Lazi Church to be included in UNESCO’s Heritage List

CEBU, Philippines - The San Isidro Labrador Church in Lazi town of Siquijor province has been nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

As such, the Philippines National Commission for UNESCO wrote to Dumaguete Diocese Bishop Julito Cortes and Siquijor Governor Zaldy Villa, to attend or send representatives to the World Heritage and Bioshpere Reserve Nomination Workshop from July 1 to 4 in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.

The letter said the National Commission of Culture and Arts had submitted the San Isidro Labrado Church in Lazi under the serial nomination of Baroque Churches of the Philippines-Extension to the Philippines' tentative list of properties to be nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List. 

"The World Heritage List is comprised of cultural, natural, and mixed sites that are recognized for their outstanding universal heritage and environmental values which need to be conserved and preserved for the benefit of the present and future generations," the letter said.

Verna Alih, founding member of the Siquijor Heritage Foundation, Inc., said Gov. Villa sent Siquijor Provincial Tourism Officer Jossette Armirola as his representative to the workshop.

The SHFI, headed by Lazi parish priest Rev. Fr. Aniceto Gutierrez with Lydio Ligutom as chair of the Trustees Board and Ophelia Fua as vice chair, has aimed for the conservation of the San Isidro Labrador church and convent.

Alih said the nomination of the church in Lazi as a World Heritage Site was made when Bishop Cortes was being groomed as president of the Permanent Committee for the Cultural Heritage of the Church.

The San Isidro Labrador Church and Convent was proclaimed Landmark Structures of the Philippines during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos. In 2000, the NCAA designated it as one of the Most Outstanding Heritage Churches in the Philippines.

The National Museum in 2012 also declared the San Isidro Labrador Church and Convent in Lazi as a National Cultural Treasure, then implemented the restoration of the church's retablo mayor (main altar) and two pulpits with a USS15,000 funding from the United States Agency for International Development.

The church in Lazi was built by the Agustinian Recollects in the latter half of the 19th century.  (FREEMAN)