28. Book Review: LA CASA DE DIOS

Category: Books
Genre: Religion & Spirituality
Author: Fr. Rene B. Javellana, SJ The Legacy of Filipino-Hispanic Churches in the Philippines
By Ortigas Foundation, Inc.(c) 2010 Hardbound, 344 pp.

 Twelve years ago, Rafael Ortigas Jr., a successful businessman and a collector of rare books, started an ambitious project--that is, to document all Spanish era built churches in the Philippines--from the Metropolitan Cathedral to provincial parishes. Unfortunately, he died in 2009 before the project was completed, but not before assigning company photographers to shoot over 300 churches, using the Catholic Directory as their guide.

Ortigas Foundation decided to carry on with the project and "La Casa De Dios: The Legacy of Filipino-Hispanic Churches in the Philippines", is a realization of Rafael Ortigas' dream. In this book, we are treated to an overview of Catholic religious life and history, accompanied by snapshots of many beautiful churches--some rarely seen or visited--and which serve as great examples of this rich and formative period in Philippine religious history as well as our evolving ideas of architecture.

At Php3,500, this autographed book carries a hefty price tag, but is well worth the price, as it is packed with well-researched accounts about the character of our colonial architecture and comes with a diverse visual catalogue of Hispanic age church photos.

Fr. Javellana, who also authored books about Bohol churches and colonial architecture, sure knows his turf, ably analyzing art styles, building lay-outs and town plans, while providing commentaries on the contribution of Catholicism to the building of Philippine culture. "La Casa de Dios" is a "good-to-have" book and hopefully will inspire ordinary folks to value their places of worship and preserve their cultural identity for years to come. Mr. Ortigas, bless him, would be happy with the way his dream project turned out to be.

(2 January 2011)

16. HISTORIANS AS CRIME DETECTIVES, by Russel S. Arador

(originally published Jan 23, 2009)

I read with interest an article in this newspaper by a good friend of mine, Tonette Orejas, titled “Kapampangans recover missing saint’s image.” It tells of the theft and quick recovery of a 19th century image of St. John the Apostle.
 
What I found riveting about the story, however, wasn’t the role that modern-day communication technologies played in the success of efforts to locate the missing religious heritage. It was the potential of tapping historians and their encyclopedic knowledge of the past to solve common crimes, whether committed today or a long time ago.

Among those who figured in the heart-pounding search for and rescue of the image of St. John of Apostle was Dr. Lino L. Dizon, director of the Tarlac State University’s Center for TarlaqueHo Studies. Although Prof. Dizon’s part in the detective work did not go beyond forwarding an S.O.S. email to book author and fellow Kapampangan Alex Castro (who did a search of his own) I believe he was able to make a simple but crucial decision of alerting somebody who could do something because of his work as a historian.

 Knowing the right people who have the capability and the predisposition to help is a matter of training. For this reason alone, I can say that historians can work wonders in solving crime puzzles. However, I must admit there’s more to detective work than information dissemination. Crime investigation entails knowledge of people, places, events and documents, past or present, living or dead, printed or displayed on an LCD screen.

In these things, again, I dare say historians like Prof. Dizon have solid grounding, thus suited for detective work. For example, according to Prof. Dizon, one can easily find out how certain landed families were able to acquire their vast tracts of land. And don’t be surprised if in the closet of one or two of these families you will discover the skeleton of a former revolutionary leader who fought in the Philippine revolution against Spain and the subsequent Filipino-American War.

Using a simple framework, Prof. Dizon clues us in on the secret: During the Spanish period, land titling wasn’t a serious thing. Infact, there was virtually no system of land registration to speak of. It was only upon the coming of the Americans—who introduced the Torrens System—that lands began to be registered for the purpose of real estate ownership.

Now, who do you think trooped to the Registers of Deeds to register lands, not necessarily their own? The moneyed class, the educated class and the revolutionary leaders, many of whom were both moneyed and educated, Prof. Dizon said. How about the poor and illiterate peasants in the barrios? They didn’t even know what was happening.

Prof. Dizon also speculates on the possibility of revolutionary leaders being allowed by the American government to own large tracts of lands in exchange for giving up the fight and laying down their arms. Thus, not only can historians reconstruct the past, but they can also reconstruct the past to detect crimes. Landgrabbing, for example.

15. STOLEN IMAGE IN CULTURAL TREASURE FOUND, by Tonette C. Orejas

(Wheww!! Look what online santo sleuthing has done: we helped recover a stolen church image! Hooray for cultural activists and heritage advocates! We won over the agents of doom! The recovery was reported on national news and made it to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. All's well, that ends well.)

 *****

By Tonette Orejas Central Luzon Desk First Posted 15:31:00 01/16/2009 

BACOLOR, Pampanga -- It took only a few days to recover a 19th century image of St. John the Apostle that was stolen last week from one of the country's 20 national cultural treasures. Text messages, e-mails, and mobile phone calls, plus loads of Catholic faith, saved the day for church heritage conservation.

 The image, reported missing on January 10, is part of a retablo (tableau) at the right wing of the Basilica Minore de San Miguel Archangel in Tayabas, Quezon. It stands on the right of the Mater Dolorosa, depicting a scene in which St. John was consoling the Virgin Mary after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The search for the image ended on Thursday night in this town that was ravaged by the Mt. Pinatubo eruptions in 1991. Bacolor is 215 kilometers away from Tayabas. The buyer, ecclesiastical art restorer Tom Joven, found tell-tale signs of theft, secured the image and said he was donating it to the basilica. The taklang ayup (bird droppings) spattered on the image gave away the crime, Joven said. Made of wood and three feet tall, the image is a detalyado or carved in the round. The search, it turned out, started on cyberspace.

The YahooGroup of the Heritage Conservation Society became an important communication line, said Ivan Henares, HCS director and administrator of the group's site.

 "We have received a lot of SOS calls from various locations in the country. Common are requests for help to stop the demolition of heritage structures or tasteless renovations on heritage churches, among many others," Henares said. Ryan Palad, a native of Tayabas and curator of the GSIS Museum in Pasay City, first posted the call for help, including an attachment of a photo of the image, on Jan. 15.

 "We would like to seek your help to retrieve the stolen image of St. John the Evangelist (wood, height 3 ft) from the Basilica de San Miguel Archangel, Tayabas,Quezon," said Palad. Palad also sent text messages to friends and colleagues who passed the information around.

 Palad's contact, Prof. Lino Dizon of the Tarlac State University, passed the message to HSC member Alex Castro. Emelita Almosara, deputy director of the National Historical Institute, also launched a search, communicating with Palad by text messages and cell phone calls.

 Castro launched his own search not long after he replied to the group's YahooGroup. "I was alerted by a friend about this stolen piece—San Juan Evangelista, a 3-foot image. Someone was peddling a San Juan the week before—of the same size! I was rather suspicious—until the identity of the image was corrected—San Ramon Nonato daw. So I didn't pursue my probing of the middleman who informed me of this image for sale. So, which is which?" Castro's posting went.

 Palad heeded Castro's request for a picture. The theft also became an opportunity for Palad to correct what had long been wrong all along. The image all along was that of San Juan Evangelista, not of San Ramon Nonato.

 Coincidence or not, Joven texted Castro on Thursday to say he bought a San Juan Evangelista on Jan. 9, on the Feast of the Nazarene, and felt something suspicious about it. He e-mailed Castro a photograph. The photographs from Palad and Joven matched.

"Alex informed me that after comparing pictures from Ryan and the one who purchased it, I think we found the image, thanks to the HCS network. Sharing of information here has proved to come out with quick result," Henares announced on the site. Angel Bautista of the National Museum of the Philippines, who was in the communication loop, learned of the recovery.

 "Tayabas Basilica being a national cultural treasure, I think we should not let this pass and find out who stole the image and prosecute those who committed this travesty," Henares said.

Palad, surprised at the fast discovery, exclaimed in typical Tagalog fashion: "Maraming, maraming, maraming salamat po (Many, many thanks)!" Castro rued "there are still unscrupulous dealers out there who are out to make big bucks out of our church material heritage.

 Joven, who restored the four-century old, half-buried San Guillermo (St. William The Hermit) Church in Bacolor, said he felt lucky that the image got to him and was given the opportunity to secure it.

 "Serendipity" was what he felt all along about the image, he said. "I didn't want to buy it at first because I have a San Juan Evangelista already but I did because I felt like it was really going to me," he said.

 Initially, he planned to include it in the Holy Week exhibit of the University of the Sto. Tomas Museum. When the image was delivered, Joven said he believed that the dealer, possibly a middleman, lied to him. The latter, doing business by text and e-mails, claimed that the image belonged to a family in Pagsanjan who was disposing of it because the brood was transferring to Makati City.

 "I had a hunch something was wrong. If this belonged to a family, why did it have bird's feces all over it? I said it might have come from a church," he recalled. His suspicion grew when UST's Fr. Didoy Abaño informed him that a San Juan Evangelista image was stolen in Tayabas. That's when he texted Castro.

Asked why he agreed to return and donate it, he said: "That's the right and good thing to do for art restorers, collectors and Catholics like me. We should be part of the church heritage conservation effort."

Dr. Leticia Cordero-Yap, a native of Tayabas who worked in the Pampanga capital of San Fernando, will return the image to Msgr. Antonio Obena, the parish priest, on Saturdayv.

PHOTO B: The recovered San Juan image, found and sold in Pampanga. Secured by the buyer, it was turned over to a Tayabas resident today for its return to Tayabas.