Betis Church
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Santiago Apostol Parish Church, commonly known as Betis Church, is a
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
-style church located in the Betis District of
Guagua Guagua, officially the Municipality of Guagua (; ), is a municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 128,893 people. Etymology ''Wawa'', which means "river mouth" (Kapampangan: ...
in
Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...
,
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando. The church was established in 1607 and dedicated to
Saint James the Greater James the Great ( Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles t ...
, the Apostle. It was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the
National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...
and the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines (NCCA; , ) is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. It is the overall policy making body, coordinating, and grants giving agency for the preservation, d ...
.


History

The baroque-inspired Betis Church was built around 1660 under Father José de la Cruz. The initial structure was made of light materials, mainly wood and
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...
. Fire broke out within the church several times due to these light materials, so it was finally rebuilt with concrete in 1770. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Father Manuel Camañes dug an
artesian well An artesian well is a well that brings groundwater to the surface without pumping because it is under pressure within a body of rock or sediment known as an aquifer. When trapped water in an aquifer is surrounded by layers of Permeability (ea ...
on the north side of the church, giving a source of potable water to the people of Betis and nearby towns. The present-day concrete fence with
caryatid A caryatid ( ; ; ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient t ...
s was built in the earlier half of the 20th century. During the Spanish Period, Betis was an independent town. Due to a population shift to neighbouring Guagua during the American Period, Betis was absorbed by Guagua in 1904 under Act 943. In 1908, the
rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...
of the church caught fire, and all baptismal records and other historical catalogues of the church were lost. The musical industry entered Betis Church in 1912, where Band 12 still plays musical pieces until today. Later Band 46, Band 47, and Band 48 joined Band 12 in playing music every patronal feast for both Guagua and Betis to honour each church's respective patron saints. Beautification of the interior was extensively done in 1939 by Father Santiago Blanco, the last Spanish priest of the church. The ceiling of the
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
was painted by the famous ''Anac Baculud'', a relative of Juan Crisostomo Soto, by the name of Isidoro C. Soto, who was mentored by Dr. Sijuco. Isidoro, nicknamed ''Doro Soto'', himself painted the ceiling itself. Although today part of the municipality of Guagua, Betis Church retains its own
parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
.


Declaration as a National Cultural Treasure

Betis Church was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the
National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...
and the National Commission for Culture and Arts under Republic Act 4896 as amended by Presidential Decree 374 and Republic Act 8492 on November 5, 2001. In 2009, the National Museum installed a marker of its 2005 Proclamation.


Features

The main attraction of the church is the original ceiling
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
done by the famous painter Simón Flores (1839–1904). Not to be missed are his original painting of the Holy Family, the artesian well (dug in the 1800s) in the patio – the first well in the country to be so situated, and the rare ''betis'' tree nearby donated by sociologist
Randy David Randolf "Randy" Siongco David (born January 8, 1946) is a Filipino journalist, sociologist, and public intellectual. He is a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He currently pens a weekly newspaper col ...
, a native of the town. A two-minute walk from the church is the restored David House, ancestral home of the sociologist, which they christened as ''Bale Pinauid'' or ''Bahay Pawid''.


Church building

The unique design of Betis Church reflects the integration of Spanish and Latin American architecture to indigenous architecture, including elements of Oriental style during the Spanish colonial era. The Church's political power of that period manifests in the architecture. It had been designed to withstand attacks during revolts and rebellions, giving the church the appearance of a fortress. The blending of religion and military portrays the manner Spain saw its situation in the Philippines. The church was also designed to withstand earthquakes that occur often in the region. This unique architectural style became known as
Earthquake Baroque Earthquake Baroque, or Seismic Baroque, is a style of Baroque architecture found in the Philippines and in Guatemala, which were Spanish-ruled territories that suffered destructive earthquakes during the 17th and the 18th centuries. Large public b ...
. Betis Church, Betis 11.JPG, Church interior in 2015 File:Betis Church, Betis 17.JPG,
Dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
File:Betischurch24sjf.JPG,
Pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...
File:Interior of the Saint James the Apostle Parish Church (Guagua, Pampanga) 06.jpg, Altar
The
retablo A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...
, a classic altar, is ornately decorated with carved designs. The religious
fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...
es in the ceiling and murals on the wall with its intricate sculpture and paintings in gold dust are reminiscent of the Renaissance age of European Art. One can behold the majesty of its ceiling, walls and the altar from the aisle near the main door. There are paintings and murals of the
Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on,Ainsworth, 122 but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de La ...
, selected Biblical scenes, Catholic saints and cherubs. The church is dubbed as "the Sistine Chapel" of the Philippines. The church was built by Augustinian priests from 1660 to 1670. The initial structure was composed of wooden materials. However, the Church was destroyed by several fires, which justified the consequent use of non-combustible concrete materials in 1770. The artworks of the interior were extensively done in 1939 under the last Spanish friar who served as parish priest, Fr. Santiago Blanco, OSA. Native painter Macario Ligón was later commissioned to paint the ceiling of the church. Later in the 1970s, Ligón's assistant and nephew Victor Ramos restored 80 percent of the ceiling and mural paintings. The floor of the church is made of tough native wood. The main entrance to the church features some heavy details. The carvings portray the "Gates of Paradise". A museum (''Museo Ning Betis'') stands on the right side of the Church which shows some vintage photos and the history of the church. Outside, sculptures could be found including the monuments of Santiago de Galicia, St. Joseph the Carpenter and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Also in front of the church is the Betis Artesian Well known to be the oldest deep well in the province. Standing at the
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
of the church, one can see the ceilings, walls and the retablo styled with paintings and murals of the Holy Family, selected scenes from the bible, Catholic saints and
cherub A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of ...
s.


Victor Ramos and the ceiling paintings

Victor Ramos y Gozum (1922–1986) repainted almost 80% of the ceiling and mural paintings in the interior of the Betis church which most contemporary writers mistook for Simon Flores originals. Ramos and Daning Henson from San Fernando Pampanga and a certain Mr. Pangilinan reworked the ceiling paintings in the early 1980's, commissioned by the Betis Fiesta Committee under Tatang Emias Roque. It was a flagship project for the town which was then headed by former Guagua Mayor Atty. Manuel Santiago. Based on Macario Ligón-originals (Ligón was an uncle and teacher of Ramos in painting), repainting was done due to the decaying panels infested by termites and to avoid a more devastating effect on other parts of the church's ceiling. Photographs served as guides for the painters in the restoration process which simulated the original ones especially the
trompe l'oeil A trompe is a water-powered air compressor, commonly used before the advent of the electric-powered compressor. A trompe is somewhat like an airlift pump working in reverse. Trompes were used to provide compressed air for bloomery furnaces ...
(fool the eye) effect of the vaults, frames and arches. The original ones were painted in the pre-war years by Macario Ligón of Barrio San Agustín Betis which was headed by the last Spanish friar of Betis named Santiago Blanco. Ramos never had a hard time repainting the ceiling in the late 1970s to early 1980s since he was also the apprentice of Macario Ligón when the latter started painting it in 1939. He was only in his teens then. Ramos nurtured his painting skill despite being born in an impoverished family in Betis. Working as an apprentice under his uncle Macario Ligón, he became so interested with ecclesiastical painting which became his specialization. He entered the School of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and after a year, made his way to work with Maximo Vicente, a well-known sculptor, in the post-war period. He became an encarnador, one who paints the skin of s, and had several side jobs along Mabini and Hidalgo Streets in Quiapo before he came back to Betis and married his longtime sweetheart Ester. His important works include "The Genesis and Apocalypse", Betis Church Dome (1985), "The Four Evangelists", Betis Church pendentives (1985), "St. John Baptizing Christ", Betis Baptistry (1972), "The Four Evangelists", Guagua Parish Church (undated), "The Four Evangelist", San Guillermo Church of Bacolor Pampanga, "Fourteen Stations of the Cross", Obando Parish Church, Obando Bulacan (1982). File:Betischurch2sjfex.JPG File:Betischurch2sjfe.JPG File:Betischurch22sjf.JPG


Betis church bells

In the bell tower, there is a big bell and four smaller ones. One of the small bells bears the inscription of Fray Manuel Camañes, 1891 and Fundicion de Hilario Sunico (who had a famous foundry in San Nicolas, Manila). Sunico is a well-known bell caster and metal master (metalsmith) of old Manila. Hilario Chanuangco - Sunico y Santos, the renowned 19th-century bellcaster was born in 1848 to the Chinese Chan Uan Co and his Spanish mestiza wife Trinidad Santos of Gagalangin, Tondo. File:Betischurch128sjfef.JPG, Bell File:Betischurch128sjfga.JPG, Big bell File:Betischurch2asjfb.JPG, Bells Around 176 church bells were attributed to him and the Sunico foundry. Among these bells are the principal bells of the
Binondo Church The Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, also as Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish and commonly known as Binondo Church, is located in the district of Binondo, Manila fronting Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz, in the Philippin ...
and its nine chimes and the principal bell of the
Malate Church Our Lady of Remedies Parish, commonly known as Malate Church, is a Roman Catholic parish church in the district of Malate in the city of Manila, Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Manila. This Mexican Baroque-style ...
. The foundry is located along Jaboneros St., The first Sunico bell was cast sometime in 1865 by Chan Uan Co, the Chinese father of Hilario Sunico. The
foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
started as a shack. But in the 1880s the shack was torn down to give way to a foundry that cast those huge church bells that hangs today in old Spanish churches—some of them declared as heritage sites. Aside from bell casting, Hilario is also responsible for the grill works of old Spanish churches and some civil works including the old Puente Colgante in Quiapo and the Tutuban Railway Station in Tondo.


Betis artesian well

In the last quarter of the 19th century, 1886-1894, Father Manuel Camañes dug an
artesian well An artesian well is a well that brings groundwater to the surface without pumping because it is under pressure within a body of rock or sediment known as an aquifer. When trapped water in an aquifer is surrounded by layers of Permeability (ea ...
on the north-side of the church which served as a source of potable water not only for the Betis townsfolk, but to the other nearby towns as well (Jorge, Catalogo, P. 530-531). It was buried in mud and debris until it was unearthed in 1976. It was rehabilitated on July 14, 2006. File:Betisfacadechurchjffff.JPG, Facade of the Well File:Guaguachurchbetisjfb.JPG, The Artesian Well File:Betisfacadechurchjfeee.JPG, Inscription The present-day concrete fence with caryatids was built in the 2nd quarter of the 20th century.


Betis Museum

The idea of renovating and restoring the ground floor of the church's
refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...
to convert it into a historical mini-museum was one of the major projects of the Betis Town Fiesta Committee 2007. The Committee which was spearheaded by ''comité de festejo'' president Florentino Torres who saw the need of a specific place which would serve as an exhibition room where the collections of Betis Church's artifacts, important historical data, old photographs and memorabilia, antique valuable pieces of the old families of the town and other significant documents pertaining to the celebration of its annual fiestas and traditions in the past and of the present will be showcased. The goal is to ignite awareness, interest and sense of pride among the townspeople especially the new generation Betisenos. After several considerations and consensus among the committee's member, it was decided that the
refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...
of the church will be converted into a museum. File:Betischurchpampangajfe.JPG, Parish Office and Convent File:SantiagoApostoljfccc.JPG, Refectory File:Betischurchpampanga234jfa.JPG, Stairs to refectory File:Betischurch56jfcc.JPG, Inside the Refectory File:Museoningbetisjfa.JPG, Mounted Painting File:Betischurchpampanga234jf.JPG, Museum entrance File:Betisjf.JPG, Ground exhibits File:Betisjfa.JPG, Ground floor of Museum File:Betisjfb.JPG, Wood carving File:Betischurchmuseumjfa.JPG, The 2
tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...
s
The whole refectory which housed several precious art pieces of the church remained undeveloped for several years since its renovation in the early 20th century; after it was accidentally burned down in 1908. Since then, it has become a storage room for baptismal and wedding records of the church and it was where the valuable 17th century relief wood sculpture of "Matamoros" was hung on one of the brick posts of the ground floor; the two "Sagrada Familia" oil paintings believed to have been painted by Simón Flores Y de la Rosa which are still found on the south-side of the wall at the second floor; the "Monstrance of Santiago de Galicia" and the few remaining mural paintings of the original ceiling painter of Betis, Macario Ligón Y Nulud. Today, through the support and generosity of the Betis people and the efforts of the Committee of 2007 to relive the glory of the past, the ground floor is now transformed into "Museo Ning Betis". The renovation of the ground floor took five months to complete. The addition of several interior designs and furniture were actually recycled from a pile of old wood and broken furniture stocked in the refectory's ground floor. Instead of buying new materials, the committee made use of this debris; some were restored and some were converted into
bracket A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...
s for the wall lamps on every post, the base of the
chandelier A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...
s, the doors of the
façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...
of the museum's entrance, the
architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...
of the arched windows and even a couple of utilitarian tables which are now located at the secretary's office. The conceived ambience for the whole ground floor was to make it look like the interior of a
bahay na bato ''Báhay na bató'' ( Filipino for "stone house"), also known in Visayan as ''baláy na bató'' or ''balay nga bato'', and in Spanish language as ''Casa de Filipina'' is a type of building originating during the Spanish colonial period of ...
house. Today, the collections inside the museum are "Matamoros" (17th Century relief sculpture), "San José Macaquera" (Attributed to the Sazon Family), 1800s original icons of the Betis' church retablo, a relief sculpture by Juan Flores Y Culala, "Salangsang Ning Ilog Betis" by Victor Ramos Y Gaza, "Madonna at Anac" by Willy Layug Y Tadeo and "Inventario de la Parroquia de Betis" (an old notebook which gives account to the 1939-1957 inventory of Padre Santiago Blanco(1939) on the renovation of the church). The consultants in the restoration procedure were Prof. Armando Burgos of the University of the Philippines Diliman and Prof. Regalado Trota José of
University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...
. Assistant to Prof. Burgos in the research and documentation process was Prof. Ruston Banal Jr, an alumnus of the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Fine Arts and a native of Betis. The consultant to the interior design was Ms. Imelda S, Torres, proprietress of FurnitureVille Inc.


References


Sources

*Published in UE Today. February 2007 issue. Edited by Mr. Bert Sulat. University of the East. 2007 *Blair, Emma Helen, d. 1911, ed. The Philippine Islands. (1493-1898) *Cavada y Mendez de Vigo, Agustín de la. Historia, Geográfica, Geológica, y Estadística de Filipinas. 1894. Originally published in Manila, Impr. De Ramirez y Grauder, 1876. *Coseteng, Alice M. L. "The Good Wood". Filipino Heritage: The Making of a Nation. Vol. 4. Ed by Alfredo Roces. Quezon City. Lahing Filipino Publication. 1977-78. *Henson, Mariano. The Province of Pampanga and Its Towns (AD 1300-1965). 4th revised edition. City of Angeles, Pampanga. December 1965. *Larkin, John. The Pampangans: Colonial Society in Philippine Island. Originally published in 1972 by the Regents of the University of California. New Day Publishers. Quezon City, Philippines. 1993. *"Marxist Sociological Perspective". Art History's History. Vernon Hyde Minor. Phaidon Press.1989.


External links

* * {{Authority control Landmarks in the Philippines Roman Catholic churches in Pampanga Baroque church buildings in the Philippines National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando Jubilee churches in the Philippines