Feature Story: Balaanong

CEBU, Philippines - The Cathedral Museum of Cebu celebrated its third anniversary with the launching of Balaanong Bahandi: Sacred Treasures of the Archdiocese of Cebu. The 308-page book, according to project manager Msgr. Carlito Pono, is the baby of the Archdiocese of Cebu and is the only coffee table book that is researched, written, photographed and printed entirely in Cebu by Cebuanos.

Present during the launching were Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, members of the archdiocesan heritage commission, the museum’s curatorial board and the sponsors of the book.

Jose Eleazar R. Bersales, editor and co-author of the book, said that Balaanong Bahandi is a project of the museum, the Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and the University of San Carlos Press. The book marks the 75 years of Cebu as an archdiocese and is also intended as a continuation of the seminal work of Fr. Felipe S. Redondo, who published the book, Breve Reseña de lo que fue y de lo que es la Diocesis de Cebu or A short account of what was and what is the Diocese of Cebu in 1886. Redondo was the secretary of Bishop Benito Romero de Madridejos, a Franciscan who served as Bishop of Cebu from 1876 to 1885.

Balaanong Bahandi, Bersales said, is based on Redondo’s Breve Reseña, since the book has become the only reliable source on the historical development of the parishes under the then very large Diocese of Cebu, which at that time, included much of the Visayas and Mindanao, as well as Guam and the Marianas. A total of 56 of the 58 chapters of Balaanong Bahandi are about the 56 parishes that pioneered in the towns and cities of Cebu.

Louella Eslao-Alix, Melva Rodriguez-Java, Trizer Dale Mansueto, Fr. Brian Brigoli and Arnold Sancover wrote the text for the book. Alix, who spoke during the launch, said that writing the book was “a seduction, an education and a vacation of some sort.” Alix visited 31 of the 56 churches that are featured in the book and she said that she loved every minute she spent visiting the churches.

The book’s principal photographers, meanwhile, are Estan Cabigas, Lorens Gibb Lapinid and Mark Andrew Jorolan. Rodolfo Alix, Carlos Apuhin, Fr. Generoso Rebayla and Gil Francis Maningo contributed additional photographs.

Cabigas, a well-known photographer who collaborated with the Augustinian historial Fr. Pedro Galenda in the book “Philippine Church Facades,” said that the book has been a wonderful journey for him and the other photographers. He said, in his speech during the launching, that part of the experience in taking photographs for the book is riding on “every public transport possible” to get to their destinations. The photographs in the book, he said, “are indeed distillations of our being, our passion and our advocacy.”

Cardinal Vidal, who signed copies of Balaanong Bahandi, said that the book is a proof that faith is the bearer of culture. “The book opens our eyes to the richness of our culture. The photographers, through their lens, they allow us to see what they saw, and after seeing, we are transformed.”

Balaanong Bahandi: Sacred Treasures of the Archdiocese of Cebu is sold at P2,000 per copy. For more information, please visit the Cathedral Museum of Cebu.