Churches

San Guillermo de Aquitana Church

The historic church of Dalaguete, San Guillermo de Aquitana, sits in the heart of the town facing the sea. I’ve read about how bad the raids were during the Spanish era. Villages being looted, villagers being kidnapped, houses and churches being burned down to the ground. But for the most part, this didn’t stopped the missionaries building their churches and convents close to the coast, as if defiantly to say, “We’re in this for the long haul”.

But there were instances when they had to transfer location after recurring attacks, like in Carcar, where they decided to the church to Vallodolid. There’s a reason why these churches attempts to stay where they are. The concentration of the population typically exist near the coast, so the missions had to build near them, where the people are, and these union between church and man became the towns we know today.

The church of San Guillermo de Aquitana is unique for it is actually inside a fortress complex, made of thick adobe walls and solid militaristic sentries. Intended to deter pirate attacks, the major threat for the growing Christian population then. The complex share similarities to that of Argao. It is indeed a very important heritage site for it demonstrates true Filipino Spanish architecture and design (some objects like the crystal chandeliers were said to have been brought by the galleons) and how our Christian faith and traditions began and how it was defended, not by Spain and its missionaries alone but by the Christianized natives.

Santa Monica Parish Church

Thus said Conchita Cabucol, a member of the Santa Monica Cawayan Parish Council in Dalaguete town, after they found some of their missing religious artifacts among those which had been recovered from the house of an antique dealer.

Barangay Cawayan, about seven kilometers away from the town proper, will celebrate its annual fiesta this weekend in honor of Santa Monica.

Last Oct. 14, the Santa Monica parish church was burglarized and the images of the Virgin Mary, Baby Jesus of Mount Carmel and San Jose, the head of the Nazarene, the hands of the Virgen Dolorosa and their patron saint were among those stolen.

All the lost items have been with the church since 1950 when it was yet a chapel.

Cabucol said prominent families in Dalaguete such as the Dicdicans and the Carins donated the artifacts.

Since the burglary, Cabucol said they had been holding vigils everyday, praying for the return of their artifacts.

When Cabucol, along with another church worker, arrived at the office of the intelligence section of the Cebu police last Monday, she was pretty sure she had already found the image of the Virgin Mary from among the 158 icons lined up before her.