Beside church ruins, a new place of worship in Bohol town

By Carmel Loise Matus |Inquirer Visayas

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

LOBOC, BoholLike many of the parishioners here, 67-year-old Amy Ladaga felt her heart tear to pieces when she saw the devastation on their church caused by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake last year.

We were all sad when we saw the extent of the damage. If you were the one looking at it, you would also feel the devastation, she told the Inquirer.

Ladaga was one of over 1,000 parishioners who attended Mass at the alternative church, as well as its blessing, which was built 5 meters from the old St. Peter Parish Church. Many were teary-eyed when the famous Loboc Childrens Choir sang Light of a Million Mornings and Rise Up Again.

The church in Loboc town, built in 1602, was the second oldest in Bohol province. It was heavily damaged when the earthquake shook the province on Oct. 15, 2013.

Its walls on one side remain standing but the convent-turned-museum, sacristy and facade went down in crumbles.

For almost a year, parishioners have been attending Mass under tents set up beside the ruins. They would bring their own chairs, sometimes umbrellas when it rained.

Church repair would have cost at least P200 million, an amount church officials didnt have, so they decided to build a substitute house of worship. Through donations, they were able to raise at least P15 million, mostly from Loboc residents now based in other countries.

With the funds, the officials led by parish priest Fr. Andres Ayco bought a 2,000-square-meter lot for about P5 million and built the 1,000-seat church made of concrete with steel beams and iron sheets. It would be where the 1800s-era pipe organ would be placed instead of the old one.

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Beside church ruins, a new place of worship in Bohol town