There's something interesting going on at the Janiuay Church

21 January 2015 © fergus jm ducharme & historicphilippines.com 2015 All Rights Reserved 1

The new 2015 HP concept presentationBaclayon Church, A Unesco World Heritage Site photo by: Tonyo Cruz

written & photographed by: fergus jm ducharme

St Julian of Cuenca Church in Janiuay, Iloilo is the subject of major changes


Several weeks ago we were in Janiuay for a family function; and as we passedSt Julian’s Church I was stunned to see some extensive construction going on.Obviously, this is something we would have to investigate.

You’ll recall, from our first report in 2012, that although the Augustiniansfounded the first chapel in Janiuay in 1752. It wasn’t until the 1840’s that theywere able to undertake the construction of a ‘proper’ church.

In 2012, when we first visited and reported on the Church for our website:historicphilippines.com, we found a mixture of old and new; that is to say theruins of the original church that was originally built by Friar Miquel Carod,Janiuay’s parish priest between 1830 and 1871.

Friar Carod started construction in 1849 and it went well until November 1871when he died with the ‘finishing touches’ yet to be made to the church. FriarNicholas Gallo replaced Friar Carod and finished the church and later built theadjoining ‘convento’ in the same style as the church.


An original painting by Janiuay Artist IanCelebrar depicting the church & conventoshortly after completion in 1871 (oil on brick).


The ruins of the ground floor of the oldchurch and the convento have beenpreserved over the years since theircomplete destruction during the war.


The parish and its church flourished until the Japanese Occupation of WorldWar II, which started in 1942. Unfortunately, the church was torched in early1942.

It is unclear whether it was torched by the Filipino Resistance to prevent its useby the Japanese or by the Japanese themselves to extinguish any resistancefrom the citizens against their regime of occupation, which was very brutalindeed. Although, in truth, most long time residents will tell you ‘unofficially’that it was the Resistance who did the deed just to deny the “Japons” use of it.

The “Japons” were known to use the Churches as ‘concentration camp’ typeprisons and the Priests’ residences as housing for their officers, since theconvents were the most “luxurious” housing available…

Our ‘Nanay’, Avelina, who was a little girls at the time, tells us of her memoriesof the burning smell and the red skies for a few days when it happened and thefamily continuously hiding from the dreaded “Japons”.

In any event, the church and adjoining convento were destroyed and were notrestored until 23 years after liberation. The new church; the one you can visittoday, was built immediately adjacent to the ruins of the original and it wasfinally consecrated in 1968.


On our last ‘official’ visit to the church in 2012or 2013 we noted that the lower part of theruins were actually being used as an overflowwhen the church was full during regular andspecial services.


The ground floor contained a magnificent altarof carved wood & other ‘accessories’ carved ofthe same wood.


On reaching ‘the roof’ or the second floor this isthe view towards the east that greets you. Youclearly see the outline of the former roof and in factsome of the room partitions that occupied thatarea. This section was where the fathers, lived atthe time.


If you look to the west over St Julian’sshoulder, you see beautiful downtownJaniuay and into the countryside in thatdirection.


When in Janiuay last time, we explored andexamined the ruins a little more closely andwhat we saw was very interesting.


This is the bell tower from the ground. The sign was new at our last visit in March orApril of 2014. At the time they were intending on building a new rectory and convent.Things may have changed and we are checking it out.


To be remembered from our original visits and reports of 2012 & 2013, the ‘old churchand convento, were almost entirely built with bricks that were made on site in a kilnthat was commissioned by Friar Caro. He brought brick making technology to the areain the early 1840s.


We had a look around the property, as it was the last time we made an officialvisit and you can clearly see from the photos provided the actual condition ofthe ruins as they stood in March and April of 2013.

Last week, our historicphilippines.com team spent the best part of a day inJaniuay discussing the project with the people of the parish and this is theresult of our explorations and discussions.

We hope you enjoy what we were able to discover during our time in there.

For the record we spoke at length with Monseigneur Rabindarath Catalan thenewly arrived Parish Priest at St Julian of Cuenca from whom we learned thatFather Francisco Nicolasora, Janiuay’s long serving parish priest, had beentransferred to our home Church: Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception inOton.


On arrival at St Julian’s, the threemusketeers (Nilo, JoMarie and I) headeddirectly to the Convento to let folks knowthat we were around and what we weredoing.

We asked if we could speak with the ParishPriest so that we could learn more aboutthe activities in and about the Church.

It was 10:45AM and we were told that theMonseigneur was conducting a funeral andwould be finished at about 11:00AM.

The man works fast because no sooner hadwe been told about our 15 minute wait thanhe appears…at the Sacristy door.

He notices us and heads directly for the‘big, Americano’ and welcomes us as if wewere long lost friends. What a nice guys,says I to myself…we talk and get theniceties out of the way and eventually getdown to business.


I explain to him what we want to accomplish and why. My life insurance industrytraining comes in very handy in such situations.

That’s because, when you’re selling life insurance, you don’t have much time tobe able to build some interest in the prospect so that he’ll allow you to visitlonger and tell him about the kind of work you do for your clients.

The ‘talk’ is called, the “Elevator Talk” because the time you spend riding in anelevator is about as much time as you have to interest someone to invest moretime in you to hear your full story. It’s usually less that 3 minutes.

I use this same technique, almost every time I meet someone new and have tointroduce our website and the type of work we now do for future generations.

Monseigneur Catalan was very kind to the three of us and offered to show usaround the construction sites which are the new Convento and Residence forthe Parish’s priests. In fact, he took us on a brief tour and showed us his newhome which will be officially opened next Sunday on the Feast of St Julian, atthe end of Fiesta, when the Archbishop will be in Janiuay for the ‘dedications’.


Monseigneur Catalan, shows us allthere is to see as the work goes onfuriously to meet the deadline ofSunday’s dedications.


We’re shown the dining area and the ‘parlour’ asthe workers continue with their appointed tasks


The two dark coloured doors at the end of the hall arethe rooms for the Fathers with their private facilities.


We’re shown the guest room, with it’s private washroom on the left…


We bid our new friend the Monseigneur a fond farewell,with the promise that we’ll return soon to visit with himsome more and to bring She Who Must be Obeyed withus. We went on our way only after Monseigneur took afew more minutes to explain to us what the work on theruins was to accomplish.


Contrast and Compare:This is the Old Convento that has served for over 70years...it’s well past it’s “use before date” isn’t it. Andit’s past time for it to be retired…


…and replaced with the new one, which has all the modernconveniences for men who ceaselessly do the work ofGOD, which work is not always the most pleasant and isoften very difficult. They need their personal refuge.


As we approach the ruins we note that although work is proceeding on the roofing of the shell, the actual lower levels of the structure definitely needs some restorative work to be done in order to ensure a long lasting renovation.


We enter the lower level through these massive and very heavy wooden doors. We aresurprised by the sheer size of this level, it appears bigger than the present Church…


During our exploration of the ground floorwe see some interesting things, including:three stations of the Way of the Cross, thatdo not appear to damaged and may havesurvived since the early 1870’s when theoriginal church was ‘consecrated’. Inaddition to that the statue of the BlessedVirgin, which we have seen for the firsttime. We will be following up on this to seeif we can discover the back story behindthe statue.

On one of our first visits we had spottedthe magnificently carved antique woodaltar depicted on the next page. This visitwe had a chance to see, up close, theother pieces of the set. They consisted of amassive lectern, two side tables, two smallchairs and a “Cathedra”. They are allpictured on the pages that follow.


Behind the massive carved wood altar, forthe first time we saw this water featureand pool that reaches up to the secondlevel. A very interesting sight.


Next to the water feature, on the left is asort of grotto which contains what appearsto be an original painting of St Josephholding the baby Jesus.

More investigation is needed on several ofthese artifacts to determine their age. Theyare truly beautiful pieces of art whichshould be safeguarded & preserved for thechildren of the future generations.


As we continued our explorations of the ground floor we happened upon for more plaquesrepresenting stations of the Way of the Cross. Whether or not they have any value is amatter for experts to determine. To my completely untrained eye – they appeared very oldand perhaps valuable. They were carelessly piled on a window sill exposed to all theelements. We carefully moved them to a more protected area ostensibly so that we couldphotograph them…here is what we found.


Someone who really knows archeology andold artifacts from the 18th and 19th centuriesreally needs to take a look at the things wediscovered to determine their true value.And, if in fact they are as old as I suspectthey might be then every effort should bemade to preserve them for posterity.

As we were leaving the ground floor tohead to the second. We came upon thissection of wall which in my untrained eyeshowed the construction method that wasused when the original church was built. If Iam correct it would be an example of‘tabique’. And it looks like this.

The wall was constructed in two parts. Thefirst part are the external shell which are ineffect to facing brick walls built over a solidwall made of coral and other stone heldtogether with a mixture of lime and egg. Asort of stone and dirt sandwich betweentwo slices of brick…Oh, and hold the mayo!


As we head upstairs, we see our old friendsthe paintings of the original church andconvent as well as the painting of thehistoric Town Cemetery both painted bylocal artist Ian Celebrar a few years ago. Hewas painting them when we were in Janiuayon our first visit in 2012 on the walls of thisstairwell.

Unfortunately, they are now damaged andlook just awful – it’s a shame that suchbeautiful works of this type are notrespected and taken care of as they shouldbe.


St Julian of Cuenca Church & Convento , Janiuay, Iloilo 1871 – 1942 Original oil painting by: Ian Celebrar


The Janiuay Cemetery built by Augustinian Friar Fernando de Llorentebetween 1874 & 1883. Consecrated in 1883 by Manila Archbishop PedroPayo. A National Historic Landmark of the Philippines.Original oil painting by: Ian Celebrar


I wondered what all the black stainson the brick and stone walls was.On closer inspection, it becameclear to me and to Nilo and Jomariewho were also trying to figure it outthat these were soot marks left bythe soot of the fire set by theresistance in 1942 when they burnedthe church so that the Japanesecould not use it during theiroccupation.


The roofing work is progressing well andwe leave to workmen to their jobs and headback down to the ground level to see ifthere is any thing new we can discover.

There are areas on both levels that are stillcovered with the original slate floor tilespictured to the right. These areas offlooring must be preserved for futuregenerations.

And new artifacts keep appearing on analmost regular basis such as this ‘vase’ wespotted on the roof level placed, forsafekeeping, we presume between fourpieces of rebar sticking out of the floor. If itis of any real value it should be moved to asecure location for safe keeping.


It is hoped that once the restoration workis done that this section of hollow blockwall will have been removed andreplaced with the original type of gratingthat we destroyed in the 1942 fire.


There is a small grotto on the ground levelof the old bell tower. It’s not very fancy andin fact it’s a place for people to make anoffering and light a candle for theirintentions. Those intentions being colourcoded to the candles used…


As we are examining this small space,Jomarie chances to look up at the roofline and sees something extremelyinteresting. What must have been thewindow casement of this space has somewooden boards that supported parts ofthe stone walls which are scorched as ifthey had been in a terrible fire – which infact they were. We were elated by his find.


The refurbished Porticoand main entrance to theground floor Chapel.


As we mentioned earlier, eventhough the roofing project is laudable in itself, it isincumbent on the parish council, the municipal authorities, the National Governmentelected officials – the Senators and the Members of Congress who represent theregion to lobby for additional funds to ensure that a national treasure such as thisone is fully refurbished and renovated for the use and enjoyment of futuregenerations of Janiuaynons. The ball is in your court to take this further. It isimportant to preserve the past so that everyone knows where they came from…

As we finished our exploration and before heading back home we took a few minutesto sit in the Adoration Centre, say a prayer or two and contemplate what we had seentoday!

That was a brilliant conclusion to a great day On the Road Again!

Before concluding our visit I should let you in on what we were told about the use ofthe renovated sections by the Monseigneur. According to him, there will be littlechange in the use of the lower level. It has over the years served as an overflowchapel when masses in the main church were full and now it will be used primarily asthe overflow for regular and feast days masses but also for the many funerals thattake place on a weekly basis.

The upper floor will serve as the Parish Activity Centre as well as having one or two meeting rooms that could be made available for public ‘remunerated’ use…


And apparently, we have a new best little friend,checking us out…in fact the little guy followedus for most of our visit.


Your historicphilippines.com team:

Roselyn J Parrenas: my wife, my translator and the big boss, she is: ‘She Who Must be Obeyed’.

Jomarie Acallar: friend, navigator, facilitator & assistant discoverer

Fergus JM Ducharme: writer, photographer and chief discoverer

Nilo Jimeno: friend, driver, facilitator & assistant discoverer

There's something interesting going on at the Janiuay Church

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