The Malolos Heritage, Bulacan: Visit to Barasoain Church

June 12, 2019

Mabuhay!

This is a photo and video journal of our DIY travel to the Province of Bulacan featuring our visit to the historic Barasoain Church witnessing the celebration of the 121st  Philippine Independence Day.

Getting There
The historic Barasoain Church is around 1 hour & 30 minutes car drive from Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1. It is located in Malolos, Bulacan on the Island of Luzon.

National Historical Markers

History

Barasoain Church is a Roman Catholic building whose official title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish was built in 1888 in Malolos, Bulacan. The importance to the Philippine history of this religious edifice is so great because it is the site of the birthplace of the First Philippine Republic. It earned the title of the Cradle of Democracy in the East.

The Malolos Congress of 1898 

Exterior photo of the church building circa 1898

A souvenir photo of President Emilio Aguinaldo and 10 of the delegates of the First Philippine Assembly inside the church.

The altar backdraft in the photo of President Emilio Aguinaldo above is still very similar. You can notice some minor revisions.

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The Interior of the Church

The intricate carvings of the colonnades 

Balcony with wooden balusters

decorative ornamental design chandeliers

The wooden ceiling with architectural ornaments such as cornices & decorative paintings

The golden-colored altar

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The Exterior Facade

The exterior facade is made up mainly of adobe cut stones but it is noticeable that the upper portion of the bell tower is made up of clay brick stones most likely its original building materials. Below are the photos of the church building from different angles and locations.

• Architect/contractor: Miguel Magpayo (hired by Rev. Juan Girón to build the large masonry church). WikipediaPhilippine Historic Sites

• Builder / earlier supervisors: the 19th-century rebuild was overseen by Rev. Juan Girón, O.S.A. (who hired Magpayo); earlier phases and previous stone churches were associated with priests Francisco Royo and others. WikipediaPhilippine Historic Sites

Brief description of construction, timeline, methodology, and cost:

• Timeline: After several earlier chapels and a stone church destroyed by fire (1884), the present massive masonry church was started in 1885 and completed in 1888. (The site had earlier timber/nipa chapels, a hewn-stone church in the 1870s, then the 1885–1888 masonry rebuild.) WikipediaPhilippine Historic Sites

• Methodology/materials: the 1885–1888 project rebuilt the church as a masonry/brick structure (adobe and masonry walls, with brick and hewn-stone elements typical of Spanish-era church construction in the Philippines). Later, the belfry and convent were added/restored in subsequent years. Conservation reports also describe consolidation and re-grouting of deteriorated masonry as part of modern restorations. WikipediaHistoric Preservation Documents

• Cost: There is no reliable primary source giving an exact original 19th-century contract sum; contemporary accounts only note that Rev. Girón “drained his pockets” when the church was finished. For modern works, the most recent NHCP-supervised restoration (completed and turned over in 2020) took 390 days and had a budget of ₱19.3 million. WikipediaEsquiremag.phGoodNewsPilipinas.com

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The right-side wooden door entrance with a semi-circular archway

The main wooden door entrance with bas-relief colonnades and a semi-circular archway

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The Barasoain Church Convent

Image of the Barasoain Church in Philippines Money

The importance of the Barasoain Church in Philippine history is highlighted by its use of its image in the Philippine monetary paper bill.

Barasoain Church was featured on a one-peso banknote in 1951

The Barasoain Church image appeared in the 10-Peso bill from 1969 to 2017

The illustration of the Barasoain Church on the 200-peso banknote of the New Generation Banknote in 2010.

In 1998, during the centennial of the proclamation of Philippine independence, the same illustration was featured on the 2000-peso commemorative banknote

Exterior sidewalk of the church and the parking compound

A local TV station is currently shooting a documentary film about the historic Barasoain Church.

Emilio F. Aguinaldo (1869 to 1964)

On March 22, 1897, he was elected Philippine president in the Tejeros Cavite Convention at the age of 28 years old. With the near outbreak of the Philippine-American War, he transferred the revolutionary government from Bacoor, Cavite to Malolos, Bulacan on September 10, 1898, to March 31, 1899.

He assembled the Congress in Barasoain Church in Malolos to draft the Philippine Constitution on September 15, 1898. It was ratified on January 21, 1899, that created the Republic of the Philippines. Emilio F. Aguinaldo took his oath of office on January 23, 1899 as the First President of the Philippine Republic.

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