SANTA MONICA CHURCH COMPLEX IN ALBUQUERQUE, BOHOL

Posted on: October 13, 2022 | National Museum of the Philippines

The arcade that lead from the church to the convent, Bohol. AABHD 2022

Although we all know of Albuquerque (‘Albur’ as it was colloquially known) in Bohol for its ‘Asin tibuok’, a type of rare artisanal sea salt from the Boholano people made from filtering seawater through ashes, lesser known is that immediately across where these salt beds are found is a church complex whose walls are the oldest witness to the burning coconut husks in which salt is derived. As in many Philippine pueblos, the town started humbly as described by Regalado Trota Jose in his book Visita Iglesia Bohol:

“This parish had its beginning as a visita, an extension of the parish of Baclayon. The settlement was then known as ‘Sagunto’, named after a town in Catalunya, Spain. Upon the request of one of the settles, Doña Mariana Irag, a chapel, convento, and school were erected in 1842, on the land which she herself preferred. The church complex stood at the boundary between Baclayon and Loay. The site was made a town in 1861, separate from Baclayon and with some land taken from Loay. This time it adopted a new name, Albuquerque, after a town in Badajoz, Spain. The parish was formally inaugurated in 1869; it was under the care of the Augustinian Recollects until 1898 when the clergy took over”.

Compared to its adjacent town church complexes (La Purissima Concepcion del Virgen Maria Parish Church in Baclayon and Santissima Trinidad Parish Church in Loay), which are designed as church fortresses, the church complex in Albuquerque is more of an open park, partly because the parish was canonically erected in 1869 and during that time, a church fortress is less necessary since Moro (pirates) attacks are less frequent. The church complex includes the church, the arcade that leads to the convent, and the convent. A property left of the church is the original twin building for the Escuela de Niños y Niñas.

From its humble beginnings in wood and bamboo as a capilla visita from Baclayon in 1842, to a larger and studier shed-type church in 1856, to a more permanent structure with tabique walls in the 1880s; the present three-aisled plan church in coral stone was commenced by Fr. Manuel Muro in 1885 and construction continued until 1896 and finally the tower bell-gable (espadaña) type façade in the 1920s thru the 1930s.

Most noticeable in Bohol churches are the interior ceiling paintings, a replacement made by Guy Custodio of the original Ray Francia is what we see today. Remnants of the original painting are framed and scattered all over the church’s sacristy and other auxiliary rooms for the parish. Ray Francia is the most prolific artist in Bohol and Cebu and has many commissions in the 1920s and 1930s. The baroque-inspired retablos by Arsenio Lagura Jr. and his team are also new (2015), none of the original main retablo remains, while two neo-gothic side retablos survived prior to its replacement.

Noteworthy is the unique arcade that links the church and the convent. Remnants of unfinished construction suggest that there is a plan to develop the area probably an extension of the church or the convent. The convent has a façade and grand scale typical to those of an Ayuntamiento rather than an enlarged bahay na bato that is archetypal in the islands.

On 13 October 2013, the provinces of Bohol and Cebu were stuck by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, and the church was moderately damaged. Cracks, detachment of facing stones, and collapsed parts are visible within the perimeter of the unreinforced masonry walls of the church.

A proposal for restoration work for the damaged built heritage in Bohol and Cebu was immediately funded by the national government thru cultural agencies (National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). The conservation for Santa Monica Church Complex in Albuquerque, Bohol was assigned to the NMP. The restoration was completed on 18 August 2018.

The collective efforts of the national government through its cultural agencies, the Local Government Unit of Albuquerque, and the Provincial Government of Bohol, show an ideal collaborative work for the protection of built heritage and sites. We are assured that the architecture, art and values of which these built heritage and sites represent are available for everyone to learn and appreciate.

Article by Architect Benjamin Concepcion Empleo. Photos by the NMP Architectural Arts and Built Heritage Division.