Aquino: Govt, private sector to rehabilitate ruined Bohol churches

The centuries-old churches destroyed in the 7.2 magnitude quake that struck Bohol last month will be rehabilitated, President Benigno Aquino III said on Thursday.

"Pinag-aaralan na rin ng National Museum, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, at National Historical Commission of the Philippines ang rehabilitasyon ng mga gumuhong simbahan na ating national cultural treasures," he said in a press conference in Bohol on Thursday.

"Sa pakikipagtulungan po ng gobyerno at pribadong sektor, makakaasa po tayo: Darating ang panahon na maitatayo ang mga ito, at muling ibabantayog ang mayamang kultura at pananalig ng mga Boholano," he added.

Aquino returned to Bohol on Thursday to inspect the progress of the rehabilitation efforts.

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the province, killing dozens of people across Central Visayas and leveling several buildings—including some of these churches, among the oldest in Asia.

Earlier, Trixie Angeles, vice chairman of the National Committee on Monuments and Sites, said six national cultural treasures and two important cultural properties were damaged or destroyed by the quake.

Angeles identified the national cultural treasures affected as the following:

1. San Pedro Church, Loboc
2. Immaculada Concepcion de la Virgen Maria, Baclayon
3. Nuestra Señora de la Luz, Loon, Bohol
4. Loay Church, Bohol
5. Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Dauis, Bohol
6. Parroquia de la Santa Cruz, Maribojoc, Bohol

The two important cultural properties that sustained damage are the Kapitolyo in Tagbilaran and Albur Parish, the 19th century parish church of Santa Monica in Albuquerque. — Amanda Fernandez/BM, GMA News