BEACHES AND CHURCHES: The Cathedral of San Carlos and Sipaway Island, Negros Occidental

Just before the outbreak of Covid-19, my last trip outside Manila took me to Bacolod to attend the sacerdotal ordination of a student in Canon Law at the University of Santo Tomas, where I teach. Having previously explored Bacolod, I decided to venture eastward across the island of Negros to visit San Carlos City, where I had not yet captured a photo of their Cathedral.

Just across San Carlos City lies the island of Sipaway, which I decided to explore spending a night in one of its resorts. Sipaway consists of only two Barangays: Ermita and San Juan. The main transportation around the seven-kilometer-long island is by tricycle. Luckily, the roads are already cemented. In Barangay San Juan, a new mission station with a newly built church stands. The beaches of Sipaway are not adorned with powdery white sand but rather a shade of ivory. With shallow waters the sea is best suited for swimming during high tides.