I have previously wondered about the heritage churches in Zambales, or more accurately, the absence of them. I knew that the Spanish conquistadores have definitely reached this part of the Philippines, but every time I visit my wife’s (Blissfulguro) hometown of Cabangan, the churches I pass en route are all modern ones. This province is old, founded in the 1500’s, but where oh where are its massive stone churches?

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It was only recently that I finally got a glimpse of the Spanish colonial churches in Zambales. It turns out, I need to go past the sleepy town of Cabangan to finally see these old behemoths. Out of the thirteen municipalities of Zambales, four of these has old churches (it’s worth noting that all of these are located on the northern parts of the province), and of these, one even has a seal of being a National Cultural Treasure. Not really a lot, and I’m really curious as to the reason why, but still a good enough collection worthy of a Visita Iglesia pilgrimage in Zambales.

Dark gloomy clouds gather at the top of St. Paul’s Hill as we continued our way up through flights of stairs covered in maroon paint. We passed a complex of museums, went out to the open road, then a trellised path, and at last, a final series of stairway leading to the ruins of Melaka’s St. Paul Church atop the hill.

GOING UP TO MELAKA’S ST. PAUL CHURCH FROM THE DUTCH SQUARE

In theory, the climb is easy enough, but in reality, the intense suffocating heat of Melaka, even on overcast days, makes the climb double the effort. We decided to pass off this particular place during our first outing in the city almost exactly a year ago, but this time, with nowhere else to go, we prepped ourselves in braving the heat to finally see this famous ruin.

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Palo Cathedral’s twin spires rose mightily to the cloudless blue of the sky. That cloudless blue, however, was to be our bane. The midday sun was mercilessly scorching us as we wound around the closed gates of the cathedral, looking for a way to get in.

PALO CATHEDRAL’S NEWLY RENOVATED CEILING

One of the most searing images of Typhoon Yolanda’s aftermath is this same cathedral’s interior as its roof was ripped like paper from its vaulted ceiling. The scene was even broadcasted as it happened while GMA7’s usually flamboyant reporter, Love Añover and her crew, took shelter inside its cavernous hall and frantically reported as the church’s shingles flew off one after another.

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There it is, coming directly from our lodging, Lorenzo’s Way Bed & Breakfast, I pointed to my companions as the church’s rectangular five-story belfry poked through the busy roofline of downtown Tacloban City. I was a bit puzzled, the bell tower stood white through the morning’s blue sky. It was not the tower I remembered seeing several years back.

STO. NINO CHURCH’S OLD FACADE

Four years ago, I visited Tacloban City. A chance visit that resulted from a missed flight from Cebu to Manila to Catarman, which eventually led to a fast-craft ride from Cebu to Ormoc, then an epic bus ride all the way to Allen. In between that arduous journey, I found myself in Tacloban City for two days.

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THE PRE-YOLANDA INTERIORS OF THE TACLOBAN CHURCH

I distinctly remember entering the Sto. Niño Church back then and leaving somewhat unimpressed. I knew it had stood on that same ground for more than a century and I knew that the ivory Sto Niño enshrined on its retablo is said to be miraculous, but the symmetrically structure, painted in orange, simply didn’t stir my architectural appetite.

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THE NEW ALL-WHITE MODERNIST FACADE OF STO. NINO CHURCH TACLOBAN

Four years later, standing on that exact same spot, my eyes gazed upon the exact same church and my eyes couldn’t believe what it was seeing. The Tacloban Church has transformed beyond recognition. It still retained its basic shape, but the choice to repaint it in pure white was astounding. It didn’t look like the same church I visited several years back at all.

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INTERIORS SET WITH CURVES AND CIRCLES

This transformation was brought about by Typhoon Yolanda which struck the city November of 2013. The church, being quite near the waters of San Pedro Bay, was severely affected by the storm surge brought about by the typhoon. It was said that Taclobanons used the church as a shelter during that time and I can’t even imagine what happened inside the church then.

THE NEW INTERIORS SEEMED MORE GRACEFUL THAN ITS FORMER

The renovation which transformed the Sto. Niño Church from a forgettable building into a marvel of modern minimalism was spearheaded by Manila-based architect Dominic Garcia to a cost of 64 million pesos.

A CLEANER WIPING ONE OF THE NEW STAINED GLASS WINDOWS

The most notable of the changes are the pointed arches of the church windows and openings which have been replaced by circular and curved ones. The interior is also much improved, echoing the stark whiteness of its exterior with its graceful rib-vaulted ceiling.

TACLOBAN’S STO NINO CHURCH’S OLD RETABLO BALANCES NICELY WITH THE WHITE WALLS

I also noticed that the original golden retablo has been retained, the home to Señor Sto. Niño, a revered figure dubbed by locals as El Kapitan; a moniker it got from when it was lost to sea during its transport to Manila before being recovered at Siminara Island by fisherfolks—the event now commemorated by the locals as the Sto. Niño de Leyte Festival throughout the month of June every year.

Indeed, even after the massive devastation that Typhoon Yolanda inflicted upon this city, the resilience of its people to spring back, move forward and be better than before is very evident. The Sto. Niño Church is a shining proof of that resolve.

Sto. Niño Church
Address: Real cor. Zamora Street, Barangay 27, Tacloban City, Leyte
Contact Number: (053) 321-2602
Mass Schedule:
Opening Hours: Open daily
GPS Coordinates Map: 11.241535, 125.005793

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The peeling white-plastered walls of the St. Dominic Church in the town of Abucay tell a lot of stories. To be honest, I wasn’t really as impressed by its façade until I came to know the history that these silent walls have borne witness to.

TWIN DORIC COLUMNS FLANK THE EMBOSSED DOUBLE DOORS OF THE CHURCH

Our group arrived at the church’s courtyard just as the sun was about to set. Too bad, it was descending right behind the edifice and it wasn’t too keen on giving off any drama that day.

The church doors, which was embossed with figures of a bull, a man, an eagle, and what appears to be a jaguar, was closed. We thought then that that was probably it and started heading back to the van right after taking a few posterity shots.

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I’ve passed through the town of Morong in the province of Bataan a few times over the years, but I never knew it harbors a colonial church worthy of a visit. During the second day of the Pawikan Festival, we checked out a curious church en route to our hotel, Brizo Resort, for a brief respite from the festivities of the day.

THE LICHEN-COVERED WALLS OF BATAAN’S MORONG CHURCH

Morong Church, not to be confused with the a similarly named Morong Church in Rizal, is very squat. Situated on an elevated patio, the façade is broad but not very tall. I somehow find its proportions to be unsettling, being used to churches with towering heights.

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Tuguegarao City holds the record for having the hottest climate in the Philippines. And on in this particular day, we really can’t quite dispute that. We were sweating buckets as we moved through the city’s busy streets, walking through shades and sprinting along open areas as we made our way to the Tuguegarao Cathedral.

TUGUEGARAO CATHEDRAL’S MYSTERIOUS WALL DECORATIONS

The baroque-style cathedral stood proudly against the midday heat. A handsome brick sentinel, watching guard over the whole city. On its symmetrical façade—framed by Solomonic twisted pilasters—we could glean cryptic clay casts; two bolos with a six-pointed stars, roosters, mysterious characters topped with crowns.

Church architecture aficionados were quite particular with the cathedral’s broken and crested pediment, a style they said, typical to Cagayan churches.

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Where are we going, again?

I just woke up from an overnight bus ride from Manila to Isabela; the sun rising from the tree-lined horizon, filtering through the curtains of our bus window. My behind hurt from the long ride and still, I have no idea where we were going.

Some minutes later and we were hauling our backpacks down the bus. We crossed the empty highway and headed down a deserted street. Seriously, where are we going?!

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It was my first time in the province of Isabela and I don’t have an iota of a clue what the province holds. Well, I know they have a mean noodle dish eponymously named after one of its many towns, pancit cabagan, but that’s about it.

Soon enough, after passing more than a few sleeping dogs and sari-sari stores starting to open, an enormous wedding cake rose into view.

Wait, it’s not a cake, it’s a bell tower! Welcome to Tumauini’s San Matias Church.

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What does UNESCO mean anyway? J asked as we were rumbling through the scenic roadways towards the town of Santa Maria—our goal, to visit the UNESCO-stamped Santa Maria Church. Surprisingly, none of us knew the answer. We knew that it is one of the governing bodies throughout the world that says which site is of world heritage quality, sort of like the Oscars of the tourism world, but we have no idea what the acronym stands for.

I’ve always wanted to visit the Santa Maria Church in Ilocos Sur, but I remember reading that it’s a bit out of the way from the usual Ilocos tourist places. Without a car to get around, visiting it usually took a backseat towards the more popular spots in the region, like say, Calle Crisologo.

But this time, with the help of Hotel Felicidad Vigan, we were provided with a van and was given free reign on where to go. Santa Maria Church was the first thing that popped in my head. At long last!

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It’s all still a bit hazy to me, but I somehow recall how a fireball blazed into the sky and fell at the hill where an old tower stood. The meteor was taken by a stooped old man and was eventually forged into a sword, the balaraw. That sword was said to grow long by thrusting into the ground.

Ang Panday, a movie from my childhood, was more than a movie for me back then. And now, decades later, I am still unable to believe that I’m standing on the ground where that ball of fire struck.

But erase all that. After doing a bit of research, I stumbled upon a full movie of Ang Panday on YouTube. I started to watch it, waiting for the scene with the bell tower. Soon, I found that my memory served me wrong. The meteor didn’t land at the tower. Rather, a book was found there by Tata Temyong, buried under a tree, after an earthquake shook the ground.

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When one mentions Vigan Church, people immediately associate the term with the squat St. Paul or Vigan Cathedral sitting near the town plaza. But the city has another beautiful church on its ground, albeit a smaller one. Located at the edge of an old cemetery, Vigan’s Simbaan a Bassit sits proudly with its beautiful façade amidst the chaos of electric wires and silent tombstones.

It’s name, Simbaan a Bassit, is an Ilocano term which literally translates to Small Church. And the church is indeed petite. It can maybe seat only a hundred—it is more of a capilla or a chapel, really.

I have witnessed it being used for burial rites before, but I’ve also seen it used for regular Sunday masses.

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The final rays of the dying sun glowed golden at the back of Vigan Cathedral. I can’t remember the number of instances I held off photographing this church. I have walked along its shadows numerous times before but I always hoped to catch and shoot it in better light.

And finally there it was, in its entire splendor, just waiting for me to train my lens across its graceful façade and trip my camera’s shutter.

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Like a gem hidden behind the busy modern façade of Dagupan City, the old Dagupan Cathedral shines with its regal architecture. Resurrected from the ruins, it now towers as a testament to the city’s foregone era—before malls lined its streets, before concrete paved its highways.

Even masked by a concrete veneer, one can clearly see the history behind the façade of Dagupan’s Neo-Classical Sanctuario de San Juan Evangelista.

According to historians, the original church along with its convent was burned down in 1660 by Andres Malong, a rebel during the Spanish era. The cathedral has been rebuilt and renovated numerous times since due to earthquakes and flood.

When one mentions Calasiao, the thing that immediately comes to mind are small, bite-sized rice cakes or puto. It was the same for me—that was until I actually visited the town, which is located in Pangasinan. While hunting for some pasalubong to bring back home, we stumbled upon another of Calasiao’s treasure, its heritage Baroque church.

Getting there was easy enough, from the Dagupeña Restaurant, we simply rode a jeep and alighted at Calasiao’s Poblacion where the numerous puto and kutsinta vendors are centrally located. Calls immediately rang out, the vendors all vying for our attention.

Puto Calasiao’s difference from most putos is that it is fermented for days on jars before being processed. A plastic of the delicacy cost a measly ₱20.00—about 1/4 kilo—and is very addictive.

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Much has been written about the destruction that the magnitude 7.2 earthquake has done to Bohol last 2013. It laid waste to numerous Spanish-era churches in the region, but there are a few that were able to withstood the 34-second shaking, and one of these is Alburquerque’s Sta. Monica Church.

Standing proud on a low knoll with its singular belfry, the Sta. Monica Church was built in 1842 and is considered as one of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines. From frail materials, the church structure has since been replaced by coral stones and through the years parts have been added with concrete.

Anini-y. Anini-y. Anini-y. Like a chant, I silently repeated the name to myself lest I forget where I would need to alight from the bus that I took all the way from Iloilo. I have been doing a Visita Iglesia of sorts around the Province of Iloilo and I decided to cross Antique and include the diminutive Anini-y Church on my list.

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ANINI-Y CHURCH IS MADE FROM BLOCKS OF CORAL STONE

Fast forward a few months later and I’m back at the sleepy town of Anini-y.

Invited by Antique’s Katahum Tours, I again crossed the border of Iloilo and stepped back into Antique’s mostly uncharted tourist destinations. We’re going to visit a few more towns across the province and see what can drive people to visit the area where the stigma of aswang legends still persist.

A thirty-foot statue of the Risen Christ towers over the rolling landscape of the Province of Tarlac. We were at the hillside retreat of Monasterio de Tarlac for Tara Quin Tarlac, a familiarization tour spearheaded by Microtel Luisita to open the floodgates of tourism in the region.

A MONK AT THE MONASTERIO DE TARLAC

A monk from the Servants of the Risen Christ Monastic Community approached us, welcoming us to the Mountain of Resurrection where the monastery is built on. We asked a few questions and he gamely answered, explaining the origins of their order and the monasterio itself.

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I was overwhelmed with joy when I learned that Guagua’s Betis Church is included in Culture Shock PH’s Pampanga Culinary tour. The Sistine Chapel of the Philippines it is dubbed. The Baroque-inspired Betis Church is one of the 26 elite churches in the country that has been declared as National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum and the NCCA.

The group has visited another church in Pampanga, the half-buried Bacolor Church, just a few hours before we disembarked at Barangay San Nicolas in the town of Guagua. The sun was almost setting behind the faded pink façade of the church as we gazed upon its peeling exterior.

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Almost twenty years after Mount Pinatubo’s devastating lahar flow ravaged the province of Pampanga, the San Guillermo Church still stands proud, albeit half-sizedly, along Bacolor’s town plaza. It was the second stop of Culture Shock PH’s Pampanga Food and Heritage Tour and I was excited to explore a church quite different from what I normally see around the Philippines.

Originally standing at twelve meters high, the lahar flow from Mt. Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption reduced Bacolor Church’s façade into half its original height. The original door, which has been buried by mud and ash materials, can no longer be seen. What were formerly church windows are now used as main entrances to this house of worship.

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I was weighing my options during my last few hours in Kalibo in the province of Aklan. The past day has me scrambling in the town of Tangalan to view its seven-tiered Jawili Falls, its neighboring Jawili Beach, and its old church, the St. John Nepomucene Church or Jawili Church.

Earlier in the day, I strolled through Kalibo’s very own Bakhawan Eco-Park. I was tired, but still have enough energy not to waste my stay in the town famous for its Ati-Atihan Festival.

I walked along aimlessly around town. Just letting my two slow feet lead me to anywhere it might. I chanced upon Kalibo’s town plaza and found a cream-colored belfry complete with a weathervane jutting out from the trees just above the horizon.

Aha! A church! I’m not sure if it’s an old one, but I decided to check it out nonetheless.

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