TACLOBAN, Leyte—To kick off the longest
fiesta, the Philippine Heritage Month, the Department of Tourism
and National Commission for the Culture and the Arts, last week
hosted a tour of Leyte.
The heritage tour lined up the old churches
of Leyte and showed the possibilities of using them as venues
for cultural activities.
The National Heritage Month is celebrated
every month of May.
After 4 years of designing, coordinating and
, planning month-long heritage celebrations Filipino Heritage
Festival Inc. gears for its 5th and longest planned fiesta.
The focus this year is on "The Tradition of
the Bamboo," after having discovered that almost all our
provinces have cuisine, music, and dances related to the bamboo.
But for Leyte, the biggest come-on are the
churches.
Palo, 12 kilometers from Tacloban, is
considered as the seat of Catholicism in the province. The
offices of the ecclesiastical government of Archdiocese of Palo,
the archbishop’s residence, as well as the secondary, tertiary
and theology seminaries of the archdiocese are all located in
Palo.
The Cathedral of Our Lord’s Transfiguration
was built in 1596, shortly after the Jesuits came in 1595.
The hand-carved retablo (altar) was shipped
from Spain in the 1700s and was assembled and enhanced by local
craftsmen. Now, the altar is painted in gold, with some portions
in gold-leaf.
Approximately eighteen (18) kilometers south
of Tacloban, Tanauan has been adjudged as the 2006 Most
Business-Friendly Municipality in the Philippines (National
Winner) and as an Area Winner for the Visayas.
Tanauan is also known as the home of the
National Skimboarding Competition, held every Easter Sunday and
participated in by local and international riders.
A must-see place in Tanauan is the Parish
Church of Our Lady of Assumption.
Although newly-restored, the brick walls of
the rectory, the pulpit and fortress ruins are still part of the
original church.
Most noteworthy is the Spanish terra cotta
Via Dolorosa.
Dulag is one the largest coastal towns on the
east coast of Leyte Island facing Leyte Gulf out into the
Pacific Ocean.
It is also one of the oldest towns
Christianized in Leyte that dates back to 1595. The town is the
site where the US flag was first raised in the Philippines
during the WW II.
At the center of the town lies its most
prominent historical spot, the 1595 Jesuit Seminary Ruins where
the Our Lady of Refuge Parish Church is presently located.
The ruins typifies the historical
transformation from Spanish Time to Liberation and post
Liberation Period.
At this site in 1595 was established Leyte’s
first exclusive, religious Jesuit School. Started as a boarding
school, it was converted into a dormitory and chapel in 1901 and
was given full government support by Spain’s Royal Decree of
1607.
Concrete construction of the church and
convent took place in the 1700’s, was taken over by the
Augustinian friars in 1768 and by the Franciscans in 1800’s.
The municipality of Baybay in the province of
Leyte must have originated as a little pagan tribe with natives
scattered from the seashore and over the hills before the
Spaniards came
Baybay is also known for its numerous
heritage houses and the Immaculate Conception Parish Church
originally built 157 years ago.
According to historical data, the church was
originally a wooden chapel before local builders decided to
build a more sturdy building in 1850.
Although it has undergone several
renovations, the sacristy, high altar, pulpit, communion rails
and baptistry are still original.
The municipality of Hilongos is located in
the southwestern part of the province of Leyte facing the
Camotes Sea. It is situated 146 kms. from Tacloban City.
Several years before the 12th century, a
nomadic tribe from Iloilo came to the place by accident as they
were pursued by some warlike Malayan sailors. This place has
been called "Ilong" an adoption based obviously on the name of
the Ilongot tribe.
Other stories, however, had claimed that
Hilongos is a corruption of the words "ilong and lomos", the
later referring to the frequent drownings at the nearby Salog
river.
Hilongos boasts of the 17th century church
and "cota" (fort) located in the heart of the urban center.
This "cota" or fort is only one of the six
existing fort in the country, according to the records available
at the National Historical Institute.
Historians say that in the mid-1900s, local
church officials wanted to renovate the original church. Having
found some major structural defects, they decided instead to
tear down major portions of the church and build a new one.
What now remains of the original church is the baptistry, the
facade and the bell tower.
