Test of faith
We rely on symbols and representations for meanings of abstract concepts. Faith, for instance, can be arduous to explain when not concretized with something that we can evidently associate with. When indications are ambivalent and unobservable, symbol or representation will concretize abstractions.
Filipinos, especially for the Boholanos, churches are clear manifestation of their immense religiosity. For a certain town, a church is a symbolic structure that when absent, it would take away its religious identity. An imagery of a strong faith as it serves as a deaf witness to spiritual undertakings of a religious community.
But what will happen when the very representation has been but to test? What will happen when the meaning has somehow diminished its significance and influence?
I am fortunate to have seen some of the churches in Bohol, especially going to Anda, my husband's hometown. A two-hour ride would always provide me a refreshing delight of seeing century-old churches as these are situated along the coastal areas of Bohol. The journey starts from Tagbilaran City to the first town of Baclayon, home to the second oldest stone church in the Philippines until the last town of Guindulman, before reaching Anda. Passing by, each town offers a religious glimpse through its church.
Last August 25, 2014 at the Ayala Activity Center was the photo exhibition and launching of a table book entitled "Pagsulay: Churches of Bohol Before and After the 2013 Earthquake" with the University of San Carlos and Holy Name University taking the lead, in cooperation with the Arts Council of Cebu Foundation, Inc. and Ayala Center Cebu. There was a feeling of nostalgia seeing the photos of churches before the devastating earthquake. During the launching, adding to the nostalgia was the poetry reading by the members of the Bathalad Cebu, such as Jeremiah L. Bondoc, Joshua Cabrera, Noel Villaflor and Cebu's literary luminaries like Ernesto Lariosa and Lamberto Ceballos.
The coffee table book shows the religious Bohol endowed with rich history, particularly of historic churches and worth-preserving cultural heritage. It documents 26 outstanding colonial churches as they looked before and after the October 15, 2013 7.2 magnitude earthquake. With over 500 photographs in 240 pages, it takes on a journey to witness the test of faith that these churches evoke in the varying levels of destruction they suffered.
The photographers of this book, Fr. Generoso B. Rebayla, Jr., SVD and Estan L. Cabigas, have volunteered their expertise to make the images speak of vivid emotions. The emotions shared by the Boholanos and felt by the rest of the Filipinos, and the world. The emotions and message are lucidly captured in the photographs, induced people to value the province's historical and religious foundation and the necessary redemption for future generation to appreciate.
What is even worth-supporting of this project is its ultimate intention that these pre- and post- earthquake images will help raise much needed funds to restore, rehabilitate or even reconstruct these ecclesiastical treasures. For the future generation, this shall serve as a constant reminder for its cultural and religious impact. Built in the late Spanish period, these churches had survived previous calamities, both natural and man-made, with their structures intact and relatively unchanged, still retaining much of their coral stone facings, lime mortar cores, and their architectural beauty.
Bohol is not only about beautiful beaches, festivities and street dancing. It is about the recognition that as a province that puts premium on heritage-Church heritage, in fact, having the most number of century-old churches in the country.
Rebuilding the churches anchors on faith, faith that provides hope. Though a church is a physical representation of one's spirit but with deep faith no earthquake can weaken one's resilience and courage. Each one of us is ought to be a person of hope. A hope that is stronger than death!
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