That was Year 2010 when I last visited this oldest church in the Philippines - Baclayon Church – after I graduated in my Bachelor Degree. After three years, 2013 when a 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake hits the province and this well-build infrastructure was damaged. It was totally devastating because the said church is part of the Bohol’s tourist spot, historically; it also plays a huge role in narrating how Boholanos value their spiritual life and beliefs of Devine Power.
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Until 2018, I got a chance to revisit this church on May 26. I went back to my home-province Bohol with my friend William Pombo. Bohol travel is incomplete without visiting this church and so, after we indulged the white beaches of Pangalo Island, we drove towards the town of Baclayon. We arrived at 8:30AM wherein there were lots of tourists inside and outside thechurch.
Staring the whole church from the viewpoint outside, I didn’t notice any marks from the catastrophic 7.2 magnitude earthquake after five years. It was totally restored especially the bell tower, however the green algae and the plants that grew on the walls of the church which added the characteristic of the said Church was no longer there. Inside, there was no difference from what I saw when I first visited the church; the design is still surreal from other churches. I can still distinguish that it is really a BACLAYON CHURCH – the church that brought BOHOL into the skyscraper of Tourism Industry.
Truly, this is a proof that Boholanos has been recovered from the destruction of the said earthquake.