A case of exploding bananas

Or how Lobocanons burst forth to save their church.

San Pedro Apostol Church, more commonly known as the Loboc Church, is the second oldest stone church in Bohol, first built in 1602. It is not only an architectural marvel, a repository of local artistry, Loboc Church is also of important historical value not only to Lobocanons and Bol-anons but also to the very tapestry of Philippine history.

The National Museum affirms this and has listed the San Pedro Apostol Church of Loboc, Bohol as a National Cultural Treasure. The National Historical Institute’s Registry of Historic Structures also includes San Pedro Apostol Church Historical Landmark as a National Historical Landmark.

For Lobocanons, their affinity to the Loboc Church transcends religiosity, one would suppose, as personal and familial memories, past and present, are weaved strongly into the

The Loboc Church, after all, is still such a prominent structure in the town center, or the poblacion sawang (redundantly named so, for added emphasis), surrounded by the town plaza, the central elementary school, the municipal hall complex, Loboc High School, the Loboc commercial center, and best of all, defying the monstrous Loboc jumbo bridge, the bony town gymnasium and the cheeky river cruise wharf.

To hear about the collective flare-up of the Lobocanons upon discovery of reported threats to the precious Loboc Church is  intelligible. (For one must add up, that the people should be super protective now after lessons from the Loboc jumbo bridge fiasco).

Evening of the 17th of January, a distressing status message from concerned Lobocanons popped out on our Facebook news feeds. We’re trailing one here:

A drilling inside the church portico that started late in the afternoon sounds suspect, indeed. We hear from the subsequent comments, status messages and pictures posted in Facebook that concerned Lobocanons rushed to the area to stop the drill crew and even called the local police to apprehend said crew. (Which the local police reportedly did, too. – unverified)

Some of the speculations on the reasons for the drilling works which arose from the crowd were: (1) On-site soil investigation for the planned church restoration (2) Treasure-hunting (3) Treasure-hunting.

Things began to be clearer the following day after explanations from Loboc Mayor Leon Calipusan over the radio, and further interviews with the Loboc MPDC Engr. Villamo, a personnel from the drill crew from Universal Testing Laboratory and Inspection and some concerned technical interviewees.

This commenter also shared some light on the issue. (Note: This comment has been deleted since, we’ve noticed. This is from a screenshot, earlier saved.)

Our concerned Lobocanon FB friend sums up the issue with this status message.

Bohol Republic did a little digging on the companies mentioned by Mayor Calipusan that were contracted for this “detailed engineering study” that would precede the eventual restoration (or some form of structural strengthening) of the Loboc Church.

T-Square Builders, the main contractor, and the sub-contractor for the soil bearing capacity tests, Universal Testing Laboratory and Inspection are both DPWH registered and accredited contractors and testing laboratories, respectively. Legitimacy of the build/drill crew, check.

We contacted both the NCCA and the NHI (as these government bodies were both  mentioned to be the project grantors) to verify the said NCCA/NHI restoration grant, but we are yet to receive their reply. (Note: No update yet as of 7 Feb 2011.) Being an NHI and National Museum listed site and landmark, all alterations to the Loboc Church structure, interior, form, etc., must come with the NHI/National Museum stamp of approval.

The people are not at all opposed to any restoration project of the precious Loboc Church, one thing that’s being clamored for is information dissemination, public consultation, communication. And in a church and small town setting, spaces for dialogue are not hard to come by.

No, this is not a mere case of premature exasperation, becoming upset about something before knowing all (or any) of the details, as some sectors would make this out to be. Because by not given the information, the Lobocanons (and Bol-anons) had (and has) every right to explode over the drilling of a 3″ hole inside the hollowed San Pedro Apostol Church.