FEATURE

Calamay, pottery tradition

in Albur’s altar carvings

From hand-painted ceiling fresco depicting a revered tradition, to hand-carved figures of tigpang-kalamay and tigpanghimo og koon, Bohol churches are getting popular for its trivial details hidden in plain sight.

If the Loboc Church of Saints Peter and Paul still has a painting depicting the Lady of Guadalupe Extremadura saving the town from the November 26, 1876 flood, thanks to Canuto Avila and companion painters, Alburquerque Church of Santa Monica also has early Boholanos detailed at the bottom of the newly carved baroque altar, thanks to Arsenio Lagura Jr., and his team of wood-carvers.

FATHER’S SON. Alburquerque woodcarvers now occupy a small shop within the church complex, doing repairs, restorations and commissions for church religious icons, thanks to that workshop in 2016. (PIAbohol)

And while Loboc church frescoes, not murals, were done in the 1920’s, the Alburquerque carvings came in 2017, when the Lagura-led group completed the intricately carved altar featuring baroque pierced carvings and gothic sunburst with he dove symbolic of the holy spirit.

Long before Boholanos identified Alburquerque as the home of artisanal Asin Tibuok, the town’s calamay and vanishing pottery industry which the town is known for.

“Aron mahinumduman,” Lagura shared when asked what motivated him to include the carved images in the wooden retablo.

Lagura, who used to work at a furniture shop since his teens, has since tried sculpture, because he needed to use a skill when wood-working became a little bit of a bore for him.

It was after the earthquake in 2013, that Lagura picked up an enhanced skill when he and several Boholano wood carvers joined the Sandugo Lalik Festival, he shared.

“The lalik festival aims to develop and enhance the wood-carving skills of local artisans and boosting livelihood,” former local seminary rector and Alburanon priest Fr. Valentino Pinlac was quoted in news interviews.

OLD AND NEW. The lalik festival in 2016 produced new urnas which were sourced out using old discarded wood, and allowed new carvers to experiment on the design motifs for localization.

The festival has workshops on wood carving featuring the urna and the nail-less joinery technology of the mortise and tenon, and capped with the Boholano urna carving competition, which Lagura won hands down.

With the help of the National Commission for Culture and Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, the Provincial Government of Bohol and the Diocese of Tagbilaran, local word carving workshop was held.

“While the festival marked the formal rebirth of the long-forgotten urna wood-carving tradition of Bohol, the subsequent project of building the period appropriate main altar (retablo mayor) became the biggest challenge,” Lagura recalls, in an interview years back.

EARTHQUAKE BAROQUE CHURCH AND NEO-BAROQUE RETABLO

The result is a stunning rendition of a modern baroque still complete with curving and flowing forms signifying that same movement when science and the Protestant Reformation questioned the mighty church in the 14th century.

EARTHQUAKE BAROQUE. With the earthquakes the threaten construction, the Spaniards supervised the construction of squat structures with thick walls, often sacrificing the aesthetics over longevity, Alburquerque church however has an espadana, bell gable incorporated in the wall, which still risks toppling in an earthquake. (PIABohol)

The stone church of Santa Monica is built in the mid-18th century, conscious of the threat of earthquakes, builders made sure that the church is a squat structure with over-a-meter wide walls of piled coral stones, reinforced with flying buttresses and an espadana or bell tower built on the reinforced walls to lessen the possibility of crumbling.

In the early 2000 however, noted that the church retablo did not match the old church, many believe that the neo-classical movement could have forced the change of the elaborate altar to a simpler and more orderly design, which may have also forced the people to cover the circular wooden posts with the rectangular shaped tin cover.

NEO-BAROQUE ALTAR

Structured similar to an urna, Santa Monica feature a localized depiction of the grada in an elevated main body of single tiered three-niched altar, a crown and broken pediment to allow for a cross topping and complete with decorated finials and elaborately done wood flanges: all hand carved in shallow to pierced carvings.

THREE ALTARS. Not only did the local wood carvers come up with one altar, they worked on making three huge altars and four more smaller altars, using the same baroque designs characteristic of the 18th century church. (PIABohol)

At the base of the altar is the tabernacle niche flanked by four framed carved images of the tigpangkalamay and potters, each carrying baskets of calamay or earthen pots on their heads and accompanied by carved angels also bringing calamay or pots.

The altar main body has three niches, all complete with the baroque clamshell alcoves signifying protection at baptism, flanked by pierced carvings of a grape-vines with grapes in a creative interpretation of the double solomonic columns of the baroque art.

In it are Santa Monica (center), her son Saint Augustine bishop of Hippo and the virgin Mary.

These elaborately carved columns are also topped with decorative acanthus leaves in the stylized version of the Corinthian volutes, all rising to another superfluously decorated frieze that carries the retablo crown.

ALTAR FLANGES. A popular design motif of the baroque arts are the flowing curving lines and s or c scrolls, ably recreated by Boholano wood carvers from the old existing church arts. (PIABohol)

The altar crown feature a farmed image of angels holding the stylized gothic circular sunburst with a dove, signifying the Holy Spirit.

When Canuto Avila left the marks of history and tradition in Loboc Church, Lagura and his crew of woodcarvers have successfully etched a tradition of Albur, while celebrating creativity, skill and the desire to give local woodcarving tradition its rebirth. (PIAbohol)

CELEBRATING CALAMAY. Local artesans led by Arsenio Lagura Jr., incorporated the traditional calamay industry in the church altar in Alburquerque, while showcasing the rebirth of the forgotten tradition of woodworking and using it to decorate the sacred altar. (PIABohol)

Bohol gives P5M for TESDA

domestic work training center

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—Expect more technical and vocational trainings for domestic work for Boholanos, this as the Provincial Government through Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado signed a memorandum of agreement with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in Bohol (TESDA-Bohol) for the turn-over of a P5 million for the construction of a Training and Competency Assessment Center, in Pilar.

The new training center would be for domestic works Technical Vocational Training Program with National Certification II at the Provincial Training Center in Pilar town, according to the governor.

Signing with the governor was TESDA Deputy Director General for Special Concerns Felizardo R. Colambo as National Language Skills Center Chief Technical Education and Skills Development Specialist Mitzi Samon-Endriano, while TESDA-VII Regional Director Engr. Gamaliel B. Vicente, Jr., TESDA-Bohol Provincial Director Floro T. Ringca, and provincial Officials witnessed the ceremony at the Capitol Ceremonial Hall.

Speaking at the handing out of training certificates to 45 language training graduates as a program proposed by the Bhol Tourism Office, the governor said “This initiative goes beyond our continued collaboration with TESDA. It demonstrates our firm commitment to providing quality education across all parts of the province by constructing facilities that will empower Boholanos with the skills needed to access greater employment opportunities.”

The governor, who also intimated the need to come up with more technical skills training courses, has initiated talks with TESDA over the establishment of yet another training on heavy equipment repair utilizing the equipment of the Provincial Motor Pool, has been aggressively promoting the province for investments, having prepared the skills that may be needed.

While the formal education sector offers hotel and restaurant management and hospitality courses, the non-formal technical vocational education training in Bohol will now find a center through TESDA, which will equip trainees the competency to serve the tourism industry.

“As Bohol continues to enhance and diversify its tourism offerings, it is imperative that we also elevate the skills of the Boholanos who serve as frontliners of this vital industry,” Aumentado said in his solidarity message.

Now with five training centers and an annex in Balilihan, the TESDA Provincial Training Centers are found in Bilar, PIlar, Jagna, Tubigon and Inabanga, each center offering distinct specializations in a bid to serve those who need the skills and competency for global work standards.

On the diverse training courses now available at the provincial training centers and its partner technical vocational institutes offering these trainings, Aumentado hopes that in the future, “Boholanos who need the necessary work skills can benefit from these, so they can expand their knowledge and capacities and elevate the competencies of the Boholano skilled workers.”

During the graduation ceremonies and handing out of certificates of training for Korean Language and Japanese Language Level A1 with NC 11 certifications, the governor shared his hopes: that all of these efforts form part of our vision to build a “smart, resilient, and inclusive” province to make Bohol a globally recognized model of sustainable development.

“By emphasizing human development as a key driver of progress, we not only stimulate growth, but also strengthen our communities, empower our people, and ensure that development remains inclusive, sustainable, and meaningful for all,” he said. (PIABohol)

DOMESTIC WORK TRAINING HUB. Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado and TESDA DDG for Special Concerns Felizardo Colambo sign the MOA for the construction of P5M Training and Competency Assessment Center to rise in the TESDA PTC complex in Pilar, as Bohol diversifies skills competencies for the tourism and hospitality industry. (PIABohol)