guiuan church, a national cultural treasure in samar, heavily damaged by "yolanda"

Guiuan church, a National Cultural Treasurein Samar, heavily damaged by 'Yolanda'

Typhoon "yolanda"made first landfall at thetown of Guiuan, Eastern

Samar, devastating the town'schurch of La Purisima Concepci6n, considered one of the finestand most beautiful Spanish colonial structures in the country.Guiuan Church, one of the few

in the country still with its originalaltars, carvings, painted ceilingand architecture still intact, iseven more outstanding for beingthe only church in the countrywhose interiors are extensively

decorated with natural shells embedded in the interior walls; thisis documented in the publication,"Shell Ornamentation of LaPurisima Conception Church," byAngel Bautista, published by theNational Commission for Cultureand the Arts, in 2003.The church has completely re

tained its appearance from colonial times, complemented by having its ceiling painted in the 1930sby a certain GM Lucero and L.Monalola, who are fortunate to benamed in church records.

Usually, the artists and craftsmen who labored to lavishchurches with carved retablosand statuary, painted panels,stucco ornamentation and—outstandingly—shell ornamentationinlaid into the walls of the baptis

tery, have been anonymous.Gtiiuan was one of the fore

most choices among the 28churches selected by the NCCAand the National Museum as National Cultural Treasures (NCT).The National Museum is re

sponsible for the care and maintenance of all NCTs. A team ofqualified inhouse conservationtechnicians and specialists attend to this task.

First imagesNational Museum consultant

Orlando Albinon provides uswith the first images to be published that show the extensivedestruction of the church. National Museum volunteer specialist Joel Aldor contributed images taken before the disasterDespite being heavily preoccu

pied with the wholesale destruction and damage to the country'sheritage structures in Bohol andCebu from the Oct. 15 earthquake, the National Museum wasable to arrange a oneday trip forMuseum technical consultant Orlando Albinon to visit Guiuan.

Making the trip possible werethe Balesin Island Club andMarco Diaz who, concernedwith the state of cultural relicsin Guiuan, provided a singleseat in the light aircraft ownedby the Club that was flying sup

plies to ravaged Guiuan.The side altars of Guiuan

church were in the process ofrestoration by National Museumtechnicians when the typhoonstruck. However, after Yolanda,the National Museum's work inGuiuan is expected to intensify. Itmust undertake a detailed assessment of the damage as a preliminary to determining the bestrestoration procedure.In full transparency, the

restoration shall be explained indetail to and agreed upon bythe Diocese of Borongan, theparish and local community,and other stakeholders.National Museum director

Jeremy Barns assures, despite theongoing work in Bohol and Cebuafter the recent earthquake, thatthe National Museum can mobilize the support and resources tocarry out and to complete theirmission of caring for our culturalheritage that has been entrustedto them in behalf of future generations of Filipinos.Although of primary impor

tance at this period is to assist thesurvivors and restore normalcy, itis also time to pay attention todamaged heritage structures, sothat the places which, for generations, have been the focus of localtraditions, will be rebuilt.Feedback and comments are in

vited to [email protected].

Headline Guiuan church, a National Cultural Treasure in Samar, heavily damaged by 'Yolanda'MediaTitle Philippine Daily InquirerDate 18 Nov 2013 Color Full ColorSection Life Style Circulation 245,520Page No D4 Readership 245,520Language English ArticleSize 1008 cm²Journalist Augusto R. Villalon AdValue PHP 201,942Frequency Daily PR Value PHP 605,827

CHURCH interior before (top) and after (above) Yolanda (noteremains of altar); below, detail of shell decoration on Baptistry walland painted religious icon on church wall


THE BELFRY

before (right)and after

(above)


MAIN entrance door before (left) and after (above); below, Guiuan churchexterior before and after Typhoon "Yolanda" hit


guiuan church, a national cultural treasure in samar, heavily damaged by "yolanda"

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