The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) will be turning over the Our Lady of Light parish church and convent in Loon town to the Diocese of Tagbilaran, a press release said on Sept. 7, 2021.
The turn over rites will happen at around 4 pm, today, Sept. 7, 2021, the eve of Loon’s town fiesta, the same press release bares.
National Museum Director General Jeremy Barnes will be on hand to turn over the said church and convent to authorities of the Diocese of Tagbilaran, which is the legal owner of the church and convent complex.
The NMP reconstructed the Our Lady of Light parish church and convent in Loon town after the structures were damaged following the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol in 2013.
The turn over is expected to be witnessed by local officials including First District Cong. Edgar Chatto, Board Members Aldner Damalerio and Ricky Masamayor, and Loon mayor Elvi Peter Relampagos, among others.
According to the NMP, the Loon church and convent were completely reduced to rubble and it took almost 8 years to completely restore the said structure.
The church complex in Loon was declared as a National Cultural Treasure on Dec. 6, 2010. Also in 2010, the Loon church complex was declared as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).
The church and convent was rebuilt several times from the 1780s to through the early part of the mid 1800s. The earlier structures had been built of light materials and gutted by fire twice in the 19th century, the NMP, in its press release, says.
The fire incidents prompted the construction of a stone masonry church, built between 1855 and 1864, the same press release adds.