The main altar was located at the center of the church which forms a Greek cross. Archival image from San Agustin Museum. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

It would have been a sight as one enters the lost church of Oton. From the main entrance with three gothic style doors, one is greeted with trompe l’oeils at the ceiling’s faux vault, the same features that now decorate the stone vault ceiling of San Agustin Church in Intramuros.

Where the four arms of the greek cross floor plan, a Byzantine style adaptation, of the church meet at the center, an impressive free standing and gothic style retablo rises.

This retable has four sides with each side having its own altar. It is separated from the nave by a beautiful wrought iron communion rail that ring the altar.

Above it, the pendentives, the triangular part where the dome connects with the walls below, are painted with the four evangelists, as is customary and still observed today.

As can be seen from the archival image at the left, the pulpit is not the typical one that hangs from the walls. Instead, it is supported from the ground. It is then topped with a gothic inspired torna voz with a spire rising at the center.

Oton Church is in the form of a Greek cross with four equal arms. It is mainly of the Gothic Order with other architectural styles blended. Image showing one of the side entrance. Archival image courtesy of San Agustin Museum.

The lost church of Oton in Iloilo was the only one of its kind in the Philippines in form and structure. It’s architecture is a combination of different architectural styles: gothic, classical and romanesque, a trait that is very much common in most Spanish colonial period churches in the country. It was in the form of a Greek cross, a byzantine floor plan with all four arms of equal length radiating from the center.

The structure has two levels. The first having semicircular windows running the length of its sides and each end of the arm having portals: three main doors at the main entrance and one each at the other arms. The second level has circular windows alternated with classical columns at each side and three openings with lancet arches top the portals.

The four entrances are crowned with a triangular pediment in the form of a gothic arch pierced with a rose window and flanked with two spires. Other than the three portals, the main entrance is also distinguished with bigger spires. A massive central dome has a lantern serving as a finial and below it are clerestory windows to admit light.

This blending of different architectural styles cohered in some way to become one of the unique structures in the country ever built. Unfortunately, it never survived to this day.

The stunning church of Oton, Iloilo was one of a kind in the Philippines but was destroyed not by war but by an earthquake. Archival image from the San Agustin Museum.

It would have been one of the country’s spectacular churches, if not the most beautiful were it not for a natural cataclysm that razed it to the ground. Oton’s once majestic church, in the form of a Greek cross, was unique as it was the only one with such a plan and architecture blending Byzantine with Gothic and classical elements.

The town of Oton was established by the Augustinians in 1572 after Cebu and Manila and was the center of their administration in Iloilo. In fact, the former name of the province is a namesake of the town. It’s name is the hispanized version of ogtong, meaning reef or tidal flat which is a main feature of the area and was then the encomienda of Don Miguel de Loarca.

The history of church building is a bit hazy but its first prior, Fray Martin de Rada was said to have built a church of good quality which was eventually destroyed during a Dutch attack in 1614. It was only in the 19th century that we get to know of a church being constructed during the curacy of Fray Demetrio Cobos who was parish priest from 1844-1854 that the first stones were laid.

Fray Diego de Hoz continued the project when Fray Cobos died in 1854. Fray Joaquin Fernandez, named in charge of construction in 1883 finished the edifice. The grand church was consecrated and blessed in 1892 by Fray Nicolas Gallo.

The edifice was spared during World War II but an earthquake on 5 January, 1948 destroyed it. It has never been rebuilt and only two bells, dated 1817 and 1887, and a portion of the wall, now built with a grotto, remain of the structure. The ruins of the old church can still be found in the area.

Lateral view of the nave with expanded side entrance. It's the main entrance now

Part of nave as seen from the interior

Nasugbu in Batangas was one of the few towns evangelized by the Augustinian Recollects while the rest of the province were handled by the Augustinians. A few kilometers from the poblacion, in the town of Lumangbayan, aptly named as this translates to “old town” which is the original location of Nasugbu, is a Spanish colonial period church ruin, overun with vegetation and balite trees that is still being used by devotees today.

At first, I thought that this was damaged either by a natural calamity or a victim of a muslim slave raid but I found out later that it was one of the casualties of the Philippine Revolution at the close of the 19th century.

I haven’t seen any archival images or don’t have much information about the history of this church except from one reference I got, an article in the Nasugbu Tourism Quarterly entitled The Story of Their Dream (April – June 2000) by Francisco Villacrusis. In October 1896, the author wrote, the town was retaken by the Spaniards from the rebels who liberated it from the colonizers a month earlier. As punishment, all people who weren’t able to evacuate were rounded up inside the church and were torched to death. The town was also burned.

The church ruins is a quadrilateral structure with a single nave built using mamposteria (rubble) and some coral stones as can be seen in the image below. Bricks were also used in some portions. The original main portal has been boarded up already while a side entrance was expanded and is now the main entry point. The façade is so damaged that its hard to discern how it looked like before it was destroyed. There is also evidence of a stone perimeter fence of which, a badly damaged portion can still be found at the back.

Today, the ruined church has a covered chapel inside and some devotees continue to pray at the wall where the alter used to stand. There are also candle vendors around as this was supposedly the place where the Nuestra Señora de Escalera appeared just before it was bombarded by the Spaniards.

More than a year after the fire, still more to be done.

Close up view of the renovated retablo and main altar which is still being worked on

Around two weeks ago, I was traveling down south and passed by Oslob Church to check on the status. 19 months after the devastating fire, there is still so much to do. The only thing that I have observed thus far are the restored roof and retablo. The vicinity of the altar is still being worked on.

At the nave, it’s still the same condition while the stations of the cross, with cement bas relief, which were badly damaged, are now replaced with what seems to be printed illustrations.

The belfry is much more spacious now and I was surprised to see that the stone pedestal of the wooden retablo has some faint traces of paint which indicate that this originally had some decorations.

Outside, the damaged stations of the cross were just placed near the right side entrance while the once beautiful kumbento is still lying neglected and in ruins. The entire left side of the church, near the perimeter fence, is empty now where once big trees stood.

This piece of land near the Inag-a River and coast of Carcar used to be where the first settlement and church of the municipality was established. It was abandoned in 1622 after a Muslim slave raid.

It was around 1400H that me and Lorens Gibb arrived at a flat piece of agricultural land near a house. It is surrounded with stands of coconut trees and fields of corn in Barrio Inayagan, Barangay Valladolid in Carcar. This was where a team of archaeologists from the University of San Carlos and the National Museum conducted an excavation in 2001 and 2002.

The photos used in this series were taken between 2005 and 2008 as the author visits this church from time to time. Special thanx to Lorens Gibb Lapinid for the assistance in 2008.

The place was formerly the site of the visita of Salug (also Sailo, Siaro or Jaro) which was established in 1599 by the Augustinians under the advocacy of Nuestra Señora de la Visitacion. While Pedro Galende, OSA, in his book, Angels in Stone, considered it as a small rural visita, Gaspar de San Agustin, OSA, wrote in 1686, considered it as one of the largest ministries in the Visayas and one of three that existed during that time in Cebu. The other two were the convent of San Nicolas, it’s mother matrix, and Sto. Niño.

Salug, meaning downriver or by the river, is near the mouth of the Inag-a or Valladolid River, an old settlement even before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers. In 1622, Muslim slave raiders destroyed the settlement. The people then abandoned Salug and transferred a few kilometers inland to a place teeming with cabcab (or cabcar) ferns. It is now the present town center of Carcar where the beautiful graeco-roman church is built atop a hill.

Interviews with the locals by the researchers indicated that during the 19th century, walls were still standing on the site but were later scavenged by the natives as construction materials. Archaeological diggings also yielded segments of a wall as well as indications of the presence of masonry.

Today, there’s no trace of the former settlement but Barrio Inayagan is also known as Daanglungsod, the vernacular for old town.

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This post was mainly based on the paper which was a report to the National Commission on Culture and the Arts on 31 March 2004 entitled Visayas Settlement by the River: Archaeological Investigations at the late 16th and 17th Century Site of Salug in Sitio Valladolid, Carcar, Cebu which was part of the Salug Archaeology Project. It was prepared by John A. Peterson, Amalia de la Torre, Nida Cuevas, Angel Bautista, Josephine Belmonte and Mark D. Wallis. The project was a collaboration between the University of San Carlos and the National Museum in 2001 and 2002.

The domed octagonal cemetery of Tabaco is impressive with its architecture. Black volcanic stone is used, just like the cathedral.

Extant mortuary chapels in the country are hard to find except maybe if you are in the province of Iloilo where there are a few excellent examples. However, beyond that province and Cebu, there are also scattered across the rest of the regions but not all and I haven’t seen one from Mindanao. During my travels, I was able to find some that are now posted here.

Not all towns and cities have them as only the more affluent ones were able to build these. Typically, these cemetery chapels are either found at the center, some are at the back end and an exception seems to be the Simbaan a Bassit which, other than located at the front, it has the only working espadaña, architectural feature where the bells are hung at the pediment, in the region. Nagcarlan is beautiful with its circular cemetery like Paco in Manila (not shown here), sports an espadaña and has a catacomb, the only one that I’ve seen.

Lucban and Tayabas surprised me with its twin belfries. While the former is in ruins, the latter is still in working condition and made me smile because of the gothic architecture (lancet portal & trefoil). Still in Tayabas, the Santuario de las Almas is huge compared to the other chapels.

Cabatuan, San Joaquin, Miag-ao all in Iloilo and Tabaco City in Albay have their own octagonal chapels of which San Joaquin is the most impressive. Tabaco’s is also stunning because of its dark volcanic stones. These two are domed.

Lastly, Sta. Maria in Ilocos Sur looks impressive but it’s difficult to ascertain as it is already in ruins. The one in Malabon, Metro Manila has only its lower part extant and is also in ruins. Both were constructed by the Augustinians and are located just near the main church.

The mortuary chapel in Calamba, Cebu City is notable for its stylized skeleton relief that finds no parallel in Cebu.

The cemetery and mortuary chapels in Cebu are not as grand as those in Iloilo and are in different degrees of condition with most having been renovated and one in near collapse. For purposes of identification, I should clarify the two: cemetery chapels are those structures that are within the cemetery perimeter. It was in the 19th century that churches complied with the king’s edict to relocate these away from churches. In more affluent towns, these burial places were fenced and a chapel was built either at the center or at the far end. The mortuary chapel are structures that were built typically within the church compound either beside it or infront. It was where masses were said or a wake was held.

In the island province of Cebu, the presence of these structures are quite rare and are usually concentrated in areas that were under the Augustinian order. In this post, I have included those that can be found only in Cebu City (Calamba), Oslob, Boljoon, Sibonga, Argao and Dalaguete.

The mortuary chapel in Calamba, Cebu City is impressive because it has the most stylized skeleton relieve anywhere else in Cebu.

Built in 1863, the cemetery chapel of Calamba is the only extant structure in Cebu City and it originally belonged to the parish of San Nicolas. Of all the structures found in Cebu, it has the most stylized and biggest skeleton relief found at its pediment. It has a crown on its head, a staff in its right hand and at its left, holding a box containing an hourglass.

There used to be a small bell atop it. Below the pediment, you have this array of skull and crossbones and at the top side of the portal is a pair of skull and crossbone medallions. A floral rosette (or is this a stylized wheel?) can be found at the sides. The date of completion is etched atop the door. This structure is built at the center of the cemetery but unfortunately, an ugly canopy that doesn’t harmonize with the architecture was added infront.

Dalaguete cemetery chapel in ruins

Dalaguete mortuary chapel beside the church

Located at the backside of the cemetery, the one in Dalaguete (left) is a ruined structure. Its roofless with debris and human bones scattered at its floor. It has a very simple facade. A finial is located atop a rounded pediment. No relieves are found.

The mortuary chapel on the other hand (right), located just beside the church, is quite impressive and doesn’t look like one. At first, I thought that this was a stylized belen (nativity scenes during Christmas) but at the back of the structure is a skull and cross bones relief. The facade originally have impressive carvings detailed with symbolism of the church, Christ and the Augustinian Order but because of the deterioration, they covered the parts with cement. Now, the rich details located below the fascia can no longer be seen.

Sibonga cemetery chapel

The cemetery chapel is located at the center but it is in such bad condition that it is in danger of collapsing. Vegetation has grown on almost all the external parts and if this will not be addressed, the roots will further weaken the stones. It is another different style, the only one with a dome. Curiously, it has two entrances at both facing sides.

Like in Dalaguete, open coffins with one still bearing a dried out corpse and bones are scattered at its floor. Niches have been filled and some have been enlarged to accommodate the bigger sizes of modern coffins. It’s a very much neglected structure.

Oslob cemetery chapel

Oslob mortuary chapel infront of the church

Oslob is one of three municipalities in Cebu that have both cemetery and mortuary chapels. The cemetery chapel is located at the back end of the cemetery and it’s form resembles that of Argao. However, niches have crept infront of it and a canopy was cemented that now mars and hides the architectural details of this structure.

The mortuary chapel is located infront of the church. It has the skeleton with a staff and hourglass relief at its pediment. Only the facade remains as part of the original structure.

Argao cemetery chapel

Argao mortuary chapel infront of the church

The cemetery chapel of Argao (left) is located at the far end. When I first saw this in 2005, it was in ruins with the roof caved. When I came back this year, I was surprised and happy to see that they have restored it.

The mortuary chapel, on the other hand (right) was recently “rediscovered.” It is a beautiful structure that has wonderful details at its facade and, like the cemetery chapel, has a relief of St. Michael. There used to be a structure infront of it that hid this chapel and with a revitalized tourism effort in the municipality, they have torn it down. I just hope that they will eventually clean the vegetation growing at the pediment. As romantic as it may seem it does weaken the structure and the roots will eventually damage the stones. A more detailed post can be found at the Cebu Cathedral blog.

The historic stone church at the town proper of
Oslob that was gutted by fire.

Fire destroys Oslob church

By Nilda Gallo
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 11:57:00 03/27/2008
Originally posted at inquirer.net.

Many parishioners wept upon seeing the ruins of their century-old church, which was gutted by fire in Oslob town, about 117 km south of Cebu City.

They were, however, thankful that the 19th century image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe that was placed inside a glass case at the center of the altar was spared in the fire that broke out at 1:45 a.m. yesterday.

Firefighters also found 73 other icons below the bell tower and some portions of the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception parish church in barangay Poblacion.

The fire started from the room of the parish priest, Fr. Valentino Gemelo, located on the second floor of the convent, which was adjacent to the church.

No people were hurt in the fire but it killed the 13 cats and kittens owned by Fr. Gemelo.

About P2 million worth of property inside the convent went up in smoke but church officials would not place a value on the 19th-century structures and antique furniture that were destroyed in the fire.

Ferilan Gemelo, 20-year-old convent helper and nephew of the parish priest, said the fire would not have gotten bigger had the fire department been able to respond immediately.

The church was located about 50 meters from the fire station.

SFO2 Jaime Suycano, Oslob fire marshal, said they could not respond because their two fire trucks were defective.

He said they had to ask some residents to help them push one of the fire trucks to the church, so they could hose the fire down.

The fire trucks from nearby towns of Santander, Dalaguete, Argao and Sibonga arrived past 2 a.m. But by the time the trucks arrived, the fire had already engulfed the church and the convent.

The fire department in Boljoon town failed to send fire trucks because these were also defective.

At the time of the fire, Father Gemelo was in Cebu City to have his vehicle checked. Tuesday was his day off.

According to Ferilan, he was inside the room across the parish priest’s room typing his term paper on the computer when the fire broke out.

He noticed something wrong with his monitor. Then he heard noise inside the priest’s room.

Ferilan went out of the room to check out the noise, then saw the thick smoke coming from another room next to Fr. Gemelo’s.

He immediately roused from sleep Dixon Obligado, another convent worker. Both ran to the police station to report the fire but the policeman told them to go to the fire department.

When they reached the fire station, Obligado said he immediately told the fireman on duty about the fire but the officer merely walked outside the station and looked up to the direction of the church.

The fireman then returned to his seat, without saying a word.

“Wa mi nila prangkahi nga guba diay ilang firetrucks (We are not told that their firetrucks had malfunctioned),” said Obligado.

Frustrated, Obligado and Ferilan decided to run back to the convent and tried to put out the fire themselves.

They took pails of water and threw it into the fire but the blaze had gotten bigger. They decided to run out of the burning building.

Ferilan grabbed the central processing unit of his computer and dashed out.

He said he wanted to get the computer on the ground floor that contained some important files like baptismal and confirmation records but he feared that he might be trapped inside the office.

When the smoke cleared, only the walls and columns of the church, which were made of coral stones, remained.

But at the center of the altar stood the image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe, the same image that was also spared in the fire that hit the church in 1955. (See related story)

The image, one of the oldest in the province, is among the religious icons brought to Oslob by Spaniards from Mexico, said Louella Alix, a member of the Archdiocesan Commission on the Cultural Heritage of the Church.

The religious icon was removed from the burnt altar and is now kept at the Office of the Vice Mayor along with other icons that were recovered from the fire.

A portion of the altar’s roof had caved in but it did not hit the image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is about four feet tall and made of molave wood.

“Milagro gyud (It’s a miracle),” said Socrates Legaspi, one of the parishioners.

Miguel Yrauda, an 88-year-old lay minister, said it was painful to see what happened to the church that his forefathers had helped build.

He said his mother told him that his grandfather was one of the residents who brought the coral stones that were used to construct the church.

Yrauda said he could not help but ask why their church had been burned at least twice. “What were the sins of the Oslobanons?” he asked.

Fr. Gemelo was teary-eyed upon seeing what had become of his church. The parish priest was informed by his nephew of the fire.

Bishop Julito Cortes, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Episcopal Committee for Cultural Heritage of the Church, was heard telling Fr. Gemelo, “condolence.”

Firefighters told the priest that the fire could have been triggered by faulty electrical wiring after Ferilan noted that the blaze came from the ceiling of Fr. Gemelo’s room.

Fr. Gemelo, who lost his personal belongings in the fire, said Bishop Cortes had promised to help him. The priest will temporarily stay at the Religious of the Virgin Mary Congregation convent located at the back of the church.

He said he felt sad with what happened to his Persian and Siamese cats. “They were the ones who wake me up,” he said.

While the church has yet to be reconstructed, Father Gemelo said they would hold Masses at the the Camarin on weekdays and at the town’s covered court on weekends.

About 4:30 p.m. yesterday, Fr. Gemelo officiated a Mass at the Camarin, a one-story structure where the church’s carrosas were kept. It is located about 15 meters from the church.

In his homily, the parish priest asked his parishioners not to be overwhelmed with grief with what happened to their beloved church. With the help of the community, he added they would be able to rebuild the church.

About 100 parishioners attended the Mass. Many of them were in tears.

In the meantime, the Provincial Fire Marshall will have to explain why the office failed to have the town’s fire trucks fixed.

SFO2 Suycano said they informed the Provincial Fire Marshall and Oslob Mayor Ronald Guarin about the defects of the two fire trucks last March 3, but no repairs were made.

He said one fire truck had a defective clutch assembly while the pump of the other firetruck was damaged.

He added that he had requested for funds to repair the fire trucks but the money had not been released.

Virgina Palanca-Santiago, Assistant Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas, said they would docket for fact-finding inquiry the alleged failure of some officials to have the fire trucks repaired.

“Why was the request not acted upon? Had they acted on the matter? Did they have enough funds? How come the fire trucks were not fixed when these are important?” she said.

Msgr. Achilles Dakay, Cebu Archdiocese media liaison officer, said that the fire should serve as lesson for provincial officials to improve the facilities in the province’s fire-fighting equipment.

Dakay said provincial officials such as Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia should visit the towns to determine what facilities needed to be improved. /With Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan

__________

Third fire in 66 years

By Bernadette Parco
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 11:52:00 03/27/2008
Originally posted at inquirer.net.

FIRE has struck thrice in this 161-year-old Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church of Oslob town, southern Cebu.

The first was in 1942 when Filipino guerillas burned down the church, said Trizer Dale Mansueto, History professor at the University of San Carlos.

The reason was not stated in history books, he said but it was common knowledge that Japanese soldiers were holed up inside the church at that time.

Only the walls and the columns, which were made of coral stones, were left of the church.

In 1955, a fire of unknown origin gutted the whole complex except for the masonry wall of both buildings, according to the book, Angels in Stone by Father Pedro Galende, OSA.

“The people were only able to save the relief of the Virgin Mary, their patroness. The image that is being venerated now in Oslob,” said Mansueto.

But with the cooperation of the townsfolk, Fr. Benedicto Zapra restored the church.

According to the Angels in Stone, Fr. Constantino Batoctoy renovated the convent in 1977 and completed the restoration of the church in 1980.

The cornerstone of the church, which was built on the south coast of Cebu Island bounded by Nueva Caceres, the islands of Panglao and Siquijor and Dumaguete City, was laid by Augustinian Fray Julian Bermejo on May 4, 1830.

The book described Fr. Bermejo as “dynamic priest who set up a defense fortress against Moro pirates in various parts of Cebu.”

The plans were drawn by Bishop Santos Gomez Marañon who also designed the front and belfry of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, the old bishop’s palace or the Patria de Cebu and probably the Museum, said Mansueto.

“He also designed the kiosk that houses the Magellan’s Cross,” said Mansueto.

The church, which was about 64 meters long, 15 meters wide and 9 meters high, was completed in 1847. Bishop Romualdo Ximeno officiated the blessing and the first Mass there.

According to Angels in Stone, Fr. Apolinar Alvarez built the 30-meter high, three-story belfry tower in 1858.

The book said the simplicity of the facade’s design, the emphasized vertical movement and the straight lines made the church attractive.

In fact, the book said the increase in the population of Oslob from 4,178 in 1948 to 6,284 in 1896 was due to the “magnificent church with its transept, whose structure, made of selected stones, (was) well-finished.”

After yesterday’s fire, the Oslob residents and historians are hopeful that the church would rise from the ashes, just like in 1942 and 1955.

“We still have to see the extent of the damage before we can determine the amount of restoration work that has to be done on the structure. Hopefully, ma- rebuild gihapon ang simbahan,” said Mansueto.