THE GOLDEN BEACH OF JOMALIG, QUEZON

         Jomalig, the easternmost island town of Quezon, is renowned for its pristine beaches. However, to reach this paradise, one must take a four-to-six-hour boat ride from the Ungos Port in Real, Quezon, which is highly dependent on the boat and weather conditions. To alleviate the discomfort, food is served to passengers during the journey. 

         One March weekend, a group of officemates and I embarked on an adventure to this enchanting destination. We secured a cozy cottage at Salibungot Beach, which is visible from the port upon arriving at the island. The picturesque golden beach and crystal-clear waters immediately captured our hearts, and we savored every moment. Since we only stayed overnight, we missed out on other scenic spots but in spite of that we were entirely content with our beachfront haven. We just hope to come back another time to visit the other sights. 

 

One has just to be creative enough to endure the long boat ride to the island. 

The habal-habal is the ordinary form of transportation around the island on a less than a meter wide of concrete pavement.  

Nuestra Señora de la Salvacion Parish (F-1961) 
Jomalig, Quezon

A picture with the parish priest. 

There were so many passengers that even though we already made reservations the day before, we were not able to take the boat as some of the passengers who did not make reservations went on board right away and could no longer be asked to leave. The port authorities had to compel one boat to make a special trip back to the mainland.  The second boat was faster that we overtook the first boat even though we left an hour later. It took only four hours.  

CHURCHES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF PALO: Ormoc and Palompon Vicariates

WESTERN LEYTE ECCLESIASTICAL DISTRICT

Ormoc Vicariate

Sts. Peter and Paul Parish

Ormoc City 6541

Founded: 1630

Feastday: June 29

            There has been no change in the structure of the church of Ormoc except that of the altar. Originally, the statues of Sts. Peter and Paul were standing side by side at the center of the altar. Then, another parish priest placed a crucifix in the middle and transferred the two saints on each side just outside the niche. A makeover of the altar came during my term as a parish priest when a gold-leafed retablo was installed in 2007 with three niches for the crucifix at the center and Sts. Peter and Paul on each side. This would be the last completed project of Arnel Cardinal, the retablo maker from Laguna.  The niches on the sides of the church were also improved to match with the altar retablo. The next parish priest replaced the patron saints with smaller ones and placed them side by side in the same niche and statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary on the other niche, replacing also the corpus on the crucifix.

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish

Valencia, Ormoc City 6541

Founded: 1947

Feastday: February 11

Mother of the Redeemer Parish

Cogon, Ormoc City 6541

Founded: 1984

Feastday: May 13

The church of the Mother of the Redeemer Parish in Cogon, Ormoc was renovated a number of times. First, there was an extension on the left wing of the church to accommodate the growing community. This did not suffice.  Another expansion was made by changing the orientation of the church, cutting across the middle of the main nave so that they became the side wings of the church. The side entrance was extended to become the main entrance and the other end extended to become the altar. When typhoon Yolanda came, it suffered much damage. But they soon were able to get back on track and finish the church, now much bigger, taller and certainly more beautiful than the old one. 

Immaculate Conception Parish

Ipil, Ormoc City 6541

Founded: 1989

Feastday: December 8

         Being just a barangay chapel, the church of Ipil was small with low ceiling. Finding a larger area to build a church proved unsuccessful and so they had to contend with just expanding the church and building the convent in that same place with an added  little space adjacent to the church that the parish later acquired. 

San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila Parish

Simangan, Ormoc City 6541

Founded: 1993

Feastday: September 28

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish,

Curva, Ormoc City 6541

Founded: 2003

Feastday: September 23

When Curva was created a mission station, there was a small chapel that they kept on improving. By 2007, the flooring has been tiled and the altar improved. The altar was further beautified by 2009 while at the same time they already started building a bigger church on the lot at the back of the chapel.  When super typhoon Yolanda struck, the church was almost finished. In fact church activities were already celebrated there. The old chapel had been demolished to become the parking space. The roof including the trusses were blown away by the typhoon and so they had to start rebuilding again.

St. Mark the Evangelist Parish

Linao, Ormoc City 6541

Founded: 2003

Feastday: April 25

San Jose Parish

Brgy. San Jose, Ormoc City

Feastday: August 31

When San Jose, Ormoc became a Mission Station, it was first called the St. Christopher Magallanes Mission Station, after the Mexican priest-martyr. A bigger church was also nearing completion replacing the small barangay chapel before. Typhoon Yolanda totally destroyed it. When they started rebuilding, all the posts that remained had to be demolished and they had to start from scratch with a new design, much bigger and taller than the destroyed one and also much beautiful. When it was finally proclaimed a parish, it was returned to its original patron, St. Joseph. 

St. James the Great Parish

 Albuera, Leyte 6542

Founded: 1862

Feastday: July 25

Sto. Niño Parish

Damulaan, Albuera, Leyte 6542

Founded: 2004

Feastday: January 15

Damulaan also started from a small barangay chapel when it was created a Mission Station in 2004. Construction of a bigger church right away started. 

St. Isidore Parish

Merida, Leyte 6540

Founded: 1917

Feastday: May 15

The installation of a gold leaf altar retablo was newly finished when I visited the church of Merida in 2017.

Holy Family Parish

Kananga, Leyte 6531

Founded: 1959

Feastday: December 12

(Photo taken: May 13, 2024) 

St. John the Baptizer Parish

Tugbong, Kananga, Leyte

Founded: 2003

Feastday: April 25

The Mission Station of Tugbong also had a small chapel when it was created. The building of a new church was ongoing when typhoon Yolanda came and did much damage to the church.  They soon were able to finish building a new church that by 2017 it was elevated to become a parish. 

St. John Paul II Mission Station

Punta, 6541 Ormoc City

St. Rita de Cascia Mission Station

Biasong, 6540 Merida, Leyte

Palompon Vicariate

St. Francis Xavier Parish

Palompon, Leyte 6538

Founded: 1784

Feastday: December 3

The façade of the Palompon church was changed by scrapping the outer layer of the walls to reveal the coral stone structure and constructing a bigger canopy at the front entrance while also remodeling the belfry. The altar with a metallic surrounding the Risen Christ was replaced with a retablo.

The Parish of St. Joseph the Worker

Cantuhaon, Palompon, Leyte 6538

Founded: 1968

Feastday: May 1

St. Michael the Archangel Parish

San Miguel, Palompon, Leyte 6538

Founded: 2009

Feastday: September 29

Holy Infant Jesus Parish

Isabel, Leyte 6539

Founded: 1877

Feastday: January 15

When Isabel became the site of the industrial estate in the late 70s, the town from being a quiet little backwater suddenly came to life with the influx of people and growth of economy that the church could no longer contain the growing population. A new church was built in the space in front of the old church.  With the growing popularity of having a retablo, the parish also joined the bandwagon when the altar was improved.

St. Augustine Parish

Matlang, Isabel, Leyte 6539

Founded: 2005

Feastday: August 28

Matlang which is the barangay nearest the Leyte Industrial Development Estate in Isabel experienced a boom once the copper smelter plant became operational. Because of the increase of the population it was created a Mission Station. They soon embarked on constructing a bigger church after they were able to relocate the informal settlers that occupied in the church property.  By 2009 they already transferred to the new church which by then had already become a parish. Yolanda blew away the roof . They were able to recover right away and had the church repaired. 

Holy Child Parish

Villaba, Leyte 6537

Founded: 1918

Feastday: 2nd Sat. of February

The side altars

St. Andrew the Apostle Parish

Tagbubunga, Villaba, Leyte 6537

Founded: 2005

Feastday: May 15

St. Anthony of Padua Parish

Matagob, Leyte 6532

Founded: 1965

Feastday: June 13

This completes the post on the parish churches in the Archdiocese of Palo.