Special report: The cultural heritage churches of Bohol: My Church shall rise again

CEBU, Philippines - Around 30 kilometers away from the northern part of Tagbilaran City, the capital of Bohol, stood an emblem of the Loonanons’ faith – the Church of Our Lady of Light in Loon, Bohol. It was constructed in 1814 and took 40 years to be completed. Since the 1850s, it endured numerous calamities and stood witness to thousands of stories of the locals.

But at 8:12 a.m. of October 15, 2013, the 7.2 magnitude temblor that shook the earth for 33 seconds reduced everything to rubble.

The Church of Our Lady of Light is just one of the churches in Bohol declared as National Historical Landmark and National Cultural Treasure. Sadly, however, it, along with the others, may no longer be restored after the tragic earthquake.

The same fate happened to the Church of the Holy Cross in the neighboring town of Maribojoc, which was built in 1852 and completed in 1872.

The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon, the oldest in Bohol completed in 1727, was also not spared from the devastation.  The tremor destroyed the modern façade added by the Augustinian Recollects in the 19th century and reduced its bell tower to half its original height.

The Church of San Pedro in Loboc, the second oldest church in Bohol originally constructed in 1602 and rebuilt in 1638 after it was razed by fire, also incurred severe damage from the earthquake, which completely destroyed its façade.

While waiting for funding from the government for the restoration and reconstruction of the heritage churches, the different affected parishes took it upon themselves to build alternative churches upon the request of the Bishop of the Diocese of Tagbilaran.

Loboc Parish priest Fr. Andres Ayco said the parish had P5 million in its coffers before the earthquake happened. They used the money to fund the construction of a new church building estimated to cost P20 million.

So far, he added, the parish has raised P15 million from donations and has already spent P12 million for the construction of the new church, as well as the purchase of the lot where the new church now stands.

He said that although the new church has yet to be completed, it can already be used before the activities they have lined up for the anniversary of the tragic earthquake on October 15.

A report posted on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines revealed that the reconstruction and restoration of one church alone that was destroyed by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake would need at least P80 to P100 million, depending on the structural damage.

“Ang national government ingon man sila nga i-reconstruct ang among simbahan so nagpaabot mi. Pero sa kadaghan sa trabahuonon, mura’g sa among side makai-ngon mi’g bonus na lang og madayon. Mao naghimo na lang mi og simbahan nga magamit nato in the coming 10 to 20 years while hoping unsay mahimo nila diri,” Ayco told The FREEMAN.

Loon Parish priest Fr. Jose Stelieto Ruyeras, in a separate interview, said they, too, have raised funds to construct a new church in Loon from “Loonanon” priests who are now serving in United States. He, however, said that they are still waiting for the concerned national agencies to clear the rubble from the old church so they can proceed with the construction of a new one.

Amelia Sevilla, 46, of Moto Norte in Loon, said she still cannot believe that their church was reduced to a pile of coral stones in just seconds.

“Di na gyod to mabalik sa una, maluoy pod ko ba nga ingon ani na among simbahan. Pero ang tinuod nga simbahan mga tawo man gyod, structure ra man na siya. Tungod sa nahitabo murag nadugangan nuon among pagtoo,” she added.

Fr. Ruyeras said some parishioners have already accepted the fact that the old church cannot be restored.

“Una, nakita man gyod nila nga naguba na gyod. Death is death. Ang ato lang gisulti sa mga tawo nga gikan anang mga rubble, duna tay tukoron pag-usab. After crucifixion and death, naay resurrection.  Unsa nang tukoron, wa pa ta kabalo. Unsang klaseha sa kinabuhi ang mobarog gikan anang pagsulay, wa pa ta kabalo,” he added.

“NATIONAL RUINS?”

Will the cultural heritage churches of Bohol that were destroyed by the earthquake be left in ruins? No one can really tell.

A few days before the anniversary of 7.2 magnitude earthquake, Boholanos are still grieving over the destruction of the places of worship that form part of their history and culture.

Tagbilaran Bishop Leonardo Medroso disclosed that two or three of the 12 cultural heritage churches in the Diocese that were destroyed by last year’s tremor can no longer be restored despite the assurance of the national government to fund the restoration process.

“All have to be restored of course, but if you talk about the cultural heritage, they (national government) said that they can restore all but as I see it, I’m sure there would be two or three that cannot be restored into its original structure,” he told THE FREEMAN.

Medroso identified the churches in Maribojoc, Loon, and Loboc that were destroyed because of the quake.

He said that although these churches have substantial function to the culture of the Boholanos, the faith of the people will not be affected whether churches will be restored or not.

“That will not affect the faith. The faith is in the soul. It’s in the spirit. The expression of that spirit are the churches. So, destroying the expression would not destroy the person,” he said.

Medroso stressed though that he understands if people would have a hard time understanding the status of the churches because of the memories these structures hold in the communities.

The bishop said that he has instructed the parish priests to construct alternate churches that could house a crowd of 800 to 1, 000.

“While they already settle down and worship, they can also sit down and plan for the rebuilding or the rehabilitation of the cultural heritage churches,” he said, adding that these alternate churches would give the people a decent place to worship.

SOURCES OF FUNDS

Medroso said that the different parishes have different ways of sourcing funds to rebuild their respective churches.

“If we talk about the cultural heritage, the cultural heritage is declared by the government. Therefore, the government has their own commitment,” he said, adding that sources of budget from the government would take time.

“You cannot predict how the government works. So, the release of the budget is critical. But, we are praying that there would be timely release,” he added.

For the other churches not declared as national treasure, he said that sources will be coming from gene-rous benefactors, corporate entities, individuals and from the people themselves.

National Cultural Commission for the Arts Commissioner on Cultural Heritage Fr. Harold Rentoria said that at least 25 churches were affected by the quake in Cebu and Bohol. Rentoria said that these churches have declaration of assistance from the government through the National Mu-seum and National Historical Commission of the Phi-lippines.

He said that it is difficult to answer queries on restoration of national treasure churches that turned into rubble.

“Budget is for the phase 1 that is to conduct studies like the detailed engineering study, soil boring test, scanning that is being conducted by National Museum and National Historical Commission of the Philippines,” he said, adding that national agencies are now coordinating with the parish priests concerned.

“The study is still ongoing. They do shoring of some structures,” he said, adding that some youths are being trained to record the retrieved movable cultural treasures like antique images.

In terms of finances of the new construction of the churches that cannot be restored, he said that national agencies are still uncertain about it.

“We have discussions but we don’t have final decisions. We are prioritizing yung mga madaling ma-restore,” he said.

“Mahirap sagutin kasi baka umasa sila,” he added.

Rentoria said that the completion of the detailed engineering study for the churches in Bohol is on its 50 percent mark, stressing that he could not determine as to when they could finish everything.

He admitted that it would take time to rebuild and restore the churches, citing the Manila church restoration as example.

When asked if the soon to rise churches would be resilient to future disasters, he said that no one could ever tell because no one can predict how strong a future quake could be.

“That is why we’re doing it slowly because we want to be sure na kung ano yung output ng restoration, at least quality yung work niya,” he said. The target date for the completion of clearing operations for the national treasure churches should be finished by November, he added, admitting that there will be delays for some churches. He, how-ever, is hoping that the construction and rehabilitation would commence next year.

FATE OF SOME BOHOL CHURCHES

For the totally damaged century-old Santa Cruz Parish Church in Maribojoc, Bohol, parishioners have hard time accepting the fact that their church could not be reconstructed anymore.

Parish Priest Warren Abarquez admitted that he is having a hard time making the parishioners understand this fact.

“Permiro, dili gyod sila kadawat ang ila gyod ingon is, mabalik pa kay naa pa ang mga bato pero dili na gud na mahimo gud kay kun ibalik ni natong mga bato, inig naay earthquake og balik mahugno ra sab na,” he said.

Abarquez said that their parish was declared as national treasure, so the go-vernment funded the clearing operations.

“Sa part sa parish, mag-gama nalang gyod mi og bag-o. For now, naa tay temporary lang na church. Ang yuta nga kilid sa simbahan, gi-declare sa MGB og dili na maayo nga tukoran og bug-at pero among gipa-soil boring test, unya okay raman,” he said.

The parish is now coordinating with Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect, for the P20 million worth paper church.

Abarquez said that Ban has already contacted paper manufacturer in Manila that would realize his design.

“By January, hopefully makapatukod namig bag-o nga simbahan, but we know nga dili gyod makatabang ang national agencies sa among bag-ong ipatukod because dili naman siya considered as heritage,” he said, adding that they are hoping for generous donors to help them construct their “new hope”.

He said that they will try to build a new church that can also be recognized as a national treasure of the country in the future. — /QSB (FREEMAN)