Comments on: Endangered Agutaya fortress-church

By: fnf

fnf — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:40:51 +0000

hi estan,

thanks for the time u spent in my native town…. the shots reminded me of my childhood. i’ve been away from the town for almost a decade… but am writing my paper about the place so far… maybe next summer i’l be there… hope to capture more shots of the place…

By: Farl

Farl — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:38:27 +0000

I’ve been trying to catch up with your previous posts and among the places I most direly would like to see for myself are the 3 fortress churches in the remote Cuyo area. I actually buy seaweed from this region but most unfortunately time is what I don’t have. Add to that the imminent isolation, distance and risk in getting there which seemd too daunting a hindrance now that I am married and have a kid. Meantime, I’ll just satisfy myself with the pictures which as always give justice to these wonderful places.

By: estan

estan — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 04:28:33 +0000

noypi, the place is so out of the way but very interesting. you should visit it one day

By: noypi

noypi — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:55:32 +0000

very interesting write-up and shots estan.
i hope i’ll have the chance to visit that place
as well as cuyo.

thanks for sharing the need to preserve our cultural
heritage. i hope it will be imparted as well to
the younger generations of Filipinos now.

By: End of the Cuyo Loop | langyaw

End of the Cuyo Loop | langyaw — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:10:23 +0000

[...] main reason that I ventured into these remote areas in the first place. These structures in Cuyo, Agutaya and Culion defended these towns from the Muslim slave raiders for more than a century. While these [...]

By: Culion’s remodelled fortress-church | langyaw

Culion’s remodelled fortress-church | langyaw — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:04:46 +0000

[...] those in Taytay, Linapacan, Dumaran and Lucbuan (mostly ruined) and the fortress churches of Agutaya and Cuyo, construction was started in the last two decades of the 1600s. For Culion, it was [...]

By: estan

estan — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:49:09 +0000

Liezeil, thank you for your comment. I never imagined that this structure was a product of the polo system or forced labor. While many would say that this was the system implemented by the Spaniards, it was, infact, an exception than a rule. There have been studies that found many church records listing the payments given to laborers in either cash or kind. In other areas, the people volunteered to build it out of love for the faith and deep respect for a charismatic parish priest.

Regarding the construction, I do hope that it will harmonize with the structure.

Norahd, its really a sad fact that Filipinos doesn’t value much our heritage treasures. Even those declared by the NCCA/NHI as such have been desecrated by unknowing priests who, like politicians, would embark on a project to immortalize themselves in their church of assignment.

the islander, o bai, grabe kanindot ang beach ngadto! its very unspoiled and you will have it all to yourself.

dong, thanx pre

By: donG hO

donG hO — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:15:13 +0000

this place is worth promoting. ganda din pala talaga dyan. galing mong magdocument.

By: The Islander

The Islander — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:10:05 +0000

worth reading. entertaining and informative.
the white beach outside looks nice.
dapat the local authorities should have maintained the structure by atleast reconstructing some of its parts without changing its original form. basin og makita nalang ang value if wala na.

By: norahd

norahd — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:04:43 +0000

Hi Estan! I have seen quite a number of historical structures in the country that MUST be preserved. Many times over, I asked myself who should REALLY be in charge of the preservation work. I know we have agencies like the NCCA or NHI, but I don’t quite understand their processes on matters such as this. One thing I know though, they have criteria to observe as to what structures should be preserved. Wheww.. very frustrating, we always drag our feet on important issues like this.

Don’t ever ask yourself WHAT IS A FILIPINO – as it is, in the absence of real concern from the government and lack of interest among many of our kababayans – we are slowly but surely losing our heritage and history.

Really sad..

(PS: Agutaya is one place I have never been to in Palawan. I’ll visit the place one of these days.)

Congratulations Estan… very nice article.. truly worth reading.