ST. JOHN NEPOMUCENE BAROQUE CHURCH

ONE of the favorite tourist attractions in the town of Anini-y, Antique is the historic Baroque Roman Catholic Church that has withstood the test of time as certified by the National Historical Commission on the “Simbahan ng Anini-y”plate marker engraved in Filipino: “Ipinatayo ng mga Agustino malapit sa kasalukuyang pook, 1630-1638. Ang kasalukuyang simbahan na yaring koral, ipinatayo 1845.  Ipinatayo ni P Jeronimo V. Aquerin and kumbento 1879. Sinakop ng mga Aglipayano, 1902. Napasailalim ng Mill Hill Fathers ng Inglatera ang pangangasiwa ng simbahan. Napinsala noong ikalawang digmaang pandaigdig at bagyo 1973.” The marker summarizes the history of the church as having been originally constructed by Augustinian missionaries in 1630-1638, reconstructed in 1845 out of indigenous corals, temporarily occupied by the Aglipayans in 1902, regained for the Roman Catholic Church by the Mill Hill fathers of England. It has also recovered from destructions wrought by earthquakes, World War II and a 1973 typhoon.

Legend has it that no less than a powerful church official, Fray Hipolito Casimiro spearheaded the construction of the first structure in eight long years. It was proper and fitting that he assumed the role of first parish priest thereat. Incidentally, the foundations and rubbles of the original church still exist near the reconstructed one. Even while the old church was still functional, Friar Jeronimo Vaquerin took it upon himself to initiate the construction of the second structure between 1845 and 1879. The natives of the town were the prime workers and carpenters of the church, using coral reefs carved into thick blocks to form an adobe glued with thousands of egg whites and yolks. The native parishioners of the church, however, were not always subservient to the Spanish government and church leaders. The establishment of the nationalistic Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) or Philippine Independent Church by Fr. Gregorio Aglipay somehow influenced them to make a stand against the Spanish colonizers. No wonder then that the friars left the church vacant during the Philippine Revolution (1898 – 1902). This prompted the priest and parishioners of the Philippine Independent Church to occupy it in 1902 until 1906 when they turned it over to the Roman Catholic’s Mill Hill Mission. The strength of the church structure – measuring 60×40 meters — showed its mettle in 1948 when the unusually strong intensity-9 Lady Caycay earthquake struck and leveled other structures on Panay Island. The natives believed it was “a miracle” that the edifice survived considering that Anini-y was the epicenter of that earthquake. The logical explanation, however, is that the massive columns and one-meter thick coral walls were — and are still –strongly held in place by a special blend of lime and straw. Adjoining the church is a three-storey belfry. Unfortunately, all of its four original brass bells from Europe have been damaged and replaced. Fortunately, on the other hand, the original bells are still there for tourists to gawk at. The church’s architecture somehow resembles that of the bigger church in Miag-ao, Iloilo. Why is that so? Both churches had only one designer and were constructed mostly by the same craftsmen from Igbaras, Iloilo. The Anini-y church is now known as the Parish of St. John of Nepomuceno. Today’s tourists marvel at the baroque architecture of the massive church, what with its rectangular façade topped by a triangular pediment with a niche in the center, flanked by two windows. It is has three sections divided by decorative pillars. Another surprise that wows church tourists is the incumbent Mill Hill parish priest, Fr John Ambrose, who speaks fluently the native dialect, Kinaray-a.