The Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint John the Baptist, known colloquially as Pinaglabanan Church, is a 19th-century

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

San Juan, Metro Manila San Juan, officially the City of San Juan (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 126,34 ...

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 ...

. It belongs to the

Archdiocese of Manila In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

Name

The church derives its name from

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, to whom it is dedicated. He is both the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

and namesake of the city, which has the ceremonial name of (Saint John of the Mountain), owing to the area's hilly terrain. The edifice is also known colloquially as the "Pinaglabanan Church", as it is several meters from the Pinaglabanan Shrine. The area near the church and shrine received the name "" ( Tagalog for "battleground") as the

Katipunan The Katipunan (), officially known as the (; ) and abbreviated as the KKK, was a revolutionary organization founded in 1892 by a group of Filipino nationalists Deodato Arellano, Andrés Bonifacio, Valentin Diaz, Ladislao Diwa, José Dizon, an ...

engaged the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

in the

Battle of San Juan del Monte The Battle of San Juan del Monte, also referred to as Battle of Pinaglabanan, took place on August 30, 1896. It is considered as the first major battle of the Philippine Revolution, which sought Philippine independence from Spain. The first ...

, marking the start of the 1896

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

History

Establishment

Although the parish was established on July 15, 1894, the construction of the first church happened a year after, under the supervision of architect Luis Arellano and the financial support of Mariano Artiaga. A

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

, Roman Pérez, served as the first parish priest from 1894 until 1897. The newly built church then enshrined a centuries-old image of John the Baptist, after whom the town is named.

Revolution against Spain

On August 30, 1896, the

between Filipino and Spanish troops occurred on the tract of land fronting the newly built church. The battle, which was one of the first in the Philippine Revolution, is commemorated annually at the shrine and park that stands today at the site.

Renovations

Ramón J. Fernández spearheaded repairs to the church, which was damaged in the Revolution. When Hernando Antiporda (who later became Auxiliary Bishop of Manila) was parish priest in 1951, the church was renovated and expanded under the supervision of architect Otilio A. Arellano, grandson of the original architect, Luis Arellano. The younger Arellano notably preserved the original

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 ...

and

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 structure. With the expansion, the church acquired two additional front doors.

Expansion

In 1975, Severino Casas built two mortuary chapels in the church compound. Changes in 1983 included the lengthening of the nave and the removal of the

choir loft A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church (building), church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the Sanctuary#Sanctuary as area a ...

above the main door, as well as the installation of the crucifix above a new altar. The ''retablo'' (

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

) was preserved, while the antique image of Saint John the Baptist—which was previously at the top-centre of the ''retablo''—was moved to the Saint Joseph Chapel. A

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 ...

, social hall, and

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

were built in 1987 on the location of the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto built in 1955. A year later, a Perpetual Adoration Chapel was built, only to be demolished to make way for the Holy Child Parochial School (now the St. John the Baptist Catholic School). A smaller, air-conditioned Adoration Chapel at the ground floor of the school near the church's southern entrance was finished in 2009.

Declaration as historical landmark

Ang Simbahan ng San Juan del Monte NHC historical marker

The St. John the Baptist Church was declared as a historical landmark through San Juan Municipal Council Resolution, Ordinance No. 63 Series of 1989. On May 15, 1994, the

Feast of the Ascension The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ (also called the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday) commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It ...

, Cardinal

Jaime Sin Jaime Cardinal Lachica Sin, ( zh, t=辛海梅, 辛海棉, poj=Sin Hái-mûi, Sin Hái-mî; August 31, 1928 – June 21, 2005), commonly and also formally known as Cardinal Sin, was the 30th Catholic Archbishop of Manila and the third cardina ...

Archbishop of Manila The Archdiocese of Manila (; ; ) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church, Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, Catholic Church in Metro Manila, Catholic Church in the Philippines, Philippines, encompassing the cities of Manila, ...

, blessed and inaugurated the new San Juan

Centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

Belfry, built to commemorate the church's hundredth anniversary. Architects Renato Berroya and Arsenio Topacio designed the structure, which matches the façade, and houses the church bell that dates to 1896.

Archdiocesan Shrine

On June 24, 2024, Cardinal

Jose Advincula José Lázaro Fuerte Advíncula Jr. (born March 30, 1952) is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church and a professed member of the Dominican Order, who became 33rd Archbishop of Manila in 2021. He became a cardinal in November 2020. He previ ...

, Archbishop of Manila, bestowed the title of Archdiocesan Shrine to the parish church. The

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

also opened a Holy Door to mark its 130th jubilee year. In the same event, Mayor Francis Zamora, one of the city government officials in attendance, endorsed to Cardinal Advincula a resolution declaring John the Baptist as the

(''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

'') of San Juan City. On the 2024

feast A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes inc ...

of St.

, the local government also declared him as

of San Juan City.

Parish priests

Gallery

File:03070jfSaint John the Baptist Parish Church Pinaglabanan Philippinesfvf 22.jpg,

Stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

window featuring the

Baptism of Jesus The baptism of Jesus, the ritual purification of Jesus with water by John the Baptist, was a major event described in the three synoptic Gospels of the New Testament ( Matthew, Mark and Luke). It is considered to have taken place at Al-Maghta ...

Pinaglabanan Archdiocesan Shrine interior (003) 2024-06-24.jpg,

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 ...

in 2024 Pinaglabanan Church 2.JPG, Roof details of church's façade, showing the small, decorative

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

at its apex File:03116jfSaint John the Baptist Parish Church Pinaglabanan Philippinesfvf 10.jpg,

Confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall where the priest from some Christian denominations sits to hear the confessions of a penitent's sins. It is the traditional venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Luther ...

Pinaglabanan Archdiocesan Shrine interior (002) 2024-06-24.jpg, The interiors of the church's nave leading to the main door. The section with wooden

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s was added during the expansion of the nave.

References

External links

* * * {{Roman Catholic churches in Manila Roman Catholic churches in Metro Manila Buildings and structures in San Juan, Metro Manila Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila Churches dedicated to John the Baptist in the Philippines Catholic churches dedicated to John the Baptist Jubilee churches in the Philippines