Efforts on to preserve 52 churches in Cebu

CEBU CITY, Philippines – For the first time in the country, the Catholic Church and the Cebu provincial government will work in preserving at least 52 historical churches in the province.

Carlito Puno, director of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral Museum and chairman of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage, recently visited Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to hand over a memorandum of agreement.

The MOA, signed by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, speaks of the rights of the provincial government to coordinate with the Church in preserving the churches in Cebu.

Puno said they have initially recorded 52 Spanish and American colonial churches in Cebu.

“We want to put markers in these churches for people to protect them,” Puno said.

Among these churches are the Sto. Niño Basilica in Cebu City, the oldest being founded under the Spanish regime in 1565; San Pedro y San Pablo Parish in Bantayan, founded in June 1580; and Nuestra Señora Virgen de la Regla in Lapu-Lapu City, founded in 1584.

The governor welcomed the idea, saying they were arranging a meeting with Palma.

Garcia said once a parish plans to renovate a church, the plan must first be approved by a committee that the provincial government and the archdiocese of Cebu may soon create.

The governor plans to have the official signing of the MOA on Aug. 27 in Dumanjug town. – THE FREEMAN