Travel Snippets: The Dignity of Bacolor, Pampanga

Travel Date: January 18, 2014
1st Leg of Attraversiamo 2014  - My Yearly Travel Series

This is the second stop of our Bits of Cuisine and Culture Trip to Pampanga. Our first stop was a full dining experience at Atching Lillian Borromeo’s house. You should read about it first from this link. The entry will lead you back to this. Enjoy!

Today's entry is about our visit to two amazing places, San Guillermo Church and Campo Santo de Bacolor.

San Guillermo Parish Church, also known as the "Sunken Church", is located in Bacolor, Pampanga, and was built in 1576 by the Augustinian friars. In 1880, the Church was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in 1886. On June 15, 1991, another tragedy hit when Mt. Pinatubo erupted. According to USGS, it's  the second largest eruption in the 20th century; second to Novarupta 1912 eruption in AK.

The eruption caused so much damage when the lahar flowed from the slopes of the mountain onto the surrounding countryside burying residential areas including San Guillermo Church, which was half-buried.

I remember how the aftermath was also felt in Metro Manila due a typhoon that brought a mix of ash and rain all throughout the metro. We were asked to wear head gears every time we go outside the house. I can also clearly remember one person from a tv show who said, "The Lord wants Pampanga and the Philippines to repent from our sins." and how he related it to a scene of repentance in the Bible where people put ashes on their head to prove it.

Despite the lahar tragedy, you will still be amazed by the beauty of the church.

In fact, the beauty was also mixed with love when we visited it. There was a wedding.

We also found out that the easiest way to find the church is to use the name Santino - a child character in a local TV drama series, May Bukas Pa. When you ask where San Guillermo Church is, you might hear them say, "Ah yung kay Santino!" I was not a follower of the said drama series but it was interesting to know how the show made the place more famous. Am sure it has helped the community's tourism and income.

Just behind San Guillermo Church is also a lahar half-buried cemetery named Campo Santo de Bacolor.

Campo Santo de Bacolor is a one-hectare Roman Catholic cemetery. The thought that this place houses buried dead bodies, again, buried by lahar, can either give you the creeps or develop in you a greater respect for its history. It gives me the latter. I, actually, could not help but check the place myself. I had to tell my friends to come with me only if they are comfortable. A cemetery is one of my favorite photo subjects. I think it's a road less taken by photographers.

Let me give you a tour, if I may.

This is what's behind San Guillermo Church facing the entrance of Campo Santo de Bacolor.

You will find this before you enter the cemetery.

 Let's go inside.

 Inside you will also see the half-buried small chapel where the dead received final blessing. It is now a tourist spot.

 This is the view facing San Guillermo Church.

For some reason, I felt a little attached to this part of Pampanga.  It's a very simple place, nothing spectacular about it, but it has gained my utmost respect. Despite what it went through, it has kept its dignity in tact. This says so much about humanity. We could go through a lot of situations that could destroy us, half-bury us, make us struggle and limp through life, but we should never ever lose our dignity along the process. The tragedy should never turn us into another tragedy.

I plan on coming back because I still have a list to complete.

To all the locals of Pampanga, for now, let me celebrate you in the only way I know how.

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