137-year-old Itbayat Church in Batanes set for demolition
TUGUEGARAO CITY—After six years of delay, the 137-year-old Santa Maria de Mayan Parish Church in the island town of Itbayat in Batanes will finally be demolished this month, after concerns raised by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) were resolved, church officials confirmed.
Located in Barangay Santa Lucia, the historic Roman Catholic church, also widely known as the Itbayat Church that is under the jurisdiction of the Territorial Prelature of Batanes, was first built in 1853 and completed in 1888.
It was severely damaged during a magnitude 6 earthquake that struck the island on July 27, 2019, killing nine people and injuring 60 others.
Legal, historical issues
The quake toppled the church’s belfry, and additional damage was inflicted by the 195-kilometer-per-hour winds of Supertyphoon “Leon” (international name: Kong-rey) on Oct. 30, 2024, which destroyed parts of the roof and walls.
The plan to demolish the quake-damaged structure was originally scheduled for May 1, 2023. However, it was delayed amid legal and historical issues surrounding the treatment of heritage churches.
“The demolition was only recently approved, as the issues from the NCCA and NHCP have been addressed,” said Nilda Salengua Garcia, the municipal planning and development officer of Itbayat and a devoted Catholic, in an online interview on Tuesday.
Pooled resources
In the aftermath of the disasters, residents pooled resources and launched donation drives to fund the construction of a small chapel, which now temporarily serves as their place of worship.
“The chapel is small, but we have been using it since then and it is safe from typhoons,” Garcia added.
In 2023, Ivan Henares, secretary general of the Philippine National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), announced that the Catholic Prelature of Batanes was preparing to demolish the structure following the NHCP’s declaration that the church could no longer be restored.
However, the process was delayed pending submission and approval of a proposed design and development plan for a proposed new church by both the NHCP and the NCCA.
The church’s origins traced back to a wooden structure built between 1853 and 1858. Originally placed under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception, construction of a permanent stone church began under Dominican priest Fr. Manuel Blasco in 1872 and was completed in 1888.
Itbayat, the country’s northernmost municipality and one of the Batanes Islands, lies just 156 km from the southern tip of Taiwan.
