Historic, Old Churches of the Philippines.

We recently decided to make a long planned road trip to Roxas City and Pan-ay in Capiz Province about a 3 hours drive to the north of us. But we took the long way and travelled through some familar areas to get some additional photos and other information on places that we had already visited.

Our first stop was at the bridge over the Suage River, in Janiuay to see the World War II Japanese pillboxes that had been built during the war to guard the approaches to the bridge. I’d never seen such a thing and I was interested to see that both pillboxes were riddled with bullet holes which told the story of some fierce fighting and resistance to the Japanese occupation of the area during the war by the resistance guerrillas.

We then headed still further northward to Lambunau and Calinog for some picture taking at the churches for the website. We were able to meet with Parish staff in Lambunao who were very helpfull in providing us with research materials for the article on that church and we thank them for their help. But most especially the caretaker of the church who sort of adopted me and eventhough he didn’t speak any English he guided me around the church pointing out areas that might be of interest – we communicated somehow and we had a successful visit to that church.

In Calinog, our next stop, we took the exterior shots of the church to replace those we had taken three week before during a raging rain storm and which obviously hadn’t turned out. And we spotted the statue of Roman Magsaysay in the town plaza which prompted us to do some research into this very interesting Filipino War Hero and future President.

Onwards to the great north…Our next stop was in Roxas City, in fact in suburban BayBay at Marc’s Beach Resort right on the beach for a sumptuous lunch of barbequed pork, dried squid, and other assorted seafood – the service at Marc’s was superb and the food even better. A huge lunch for myself, ‘She Who Must be Obeyed’ and our 5 other travelling companions totalled 1,400 pesos including a very generous tip for our excellent waiter. We would recommend this Resort as a lunch or dinner stop with time enough for a swim on their beach…

We left there and headed back to town and the main Wet Market to see what kind of deals we could get on various seafood. We were astounded by several things about Roxas City itself and its Wet Market. Everyone we met while we were there were so warm and welcoming even the traffic enforcers when I went the wrong way up a one way street that ended at an main intersection with no turns allowed and the local constabulary on guard at the corner for any trasnsgressors. I got off using the: “I’m sorry sir, I apologize, I’m new here and just learning your rules of the road and on top of that I’m a tourist”, line and it worked like a charm!

The second most interesting thing I found about that area was how absolutely clean and tidy it was. The streets were wide and although quite busy traffic flowed in a way I am more used to seeing ‘back home’ – they apparently believe in traffic rules up there unlike the folks in our home area down southin Iloilo. The Wet Market was the biggest contrast – I had only recently visited the Iloilo Main Wet Market and was almost revolted by the reek, the dark somber surroundings,  the dirt and the general surliness of the workers in the market itself. No such thing in Roxas City – the market weas bright and airy, smelled like any clean grocery store would and the people working there were actually very nice and accomodating…

It’s no wonder to me that that entire area is the envy of the tourism industry here in Iloilo – they (Capiz Governor Victor A. Tanco and Roxas City Mayor Alan Celino and the members of City Council) have obviously worked very hard at getting things done properly and are to be commended for the wonderful job they have done and continue to do.

A short drive through the beautiful lush countryside brings us at last to our ultimate destination the Church of Santa Monica in the town of Pan-ay. This is another small town that is very nice, it is clean and appears well ordered. The Church is the major focal point in the region and is a major tourist attraction. The parish staff members were extremely helpful and accomodating. The Museo de Santa Monica was closed for the day when we arrived, but staff in the Parish Office quickly arrange for the Curator to open the Museo and show us around as well as to guide us up into the Bell Tower to see IT…the big bell, fantastic!

In all we spent 4 hours at the church and got some wonderful shots…but it was getting late and we had to think about getting home…we’ll be going back soon, for sure. If you’re ever planning a trip to this area of the Philippines make sure to include Capiz Province, you won’t be disappointed.