Iloilo Travelogue#10: Molo Church - the White Queen

If Jaro Cathedral serves as the Alpha Male Church of Iloilo City, Molo Church or St. Anne is definitely the Queen church. Standing sexy and tall in the heart of Molo town, with its two red-roofed belfry tower stretching high in the heavens, it is the only Gothic church in the whole country that is located outside of Manila. It is a must for all visitors to see this white church. And, yes, I said it right, it is not typo-error, this church is actually white by nature. Its walls are made up of tons of white corals that have been discolored by time, war and natural elements. It survived many strong earthquakes from the past and had served as an evacuation center for civilians during WWII. Unfortunately, one of its original towers became a Japanese machine gun nest and had to be destroyed by the American forces; shells of artillery sent its bells tumbling to the ground on March 18, 1945. Restoration was made after the war and in 1992, it was declared a National  Landmark.

Molo Church, Iloilo City

Travelogue#9: Plaza Libertad - historical Christmas Day

Among all the plazas that I've been to in Iloilo, the most historical of them all would be Plaza Libertad. This is where Spain surrendered Iloilo, its last capital in the Philippines, on December 25,1898. The recipient of this surrender was the brave revolutionary General Martin Teofilo Delgado, leader of the Western Visayas resistance force against the Spaniards.

Plaza Libertad, Iloilo City

Iloilo Travelogue#8: San Jose Church

The beauty of traveling in a Catholic country such as Philippines is that you can always find a church in almost every town where you can sit in peace and rest for a bit without the hassle of paying anything  (it's also very likely that nobody will bother you) and we all know that it's always best to drop by and ask for good solid direction from "The Man above" as much as we could, don't you think? ^_^.  Much said, in a way, churches has become my coffee shop when traveling ^_^ (having coffee time with God? now that's a thought.lol! ) Fortunately, in Iloilo, most churches are just a couple of steps away from the town's plaza -- a big plus since most of them always had a historic significance of some sort. San Jose Church is found a couple of steps away from the historic Plaza Libertad and about 10 minutes via jeepney from Museo Iloilo. The church itself is much different from any of the churches we've visited in Iloilo, for one, the materials used to build the church are not of corals or limestones but of stones and bricks giving the church its unique red color. And, much to my delight, the interior of the church is much subtle than its red facade outside. It's a beautiful surprise wrapped up in a red wrap. Check out my photos. ^_^

San Jose Church, Iloilo City

Iloilo Travelogue#7: Museo Iloilo

We started our city tour by visiting Museo Iloilo, the small city museum that can tell you more about the history of the province and the Ilonggos who made important contributions during WWII. They also feature different art works of local and international artists. During our visit, we were honored to see the works of  photographer Kim Komenich. He was the 1987 Pulitzer prize awardee for Spot News photography when he was assigned to cover the Philippine EDSA revolution in 1986. I have never seen the work of a Pulitzer award winner so this one has been a good treat for us. Ehem, please note that camera is not allowed inside the museum so don't expect photos from the exhibit here.

Colorful Museo Iloilo building

Iloilo Travelogue#6: Tigbauan Church and Plaza

One of the first interesting town that you'll pass by coming from Iloilo city is Tigbauan. I have learned that this is where the American forces together with the Philippines Commonwealth troops landed to liberate the Island of Panay from the Japanese during WWII. And, to the allied forces' surprise, they arrived in an already been freed town. The Japanese invaders were already driven out by the brave Ilonggo locals. ^_^

Tigbauan Church, Iloilo City

Iloilo Travelogue#5: Jaro Cathedral and the old belfry tower

One of the most famous churches in Iloilo is the Jaro Cathedral. It is the parish home of the Archbishop of Jaro and  has also became the home of  the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Candles. This church, like the many churches across Iloilo, also served as a fortress against the Moro pirates who kidnap locals and sells them off at Mindanao. The old belfry that is actually separated from the original church served as a watchtower that will send alarms to the Jaro people in case of piratical raids. The church has lived through earthquakes, fires, and wars but the Ilonggo's love and faith in the Catholic church led on to the continuous rebuilding and effort to preserve this historical landmark.
What I love about this church is that even if you can see the obvious renovations done at some of its parts, you can still see the old church that has been there since 1874. 

Iloilo Travelogue#4: SM Iloilo Traveler's lounge

I wanted to refrain myself from going inside the SM malls or other big malls (if there's one in the Iloilo area) so that we can totally soak in the experience of being away from our usual life. I know, I know "pinahihirapan ko lang ang buhay ko" (I am just making my life harder by doing that) lol ^_^. But in this trip, no matter how much we wanted to stay away from these malls, fate has a funny way of making things happen that we had no choice but to go inside SM Iloilo. Apart from their traveler's lounge that helped us lessen our baggage load before going on a city tour, the famous supermall actually made it possible for us to also replace our drenched camera that got wet during our Bolobadiangan island tour (I'll tell you all about it in my next post). ^_^

Iloilo Travelogue#3: Guimbal - a feminine church and a stroll in the park

I first saw this town's well-kept plaza and its church's belfry tower from a distance while riding a jeepney on our way to see Miag-ao church. After passing the public market and reading "Guimbal" on its sign, I tugged my husband's sleeves and whispered to him - "we have to stop here if we still have time". Luckily, we were able to get back right before sundown. And, after getting off the market and passing the town's municipal hall, we walked directly towards another historical and unique Spanish church.  

Guimbal church

Iloilo Travelogue#2: Spooked then Charmed by San Joaquin town

Before I describe many things I've observed about this charming little sitio in the south, let me tell you about one of the iconic structure in this town that we've visited. It is the Campo Santo that stood in the heart of San Joaquin's cemetery; the first thing that can be seen off the road coming from Miag-ao church. My husband was not expecting that included in our itinerary to this small town is a visit to its cemetery so he was totally caught off guard when I suddenly shouted "para" (stop) to the jeepney driver who sent the vehicle running at 80kph to a quick halt in front of a spooky cemetery. Everyone stared of course but we got off as fast as we can to avoid the annoyed and shocked look of the other passengers (lol!).

 My husband was quite hesitant to enter this hallow ground and I had fun watching his reaction.

Iloilo Travelogue#1: Miag-ao Church - the Baroque experience

One of the things that I've included in my travel bucket list is to see in person those few declared UNESCO heritage sites in the Philippines. I've always known that I will feel regretful when I'm already old and gray and not be able to visit any of those 8 sites when I had the energy and chance to do so. Luckily my husband supports these wishful thoughts and he agreed to celebrate our wedding anniversary backpacking in and around Iloilo province so that we will be able to spend time together and visit one of the four baroque churches that can be found in the southern town of this nose-like province - the Miag-ao Church.

This will be the first of the few posts about our travel experiences in Iloilo. I hope you'll enjoy reading it. :)

Travel bucketlist: Visit Miag-ao church - checked