Balangiga....my place, my people: 2011

The Church Of Balangiga, Saint Lawrence de Martyr Parish

Balangiga, East Samar

Front view of our church taken during sunset last June 14, 2011 around 6 o'clock pm.

This is the new belfry that was modified by the Philippine Historical Institute.

Before that, the belfry was located at the left side of the Church.

Church of St. Lawrence the Martyr, formerly made with de harigues o poste de Madera, was built inside a fortified patio with four turrets by the Jesuit priests in the 17th century under the patronage of San Lorenzo. It was rebuilt around 1653 by Fr. Cristóbal Miralles and became an extension church (visita) of Guiuan in 1773. In 1850, the church was repaired by Franciscan Fr. Manuel Valverde. Its three bells were looted as war booty after the orgy of killing and destruction ordered by Brig.-Gen. Jacob Smith during the Philippine-American War. Two of the bells are now mounted on a brick structure on the parade grounds of Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A. and the other is in a military base in South Korea. The church was rebuilt in 1927 and was again repaired and beautified from 1962 to 1993.

The old belfry, previously houses the statue of San Miguel is now empty.

That same afternoon right after I photographed the church i decided to try my luck of catching the sunset by the Balangiga bridge. Mmmmmm, not my day but still lucky me i got this amazing color of the skies though the sun was out of sight. It's rays so vibrant and calming so i took the shot! Click!

Then Evening Falls.......

Back to the plaza......

And the church, taking the lowest angle possible....

These i took when we passed by the old Balangiga Academy on or way to baybay where the old port 'pantalan' is located and is where the night sight of the Balangiga shore line is best seen.