Church Archives - Lakas ng Trip

Visiting Cebu: Santo Niño Basílica

March 9, 2018 by Josiah Leave a Comment

We’ve covered Cebu many times here on Lakas in the past, and today we are going to revisit one of the city’s most celebrated tourist spots, the Basílica Menor del Santo Niño de Cebú commonly referred to as Santo Niño Basílica. Its full name means Minor Basilica of the Holy Child of Cebu in English.

Santo Niño Basílica is the oldest Roman Catholic church in the entire Philippines and was built in 1565. It was later made into a basilica in 1965 when Pope VI visited, declaring “it as the symbol of the birth and growth of Christianity in the Philippines.” Due to Cebu being the first island that was colonized by the Spanish, it wasn’t long before they built a church. Although, as history states, the church has been destroyed twice through raging fires, but rebuilt both times in the same spot.

The Santo Niño Basílica is revered here in the Philippines and regarded as the “Head of all Churches” in the country. Regardless of your religion, the church has great cultural significance, and is home to the annual Sinulog Festival, which is “the biggest religious parade and street party in the Philippines,” according to the Culture Trip.

from wikipedia

But for tourists coming into Cebu for the first time, the Santo Niño Basílica is a wonderful and indelible cultural landmark that must be visited. If you live in a different part of country such as Manila or are an international traveler, you’re in luck as Cebu International Airport welcomes approximately 27 flights from NAIA everyday. It takes around 1 hour 25 minutes to get a direct flight from Manila to Cebu, which means the Philippines’ second biggest city has never been so accessible, especially for travelers wanting to get a glimpse of Santo Niño Basílica.

White Beach of Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines

January 4, 2016 by Josiah Leave a Comment

White Beach in Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines

The next place for us to visit that day was Moalboal in the province of Cebu. The truth is we went there without prior research to the place so we were really clueless on what to do there or where to go from there. All we know is that there is a beach and some resorts that we could stay. Since we did not want day to be a waste we decided to just go to Moalboal and experience the beach there.

White Beach of Moalboal, Cebu

The Journey from Carcar City to White Beach, Moalboal

1:38 PM After our delicious lunch of Carcar City Lechon we rode on the bus bound for Bato via Barili. Luckily the bus we rode into was non-airconditioned and we got to take pictures of the seaside.

Banton Church of Banton Island, Romblon

March 4, 2013 by Josiah Leave a Comment

When we arrived at Banton Island, Romblon at around 4:42PM last May 17, 2012 we first looked for a lodging then a place to have our dinner. When we were finished looking for the things we needed and it was still 5:42PM, we decided to waste no time for a few minutes of the sunlight left. We asked people around on what we could visit in the shortest time possible and they pointed us to the Banton Church.

Banton Church

The church in Banton Island was quite near the A & A Lodging House, it took us less than a minute or two to reach it. We entered a high gate with a high wall to get to where the church is located. We saw the church and on the other end of the road was another gate with a high wall. I think the church is located inside Fuerza de San Jose, or known as kuta or a Spanish Fortress.

Gate of Fuerza de San Jose

According to the locals the church was built in the 16th century. The structure does not seem to be built on the 16th century due to many modernized renovations.

Church of Balanga, Bataan

October 13, 2012 by Josiah Leave a Comment

The Church of Balanga was the first on our list of places to visit in the province of Bataan. When the bus from Cubao arrived at Balanga (6:57AM, 2 hours and 1 minute travel time) we were asking around for 3 things – where is the Church of Balanga, how do we get to Mount Samat and our most important question, where to eat. We were hungry!

On the Bataan Transit bus to Balanga

The staff at the Bataan Transit Station were happy to answer all our questions and they told us that we could ride a tricycle for 10 Pesos/person going to the Church of Balanga. Unfortunately, we only had 1,000 Pesos as our budget for our overnight trip around Bataan, so we had to walk.

And after 9 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of eating spicy sinigang and another 16 minutes of walking we were finally across the street in front of the Church of Balanga.

Jose Rizal statue across the street at the front of the Church of Balanga, Bataan

Jose Rizal statue across the street at the front of the Church of Balanga. One of the best statues of Jose Rizal I’ve seen around the country.

After a few minutes taking pictures across the street people started going out of the church. A mass had already finished. A window of opportunity as I could go in the church and take a few photos without disturbing the congregation.

The front of the Church of Balanga

We crossed the street, went into the gates and finally THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE INSIDE!!! Plan failed! At least I could take a picture just from the door not to disturb anyone.

Parish Church of the Immaculate Concepcion in Guiuan, Eastern Samar

November 28, 2011 by Josiah 4 Comments

After a long day touring around the American Airport, Dumpao Beach and the different beaches of Calicoan Island, Tito Ruby and I decided that we should visit the 16th Century Church in Guiuan. The name of the church is Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception.

What’s amazing with this church is that it was maintained up until now. That’s 400 years of maintenance! The church features different carved icons in a Spanish-Baroque inside and a huge chiseled door.

Most of the deterioration of the church can be seen at the Bell Tower where there are still debris inside. According to the Guiuan brochure provided by the Department of Tourism Region 8, two-thirds of the height of the bell tower was destroyed due to earthquakes many years ago.