In 2013, the earth shook and the walls of Our Lady of Light Parish Church in Loon, Bohol fell. Thirteen years later, that same church is standing on a different kind of stage. A global one.

QB Engineering & Construction, a firm based in Corella, Bohol, has just been named one of three finalists worldwide in the Structural Engineering category of the 2026 Bentley Year in Infrastructure Awards. The award is often called the “Oscars of infrastructure.”

Their entry: “Digitally Reconstructing a Historic Landmark: Our Lady of Light Parish Church, Loon.”

Only 36 projects made it this far. They were chosen from more than 300 submissions across 53 countries. In Structural Engineering, QB stands beside giants:

  • Arcadis, United States — for automating the design of flood protection structures
  • WIKA Gedung, Indonesia — for engineering the largest retractable roof at Jakarta International Stadium
  • QB Engineering & Construction, Philippines — for bringing a Bohol church back to life with digital technology

From a small-town office to the world finals. That is the sentence QB’s team still can’t quite believe.

Building With Memory, Not Just Concrete

QB didn’t start with billion-peso contracts. They started with passion, perseverance, and a lot of uncertainty, as founder and boss Karlo Cirilo Bertumen Quiobe would tell you. They chose to build their practice in Bohol, and to serve it.

When the Diocese of Tagbilaran, the National Museum of the Philippines, the Provincial Government of Bohol, the LGU of Loon, and 401 Construction and Development Corporation came together to restore Loon Church, they needed more than masons. They needed engineers who could understand both seismic resilience and heritage.

The 2013 earthquake didn’t just damage stone. It erased data. There were no perfect blueprints. So QB turned to digital tools. Laser scanning, 3D modeling, structural analysis software. They built a virtual church first, testing how every arch and column would behave in the next quake before touching a single coral stone.

It was engineering as preservation. Technology in service of faith.

“For us, this is more than a professional milestone,” QB shared. “It’s a reminder that engineering work rooted in a local community can carry meaning far beyond its borders.”

A Bohol Project Among the World’s Best

The Bentley Year in Infrastructure Awards recognize projects that improve communities and inspire the future. To be selected means your work doesn’t just function. It matters.

QB’s Loon Church project now represents the Philippines in a category judged on innovation, technical excellence, and social impact. From the ruins of 2013 to a reconstructed landmark today, the journey reflects what happens when heritage preservation meets structural engineering, when collaboration meets digital technology.

The recognition belongs to many hands: the entire QB Engineering team, project partners at 401 Development Corporation and the National Museum, the Province of Bohol, the Diocese of Tagbilaran, and everyone who trusted and worked with them along the way.

Padayon, QB said in their announcement. 

QB Engineering & Construction operates out of Corella, Bohol. The phone number is still local. 038-411-7187. The email still ends in @qbengineers.com. But the work now speaks a global language.

This is what happens when you don’t wait for opportunity to come from Manila or abroad. You build it where you are. You use the tools of the future to protect the treasures of the past.

From a church that lay in ruins to a project cited alongside the world’s biggest infrastructure feats, Loon Church tells a new story about Filipino engineering. Not just strong. Smart. Not just local. World-class.