittingly, the first church we visited was the nearby National Shrine of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, more popularly known as Sta. Cruz Church.  This church was founded by Jesuits in 1608 to serve Chinese converts.  Its courtyard was the scene of the formal return of Manila to Spain on May 31, 1764, after Britain’s 20-month occupation.

National Shrine of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

This church, built and administered by the Jesuits up to 1768, was damaged during the June 3, 1863 earthquake and rebuilt in 1868 by Fr. Agustin de Mendoza.  It was again damaged during the July 19, 1880 earthquake and destroyed during the fighting in 1945.  The church was rebuilt in 1957.

The church interior

The church’s characteristically Baroque façade has Ionic columns that divide the first 2 levels into 3 parts.  It also has 3 semicircular arched entrances at the first level, a centrally located rose window flanked by semicircular arched windows at the second level, and a pediment with an undulating raking cornice and a centrally located statued niche with a broken pediment.

On the church’s right is a 6-storey domed bell tower. The church’s interior has a mosaic altar background done by Elizabeth Chan.   The statue of the Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pillar) brought from Spain prior to 1768, was canonically erected in this church in 1743.

National Shrine of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Plaza Sta. Cruz, Manila.  Tel: (632) 733-0245 to 46.  Fax: (632) 733-0239.

Church of the Holy Sacrifice (University of the Philippines, Quezon City)

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After my coordination meeting at the New Day Publisher’s office (where we discussed my forthcoming book “A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Churches”), I proceeded to the University of the Philippines in Diliman, my college alma mater, where I had lunch at the U.P. Coop.  After lunch, I walked over to the flying saucer-shaped Church of the Holy Sacrifice to take pictures for inclusion as one of the churches featured in my book as well as in the “About the Author” section.


The Church of the Holy Sacrifice

This exemplary example of modern religious architecture is the first round chapel in the country with an altar in the middle, as well as the first to have a thin shell concrete dome.  My late uncle and National Artist (1990) Leandro V. Locsin, then a young 1953 architecture graduate of the University of Sto. Tomas, was commissioned by U.P. Jesuit chaplain Fr. John Delaney S.J. to designed the chapel. Four other National Artists also contributed their artistic talents: sculptor Napoleon Abueva (1976), painter/sculptor Arturo Luz(1997),  Ang Kiukok (2001) and the late painter Vicente Manansala (1981). Locsin experimented with new forms by using a thin concrete shell for its roof.  Its structural design was done by the late Engr. Alfredo L. Juinio, the first Dean of the U.P. College of Architecture.  
      
The cross done by Napoleon Abueva

The pillars were located at the sides of the church so that there are no supports to block the space inside.  The dome’s unique design allows for natural lighting and ventilation. At the center of the dome is a circular skylight which, in turn, supports a triangular bell tower. The bell tower extends to the interior, supporting the crucifix. The chapel’s cornerstone was laid on March 19, 1955 (St. Joseph’s Day), actual work started on May 2 and its dome was poured on August 14.    On December 20, 1955, the first mass was celebrated here. Since its completion, this church, which can easily accommodate 1,000 people,  has come to symbolize oneness with the community and the environment, an open church for an open university.  I used to hear mass here after Saturday R.O.T.C. training.  The chapel is open day or night.
      
One panel of Vicente Manasala’s Stations of the Cross

The huge, commanding double-sided crucifix hanging from the ceiling above the altar, the first of its kind in the country, was done by Abueva.  It features the two figures of Christ Crucified and Christ Resurrected.  Birds sometimes perch or fly around it.  He also did the marble altar.  The elevated altar floor of black, white and gray marble chips, running down to the sacristy and to three other equidistant entrances, was done by Luz.  It features the four “Rivers of Life” radiating outward, wider at the base and narrowing outward again.  Above the entrances and around the interior of the chapel are 15 panels representing the 14 Stations of the Cross plus a fifteenth, “The Resurrection,” all done by Manansala with the assistance of Ang Kiukok.  The centrally located altar has a communion rail encircling it.  The curved pews, also designed by Locsin, are 9 pews away from the altar and, as a result, no communicant is to far away from the officiating priest. 

On January 12, 2005, the church was recognized as a National Historical Landmark and a Cultural Treasure by the National Historical Institute and the National Museum, respectively.

Church of Our Lady of Grace (Makati City)

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From the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, I  moved on to my next destination, travelling some distance (via EDSA, making a U-turn via the cloverleaf then turning right at Bernardino St.) to get to the Church of Our Lady of Grace.  Similarly, like at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, a wedding was ongoing when I arrived.  This church, founded as an Augustinian mission in 1601, was completed in 1629, damaged during the 1658 earthquake, repaired from 1659 to 1662 by Fr. Alonso Quijano and again in 1706 by Fr. Juan Olarte.  It was ransacked and occupied by the British in 1762 (they made it into their headquarters) and its roof collapsed during the July 19, 1880 earthquake. 

Church of Our Lady of Grace


The church was rebuilt between 1881 and 1885 by Fr. Jose Corrugedo, served as an orphanage and trade school for victims of the 1882 cholera epidemic and was burned down  in 1898 and 1899 when Filipino revolutionaries, and later the Americans, occupied it.  During World War II, it was used as a garrison and headquarters of the Japanese.  The church was rebuilt after an agreement forged on June 29, 1970 between Cardinal Rufino J. Santos and Fr. Casimiro Garcia, O.S.A., Augustinian Vicar in the country. 

      
The church’s interior

The church houses the miraculous Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe which was saved when the church was sacked by the British in 1762.  Its semi-classical Neo-Romanesque facade has carved stonework, semicircular arched recessed main entrance decorated with floral carvings, a circular window above the main entrance and a triangular pediment with a raking cornice with crestings and floral carvings.  Inside are intricately carved interior columns.  

Church of Our Lady of Grace: 7440 Bernardino St.,Brgy. Guadalupe Viejo,  Makati City, Metro Manila. Tel: (632) 896-8444. 

Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (Makati City)

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After tennis and lunch at Luk Yuen Restaurant with my good friend Leo Protacio in Makati, I decided to do some sightseeing by exploring 2 of Makati’s old churches.  Travelling to Makati’s nightlife district along Burgos St., I parked in front of an acacia-shaded plaza, across which is the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul.  This church was established as a Franciscan mission in 1578.  In 1608, its land (called Buenavista) was given by a Spanish nobleman Capt. Pedro de Britto (Regidor of Manila) to the Jesuits.  The present lovely church, built by the Jesuit Fr. Pedro de los Montes in 1620, was reconstructed in 1920 and again in 1975. 
   
Church of St. Peter and St. Paul
   
This photogenic church’s Renaissance-style facade has a semicircular arched main entrance flanked by superpositioned paired columns reaching up to the horizontal cornice, a semicircular arched window at the second level and a plain segmental pediment with a centrally located statued niche.  A 3-tiered papal tiara and keys (symbols of the Papacy, the first being St. Peter who, together with St. Paul, is the patron of the locality) dominate the façade.  The church has a rectangular, single-nave plan with an apse and sacristy.  With its beautiful, gold-plated altar and carved retablo, this church is obviously a favorite for weddings as one was about to begin when I arrived.  

The church’s interior

Church of St. Peter and St. Paul: 5539 D.M. Rivera St., Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City, Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 890-3842.

Church of Sto. Domingo de Basco (Batanes)

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Come Saturday late afternoon, I decided to attended mass at the lovely Church of Sto. Domingo de Basco, the oldest in Batanes.  The church was just walking distance from the inn I was staying in. The mass was held in the unique Ivatan dialect.

Church of Sto. Domingo de Basco

First built from 1787 to 1796 (one of the first limestone buildings to be built under the Spanish regime), it was destroyed during a typhoon and rebuilt in 1812 by Dominican friars. Its façade fell to the ground during the 2000 earthquake.  The present white Baroque church, built in the espadaña style, has massive pilasters buttressing the thick walls from foundation to top.  It incorporates the original front and north walls while the rear and south walls are inside the original ruins.  The convent beside the church was built in 1814.

The church interior

A Tour Around Sabtang (Batanes)

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Church of St. Vincent Ferrer

Once through with the blessing, Mayor Caballero allowed me the use of the municipality’s Toyota Revo plus the services of driver Rolando Fidel, to tour the island’s many sights.  Before leaving, I dropped by the St. Vincent Ferrer Church, a relic of the island’s tumultuous Spanish past. Started in 1844, this church was built in the espadana style (having two round arches at the roof level for the bells).

The Savigug idjang

Along the road to Savidug, Mr. Fidel pointed out, from a distance, a picturesque idjang, a pre-Hispanic mountain fortress where the natives sought refuge during tribal conflicts.  This idjang is distinctly different from all the others in the province because its sides were carved to make entry more difficult.

Chavayan village

Upon reaching the showcase barangay of Savidug, our Revo had to negotiate a narrow road between rows of traditional lime and stone cogon thatched houses.  Alighting here, I explored the village on foot, espying one of the barangay’s two (there are only three left throughout Batanes) animal-driven sugar mills that churn out a native wine called palek.

A carabao-driven sugar squeezer

A scenic, winding road next leads us to the equally rustic village of Chavayan and its landmark Chapel of Sta. Rosa de Lima, the only house of worship on the islands that is still in its traditional form.   The southernmost community in the province, Chavayan faces the northern tip of Luzon Island. Here, I observed, on another walking tour, the traditional detached Ivatan kitchen as well as glimpses of the Ivatan way of life including the making of the vakul or canayi.  

An Ivatan woman wearing a vakul

Serving as protection from the scorching heat of the sun or the wind and rain, these are woven by the womenfolk from carefully stripped and dried banana or voyavoy leaves. I also observed, up close, 99-year old Ireneo Hornedo weave an alogong, a men’s headgear that normally goes along with the canayi.  Before leaving, we were requested to looking up into the cliff and make out Mother Nature’s most perfect sculpture; the phallic-looking Monument of Satisfaction.

Irineo Hornedo (left)

Tour of Batan Island: Ivana (Batanes)

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Church of St. Joseph the Carpenter

The next town we visited was Ivana.  In front of the town port is the Church of St. Joseph the Carpenter, built in 1785 and renovated in 1844. It has 3-m. thick walls and is the only church not built in the espadana style. Its separate fortress-like campanile, the only one in the province, has a crenellated top.  Here, Filipino revolutionaries hoisted their flag after renouncing their loyalty to Spain on September 1898. Due to its elevation, the church offers a panoramic view of the sea and the surrounding countryside.

Honesty Coffee Shop

Near the church is the Honesty Coffee Shop, opened in 1995 and owned by retired public school teacher Ms. Elena Gabilo.  Perhaps the only one of its kind in the country, Elena still believes that people are generally honest and therefore leaves nobody to tend to her store, concentrating, instead, on farming and cane vinegar production. A plaque inside is inscribed with the words “The Lord is my Security Guard.” The store sells snacks, candies, soft drinks, bottled water, souvenir items (vakuls) and Batanes T-shirts.  Here, we picked out soft drinks and snacks from the shelf, listed them in a logbook and dropped our payment into a drop box.  

Radar Tukon
The hilltop Radar Tukon, about 300 m. above sea level and 2.75 kms. from Basco, was formerly a pre-war U.S. weather station that presently houses the PAGASA Radar Station (the last weather station in the north) where typhoons (Basco is a reference point for all typhoons that enter and leave the country’s area of responsibility) are monitored. Its huge satellite disk was ripped off by gale-force winds even before it was put to effective use.  The hill offers a magnificent view of Batan Island, the South China Sea, Mount Iraya and the magnificent pastoral beauty of hedgerows and fields on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other side. Also nearby is the beautiful house cum gallery-museum of the late great Ivatan artist Pacita Abad.

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.  

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (Tanauan City, Batangas)

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Jandy and I were now on our way home from our overnight stay in Lipa City.  At a KFC outlet in Tanauan City, we made a short stopover for an early fried chicken lunch.  After lunch, we walked over to the city’s beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist for some sightseeing.  First built with wood in 1690, it was replaced with stone from 1732-67 and later rebuilt in 1812 by Fr. Ramon Cosio.  
 
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
The present structure was built from 1881-98 by Fr. Jose Diaz.  The church was damaged in 1944 and rebuilt in 1948 by Monsignor Marino and Arch. Jose L. Zaragoza in the Romanesque style.  The convent, built in 1872 and also destroyed in 1944, was rebuilt together with the cathedral.
      
The unremarkable modern interior
The cathedral’s simple, High Renaissance and Romanesque facade, resembling the original one, has an ornate Romanesque-style recessed main entrance (resembling layers of lace) supported by 6 sets of elaborately decorated semicircular arched windows, a triangular pediment with a semicircular statued niche and a balustrade supporting statues of saints projecting over stone bases from the frieze.   The rounded arches tapering down to the strong pillars harmonize with the uncluttered lines of the central ceiling.  The church is also noted for its wide open central nave and circular niches. The churchyard has life-size tableaus of the 14 Stations of the Cross.  Its bell tower, mounted on the horizontal extension of the facade, is topped by a Baroque-style dome.
 
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist: A. Mabini Ave., Brgy. 1, Poblacion, Tanauan City, Batangas.