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Region 7: Central Visayas ••• Bohol Island COMPLETING THE LOOP Calape The town is named after type of rattan, called locally kapi or kalapi. Both town and parish dedicated to San
Vicente Ferrer were founded in 1802.
However, the settlement was already being served by priests
from neighboring town of Loon before this date. In 1829, remnants of Dagohoy’s followers, some 1500 were
coxed to settle in the area.
The Recollects took charge of the parish until 1898 when
it was turned over to the seculars.
An old tabique and wooden church was replaced by one in the
neogothic style commenced in 1933 and completed two decades later
in 1954. Heritage Sites: Calape
church is a good example how colonial styles persisted even if
the Spaniards who promoted them had already left. Jose (2001, 34) describes the church as the “epitome
of Bohol Gothic.”
All of the structure is basically a lintel and post type,
gothic features like lancet arches, rose window, spires and crockets
are merely decorative. The pediment has a rose window although
it functions as an ornament rather than a real opening to the
church interior. A
typical Bohol feature, but definitely not gothic, is the portico
built in front of the façade, an extension of the choir
loft. Gothicizing
elements are found in the interior on the altars and event the
confessionals. The
transept is an addition to the original plan and is rather narrow. The church is attributed to two builders,
Eliseo Josol y Villamayor and Rosalio Real y Oppus, were said
to have been shown a picture of the Santo Domingo church in Intramuros,
which they used as a model. A historic bell dated 1690 and dedicated to St. John the Baptist
by Bachiller Juan Alfonso Ruiz, is found in the bell tower. This bell came from the defunct Parian
parish in Cebu, ordered dissolved, resulting in the demolition
of the church in 1878-79.
Tubigon, meaning watering hole, is a jump off point to Cebu.
It was the customary docking place for boats coming from
southern Cebu. The Jesuits had already arrived in Tubigon and in 1613 was
made a visita of Loboc.
This is probably the same “Tobigu” mention
by Pedro Chirino (1600) where he mentions that the people in anticipation
of the Jesuits’ arrival built a church.
Tubigon no longer appears in a 1779 inventory of churches,
suggesting that the town may have been abandoned.
It was formally constituted a town in 1819 from barrios
of Calape and Inabanga, and became a parish under the Recollects
in 1854. All through
the intervening years, priests visited the town for Sunday Mass.
No clear dates are available for the construction of the
church.
Heritage Site: The
church is follows the basilical plan of a central nave with aisles,
however, it has a transept, and crossing is covered by an octagonal
cupola. The church
fabric shows a mixture of materials, the upper part of the wall
and most of the façade is concrete, however, the lower
part is of rubble bound by lime mortar. Metal sheet are also used in the upper
section of the nave. Jose
(2001, 100) opines that these modern material were applied between
1928 and 1934, when the bell tower was made. The nave is covered with metal ceiling decorated by Ray Francia
from Cebu, his signature is found over the gospel or left transept. With Canuto Avila, Francia was commissioned
by the Cebu bishops to paint the churches of Bohol in the 1920s
and 30s. These paintings
were mostly derived from holy pictures and illustrations from
catechism and Bible histories. At the exterior of the gospel flank, the mortar has been exposed
to reveal the presence of stout posts or haligi that support the
church’s roof. These
posts are embedded in the mortar of the church fabric.
Originally named Can-ogong, Clarin was established as a parish
in honor of St. Michael the Archangel in 1924, after being a visita of Inabanga in 1852, and of Tubigon
in 1881. Clarin was
established a town in 1921 and named after Aniceto Clarin, Bohol’s
first civil governor. The
Recollects administered the parish from 1927-37 and were succeeded
by the seculars.
The church traces to the 1920s when Recollects built over an provisional
church raised in 1924. In
1952, the roof and walls were raised and in 1955 another register
was added to the bell tower.
This was damaged in an earthquake of 1996 and had to be
torn down and replaced with a more stable structure. Heritage Site: The church made of poured concrete continues the neogothic style prevalent in Bohol with a central tower in front of the façade, which serves both a bell tower and portico. Lancet windows, finials, and other Gothic motifs are expressed in cement.
Located on an elevated area beside the banks of the Inabangan River,
a mission was founded in the place by the Jesuits in 1596. Like Talibon it was administered in Jesuit
times from the Colegio de San Ildefonso in Cebu. The parish was founded in 1722, with the
advocacy of San Pablo Apostol, passed on to the Recollects in
1768 and they remained its pastors until 1898.
Heritage Site: The church is ideally situated on an elevated
area, the highest point in town.
Stone embankments protect the site. An earlier church of stone was built during Jesuit times but
it was burnt probably during the Dagohoy revolt. Redondo (1886, 181) reports that the church was in bad condition
and so was the adjoining convento. A new stone church was completed in 1899 but this was burnt
by Americans in 1902 in retaliation for the attack on the garrison
at Tubigon. The church
is composed of various materials, the last being concrete, introduced
by the secular priest Fr. Quiterio Sarigumba in 1931.
The church uses gothic elements in the façade and
has a portico in front of the entrance.
The interior is disappointingly modern, except for an exquisite
wooden tabernacle probably from Jesuit times and the murals of
the Garces brothers, done in the style of Canuto Avila and Ray
Francia.
Originally named Ambacon, Jetafe is near Pangpang, a lair of Dagohoy’s
followers. Named
after Getafe (Boholanos use “J”) after a town near
Madrid, it was a barrio of Inabanga until 1835 when it was constituted
as a town. It became a parish in 1876, with the patron
as the Santo Niño, and was under the Recollects until 1898. The first church was constructed in 1883,
it was made of tabique on mortar base.
It had a stone pavement for the nave and a wooden floor
for the sanctuary. A
church of poured concrete replaced this earlier church in 1926.
Heritage site: The Jetafe church façade resembles
that of Tubigon, where a central tower houses the bells on the
upper story and the lower story forms a portico before the main
entrance. It resembles early Florentine Renaissance
churches. The church
follows the basilica plan with a central nave flanked by aisles.
A gold-mining town in colonial days, Talibon had attracted a sizable
community of enterprising Spaniards. The Jesuit Gabriel Sanchez went to Talibon in 1596 after he
and Juan Torres had organized the reducciones of Loboc and Baclayon. The Jesuits administered the mission from
Loboc but because of the distance it took traveling along the
coast, decided that it and Inabanga were more conveniently administered
from the Colegio de San Ildefonso in Cebu.
Recollect historian Cavada claims that the parish was founded
in 1722. Talibon remained attached to Inabanga
until 1831. Church
construction began in 1852 with the gathering of material. A document in the National Archives dated 1858 request for
authorization to build the church and with is attached the plans
drawn by Domingo Escondrillas, director-inspector of public works
in Cebu. He was responsible for a number of churches
in Cebu and Bohol, Loon being his best-known work. Heritage site: The church of Talibon as built hews closely
to the Escondrillas’ plan.
However, the architect’s sedate plan for the façade’s
was overtaken by a virtuoso display of the stone carvers art. Columns are sheathed in garlands of leaves.
The façade’s rich ornamentation is unfortunately
not carried into the plain interior. Talibon with the advocacy of the Most Holy Trinity is the cathedral of the diocese of Talibon, erected in 9 January 1986.
Ubay was under the jurisdiction of Talibon both ecclesiastically
and civilly for many decades until it became an independent municipality
in 1840 and a parish in 1877.
Followers of Dagohoy were resettled in the town as early
as 1810. Although Redondo (1886, 182) describes
the Ubay church as provisional and made of wood, it was rebuilt
soon after by Fray Buenaventura Marrodan (1891-97); he was assisted
greatly by the Reyes family who donated one of the bells dated
1872, and inscribed with the name Toribio Reyes, who was the first
gobernadorcillo of Ubay.
The present church is of new construction. While parts of the apse, narthex and entrances to the transept belong to a 1920’s church, the rest were rebuilt when a typhoon damaged the church in 1968.
Dedicated to the Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion, Guidulman
located on the banks of the Tabajan River was organized as a town
to receive the returning bands of Dagohoy’s followers who
had fled to the mountains after his revolt.
The Recollects inaugurated the parish in 1798 remaining
there until 1898, and returning in the early 20th century
to remain until 1937. The town was put to the torch by Americans
during the Fil-American War and by the Japanese during World War
II, the church and convento, however, were spared.
Fray Antonio Fernandez, the first Recollect parish priest (1798-1807)
built the first church but it was burnt during a raid by Dagohoy’s
followers in 1829. A
new church was built in its place and is mentioned in Redondo
(1886, 184) as of modern construction.
This neoclassical church survived to the 20th
century but now stands in ruin behind the present church.
Another church was begun in 1881, a decade after a new
convento was completed (1877).
The church took more than half a century to finish culminating
in 1950. Heritage Site: The present church is of mixed material, the
lower register of coral stone and the upper of concrete, reflecting
the long time it took to complete it.
A portico was built in front of the façade and supports
a balcony. The church
interior is relatively bare, with ornaments from the 1950s and
60s. The 1877 convento beside the church is separated by a road and is now used as a school.
Anda is located in a peninsula that juts southwest. In this peninsula prehistoric sites have
been discovered, one intriguing site yielded countless jawbones
of pigs, carefully arranged.
It was probably a ritual site, considered by the National
Museum of the Philippines as an important archaeological site.
The town was formerly called Quinale.
Renamed Anda in honor of Simon de Anda y Salazar who resisted
British occupation in 1762-64, becoming governor general in 1769,
the town was created in 1876 and the parish in 1885.
The Recollects were in charge of Anda until 1898, and by
special request of the people returned in 1902 until finally leaving
in 1937. The town was burnt by American after revolutionaries
but the church was spared because of the pleas of the parish priest.
Heritage site: The
church faces the beach, separated from it by a wide-open field. An older tabique church, probably the
same one reported by Redondo (1886, 183) is said to have stood
slightly across the convento.
The change in colonial government in 1898 stopped the collection
of material for a new church, begun as early as 1886, however
in 1926 the church was completed under the direction of Fr. Carlos
Ortuoste. The church
is cruciform with a plain and austere façade enlivened
by doors and windows. The
interior however is a pleasant surprise with the colorful ceiling
paintings by Ray Francia, the retablos the use Greco-Roman motifs,
and the Art Deco confessionals. The adjoining convento was built in the 1880s and completed a decade
later.
Named after a mighty river that traverses northern Spain and Portugal,
Duero was created a town in 1862, from barrios of Guidulman and
Jagna. It became
a parish in 1863 with the advocacy of Santa Filomena, however,
it is present patron is the Immaculate Conception.
The Recollects administered the parish until 1898, returning
in 1902 and finally leaving in 1937.
Construction of the church began under the first Recollect
pastor Fray Lorenzo Hernandez (1863-70) who collected wood necessary
for construction. The church was completed in 1874 and the convento around the
same era during the term of Fray Francisco Castellano (1871-86). The church’s cogon roof was replaced
with zinc sheets in the late 19th century. The church and adjoining convento were
the only structures saved from destruction when American troops
set the town on fire in October 1901.
Like the church the bell tower a separate structure joined by a
bridge has a lower story of mortar and an upper story of wood
and zinc sheets. The 1920s zinc sheets inscribed “Wolverhampton” are
still in place. The
interior is a symphony in wood: wooden floors, wooden ceiling
originally painted with an artesonado design (coffered ceiling) with alternating
rosettes and concentric circles. The crossing’s ceiling is quite
shallow with a carved pineapple dangling from its center whence
a chandelier hangs. The
wooden retablos are in neoclassical style.
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