(First of a series)
I RESERVED the story of my church visits after the Holy Week since I would like to approach it from a different angle. But as I am drafting this story, I haven’t thought of any angle at all, haha. Well, it’s not like after sitting and tinkering on your keyboard, you’re suddenly hit by inspiration. Sometimes, you need to look at the plants right across you, be mesmerized by the dancing leaves as the breeze softly caresses them, pause, watch, and wait, and hope that inspiration will come.
Tubigon Church
One sunny day in March, this year, we finally executed our plan to visit the churches of Tubigon, Calape, Loon, Antequera, Corella, and Panglao. We were successful in our visits to the churches of Tubigon, Calape, and Loon, but on the remaining churches, we were unsuccessful. The church in Antequera is still under construction, Corella church was close, as well as Panglao—we were told the church is close every Tuesday.
First on my list is Tubigon because of my romantic history with the place, haha. I once served a company there as communications consultant and stayed in the town for a while feeling like a local. I must tell you it feels good to behave like a local; blending in is a beneficial exercise. Try it.
This was the time when the municipio was still standing right across the town plaza—I don’t know how the old municipio turned into a different building and relocated elsewhere, which was disappointing because of the absence of greenery; well, I’m always biased in favor of a municipal hall surrounded by greens but this isn’t about the municipio anyway—where nearly every afternoon, Ate Lilia Ebua and I strolled together to eat “Ngohiong” which I learned to like over the course of time. It was fun sitting there, munching on Ngohiong, while gazing at the passersby who went about their lives. Anyways, in all our plaza strolls, we didn’t get inside Tubigon Church. I couldn’t quite remember why but anyhow I was finally able to do it—in style.
Sometimes when one goes inside a church for the first time, one holds some kind of expectation, but I didn’t. This is a residual influence of my Paoay Church experience.
Once indoors, total comfort washed over me. It was a beautiful peace. Apart from its ethereal beauty, what arrested my attention was the simple yet grand altar with its solitary focal piece which momentarily was covered since we were moving towards holy week. The floor tiles were also diverse since the artisan chose a black and white combination, looking elegant and at the same time modern. Truly, one can blend the new and the old together to create a magnificent work of art.
Written on the seal installed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the Tubigon Church was established as a visita of Calape in 1768. That’s two hundred fifty-six years ago this year! Construction of the building continued in 1887-1893. The ceiling’s paintwork was done from 1920-1930. Ten years of paintwork! I can only imagine Ray Francia’s dedication, passion, and hard labor.
An academic shared that the centuries-old churches of Bohol is not just about religion: It is cultural; a way of life. Let’s revisit our past lessons on culture. Culture, according to a Boston University School article, “can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs, and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called ‘the way of life for an entire society.’ It includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, art.” Spot on!
Religious or non-religious alike visit these historical wonders because of what they offer: a glimpse into an echoing past, embedded into our psyches, that continues to inspire us in the present. Yes, we were colonized by the Spaniards and subjugated; we even get our country’s name from them; our ancestors enslaved; betrayed; martyred; but a living testament of what the Spaniards had left us centuries back and formed part of our lives—is our culture encompassing these beautiful church buildings, comparable to none, which had seen many excruciating, poignant, and acute stories of defeats and losses, and delightful, joyous, and touching moments of triumphs.
Personally, the Bohol churches, have always fascinated me. It’s an inspiration — a writer’s inspiration.
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The writer is on leave from her talk show, Woman Talk with Belinda Sales. She can be reached at belindabelsales@gmail.com. Twitter @ShilohRuthie./PN
