Thursday, March 27, 2008 Fire destroys Oslob church, convent By Jovy S. Taghoy Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Nancy R. Cudis
A DAWN fire destroyed one of the oldest churches in Cebu in the most destructive blaze to hit the province this Fire Prevention Month. It took firefighters nearly eight hours to put the flames out.
The fire that razed the Immaculate Conception Parish and its convent in the southern town of Oslob also highlighted the need for the government to pay attention to upgrading firefighting equipment.
The church sat about 50 meters away from the Oslob fire station in Barangay Poblacion, but much of the firefighting came from the neighboring towns of Santander, Argao, Dalaguete and Sibonga, because Oslob’s two firetrucks were defective.
Firefighters from Oslob Fire Station led by fire marshal SFO2 Jaime Suycano, together with some residents, had to push one of the trucks to the site.
The first firetruck to arrive, about 30 minutes after the alarm was raised, came from Santander Fire Station.
An initial investigation by Suycano showed the fire began at 1:40 a.m. based on the statement of Feryland Gemelo, 20, nephew of parish priest Fr. Valentino Gemelo and an acolyte of the church, who first saw the flames.
Suycano said an electrical short-circuit may have caused the fire, but that still has to be verified.
Personal loss
Initially, Suycano said the fire started in Fr. Gemelo’s room.
An inventory of the religious icons and items, personal belongings of Fr. Gemelo and his staff and the structure of the church and the convent itself is still being done to find out just how much the fire destroyed.
A crowd gathered around the site, including two women who cried while they gazed at what remained of the church.
Siblings Eusebia Binghit, 62, and Martina Sandoval, 65, told Sun.Star Cebu they were crying because it felt like they had lost their parents.
“Mura mi namatyan og ginikanan. Nalusno ko pagkahibawo (It’s like our parents had died. I was crushed when I found out),” Binghit said.
“Diha mi bunyagi. Diha mi kasla. Mahal gyud kaayo namo ni nga simbahan (We were baptized there, married there. We love this church),” Sandoval lamented.
A nine-year-old girl who was also in the churchyard said, “Luoy kaayo mi kay wa na mi simbahan (You should feel sorry for us, we have no church now).” She said she was looking forward to see “angels” singing at the altar during Flores de Mayo.
8-hour fight
It took firefighters three hours before Suycano declared the flames under control at 4:30 a.m.
But it took until 10 a.m. to extinguish the fire entirely.
When the smoke cleared, the only parts saved were the rock tablets that served as the church wall and the belfry.
The flames destroyed the two-story convent, the altar, all the long chairs, several religious icons, the prayer room, computers, and all the important documents such as marriage contracts, baptismal certificates and archives on the history of the church.
Surprisingly, parishioners found intact the framed wooden image of the Immaculate Conception, which was placed in the altar, secured by a glass case. The glass case bore minor cracks.
Several parishioners including Manuel Iburan, one of those who saw the image after they cleared the altar of its rubble, believed it was a “miracle.”
The parish priest said that the church was 150 to 160 years old and appeared fourth in the list of Cebu’s heritage churches, together with the churches in Boljoon, Argao and Dalaguete.
Fr. Gemelo was in Cebu City for a medical check-up when the tragedy occurred. Last Tuesday, his day off, he decided to leave Oslob for Cebu City to have his cough checked by a doctor.
He learned about the fire at 5 a.m. from his nephew Feryland.
Feryland, in an interview yesterday, narrated that he woke up to what sounded like electrical sparks or the rustling of a thief.
He saw smoke coming from Fr. Gemelo’s room. The room where Feryland slept, along with Fr. Gemelo’s room and a room reserved for visits of the archbishop, occupied the second level of the convent.
Before running to the nearby police and fire station, Feryland roused four other people in the convent.
Fr. Gemelo said he believes the fire may have started from the “faulty wiring” in the ceiling.
“Akong paminaw kanang karaan na kaayo nga mga wirings. Mga ilaga, iring nga nagtago, nangitkit (That wiring is ancient. Rats and cats have gnawed on it),” he said.
Help
He said that before he left for Cebu City last Tuesday, he made it a point to unplug all the wires from the two airconditioners, a water dispenser and other appliances.
All his appliances also had voltage regulators, he added.
Fr. Valentino appealed to the public to pray for guidance as he and the Parish Pastoral Council plan on where they could possibly hold masses while the church is rebuilt.
Msgr. Carlito Pono of the Archdiocesan commission on cultural heritage said masses will continue.
He told Sun.Star Cebu in a phone interview that that the Archdiocese of Cebu will be “pooling its resources together” to help the people of Oslob build a makeshift structure, as a temporary area where they can celebrate mass while work on a new parish begins.
Pono said that the members and officials of the parish must initiate these plans with the cooperation of the local government.
He is expecting a meeting with Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal the soonest possible time. The prelate left for Manila early yesterday morning and was scheduled to arrive back in Cebu last night.
Priorities
Meanwhile, media liaison officer Msgr. Achilles Dakay questioned the lack of equipment, such as functional firetrucks, to address emergencies like what happened to the parish.
In a dyLA radio interview, he said this incident should serve as a lesson to government officials to address the needs of the people.
“Mao na ilang suroy-suroyon, ang kahimtang sa lungsod, dili kanang idalit nga lechon og pagkaon. Dako ni nga tamparos sa mga opisyales (That’s what they should visit and explore, the situation in the towns, not the lechon and other food offered to them. This is a slap on the officials’ faces),” the monsignor said, alluding to a tourism promotion program of the Provincial Government.
