THE RENOVATION, DESTRUCTION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PALO METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL

   When I was installed as the parish priest of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Palo on January 12, 2010 the instruction given to me by Archbishop Jose Palma was that I should prepare the Cathedral for the Diamond Jubilee of the diocese. It was to be celebrated in less than three years  on Nov. 27, 2012. Plans had already been made for a whole year of jubilee which would end a year later. However, in the meantime, the Cathedral badly needed repairs.  The Cathedral was already fast deteriorating at that time with ceilings destroyed as water flowed freely inside the Cathedral whenever it rained. The last major renovation of the Cathedral was still in 1995.

This is how the Cathedral looked before the Renovation in 2010.

The Cathedral Facade

 

The left wing

The right wing

The main nave of the Cathedral

The ceilings were already destroyed because of the leaking. Whenever it rained the janitor had to mop the floor right away as church goers might slip and fall. Water also flowed down the stairs from the bell tower. At the meeting room at the back of the church altar, the ceilings were also destroyed and rainwater cascaded freely. 

The state of the roofing of the Cathedral

The first thing that was repaired was the roofing system. The contractor availed of for the repair of the roofing was the Amis Industrial Development of Victor Amistoso from Manila. He used a privately discovered and owned system of waterproofing and lamination system to seal all the leaking parts of the roof. Since the most of the roofings were still durable except for some parts, this system was availed of instead of replacing the whole roof with a new one.

            Archbishop Palma wanted a general renovation of the Cathedral that would unify the topsy turvy architectural designs that were found in the Cathedral. While the designs for the general renovation were still being deliberated, I also had the task of finishing the construction of the Cathedral Rectory. In the early morning of the fiesta of Palo on August 6, 2002, the Cathedral Rectory was razed to the ground by a fire that started from the abandoned Chancery building which was beside the rectory.   For eight years the priests of the Cathedral used the Sisters convent at the back of the burned rectory for their residence. Fr. Stephen Pesado, the parish priest at the time decided to first construct a function hall now called the Archbishop Cipriano V. Urgel Hall (ARCIVU Hall) at the ruins of the old Chancery. Finished in 2004, the income derived from the rentals of the ARCIVU Hall helped finance the construction of the rectory which was started in 2005 during the time of Msgr. Ben Bacierra. Construction slowly continued in the succeeding years. The project was halfway through when I got assigned to the Cathedral. The Archbishop decided that for the expenses of the Cathedral renovation all the parishes will be charged with a monthly quota. Being freed of that worry, I was focused only in looking for funds for the construction of the Rectory which I deemed should be finished before the major renovation of the Cathedral would start. Seven months later during the fiesta celebration of August 6, 2010 Most Rev. Jose Palma blessed the Parish Office and Private Chapel of the new rectory. This would be followed a month later on Sept. 5, 2010 with the blessing of the dining room, bedrooms and kitchen. The following month the renovation of the Cathedral started. 

The half part of the Cathedral Rectory

The finished Cathedral Rectory.

Dining room

Corridor leading the dining room. In the middle of the convento was the ruins of the centuries-old convento which they left as a past reminder. 

Private Chapel

Parish offices

Parish archives

The Archbishop chose the design submitted by Arch. Gervasio Amistoso. It involved the construction of a new dome to match the twin belfries, the enlargement of the canopy at the main door and the opening of two doors besides it, the placement of mouldings inside the church and the belfries and  the change of ceiling  to unify the architectural design inside the Cathedral, among others. The major reconstruction started by October 2010.  The construction of the new dome was the most time consuming of all the work done in the Cathedral which lasted for more than a year. The windows were changed to become awning types. The doors along the main body were likewise repaired to become two-panel doors with opening to the outside.

The design for the Cathedral approved by the Archbishop.

Work on the dome lasted for more than a year. 

Uniform columns and mouldings were placed around the Cathedral. 

The ceilings were also replaced. 

Construction of a bigger canopy at the front of the church and placing of mouldings at the twin bell towers.

Canopies were also built at the side wings of the church

 

The main door of the Cathedral with a relief of the Transfiguration and the two new doors built beside it. 

The main nave of the Cathedral

The baptismal font near the door of the Cathedral.

Four confessional boxes were built.

 The right wing

 The left wing

 Entrance to the sacristy

 The Gallery of Saints at the back of the left side wing of the Cathedral

The gallery at the back of the Altar

The new road fronting the Cathedral

 The carved Stations of the Cross were refurbished with gold plating and the titles of the stations were carved in place of the meditations that were formerly painted on a plywood.   New benches were not only added but the benches at the wings were changed to match the benches at the nave. Four airconditioned confessionals were installed; a baptistery was built near the main entrance and a gallery of saints and place for votive candles was constructed. Chandeliers along the main nave were installed to match the chandeliers on the side wings. The sacristy was likewise renovated and a new bishop’s sacristy was made out of the Burabod chapel across the old sacristy. A new cathedra was installed in time for the installation of the new archbishop, Most Rev. John F. Du in May 2012. A new altar table and lectern were also put in place just before the Diamond Jubilee celebration. A baptistery near the main door was also constructed. To cap the whole renovation, a new road was constructed at the end of the Sacred Heart Plaza fronting the Cathedral to be its new entrance so that when one enters the Cathedral one could right away see the grandeur of its newly renovated facade. The renovation was completed in time for the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the diocese on Nov. 27, 2012.

 THE DIAMOND JUBILEE OF PALO AS A DIOCESE

November 27, 2012

Most Rev. John F. Du, Archbishop of Palo seated on his cathedra. 

Cardinal Vidal was the main celebrant. 

The former Archbishop, Most Rev. Jose Palma of Cebu was the homilist.

The Diamond Jubilee was well attended by bishops from all over the country and by representatives from every parish. The Cathedral was filled to the brim. Those that could not be accommodated inside were placed in tents fronting the Cathedral with LED walls for their active participation.

The archdiocese was about to close the year-long Jubilee when super typhoon Yolanda came. On that fateful day of November 8, 2013  super typhoon Yolanda packing more than 300 km. per hour winds blew away the dome and ripped off the roof of the whole Cathedral. The Cathedral Rectory was also badly destroyed and the ARCIVU Hall was totally wrecked. In less than a year since its renovation, the Cathedral was destroyed more than ever. 

DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY SUPER TYPHOON YOLANDA

Only the statue of the Sacred Heart fell on its face while all the other statues stood in place inside the retablo and the niches on the side wings. 

What remained of the Dome.

The Cathedral Rectory

The ARCIVU Hall

It was a blessing that no one died of those who were evacuating at the destroyed ARCIVU Hall. Abp. Du was also caught in the ARCIVU Hall during the rampage of the storm.

THE CATHEDRAL RECONSTRUCTION

The Our Lady of Hope of Palo Chapel which is connected to the Cathedral. 

The image of the Our Lady of Hope of Palo was carved by Willy Layug depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary and the child Jesus  reaching a rosary to a distressed child that symbolizes the victims of the super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).  The image is standing on a globe that is surrounded with waves (as allusion to the typhoon). This image was blessed by Pope Francis when he visited Tacloban in 2015. 

The Palo Cathedral today after the renovation.