ARE you curious about the imposing temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints now rising in various places across the country? You can get a peek into a new one. You have until December 13, 2025 to drop in and tour their Alabang Temple. An open house is the only time non-members get to see what’s inside.
Tours are free and there’s no need for reservations. The temple is open every day except Sundays until December 13, 2025. It will be dedicated on Sunday, January 18, 2026.
( http://alabangphilippinestemple.org )
As children, my brother and I called them the Hardy Boys because in those years in the 1970s they walked the streets of our subdivision in pairs — a blonde man and a brown or black-haired man both wearing white polo shirts, black slacks, and black ties. Otherwise, we call them Mormons. By the late 1990s to early 2000s, we knew them for their steepled churches with basketball courts.
But my curiosity was piqued recently upon noticing an imposing structure, obviously a temple, rising along Maa Road. And then the invitation to an open house. I jumped at the invitation, thinking it was for the Maa temple. It wasn’t. It was for their Alabang temple, but the invitation comes with free transport and accommodation, so why not? (I’m still hoping to be invited to Maa once it’s completed).
The Alabang Temple is at Filinvest Corporate City in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
Once the temple is dedicated in January 2026, it will only accept members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons who have Temple Recommend, a slip of paper marked as such.
Welcoming the group of journalists from all over the country to the Alabang Temple open house were Elders James R. Rasband, Carlos G. Revillo, and Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, all General Authority Seventy or senior leaders.
As a side note, the Philippines ranks fourth worldwide in terms of membership, trailing only the United States, Mexico, and Brazil.
The tour of the temple gives you a peek into how sacred members hold temples. The temples, unlike the Mormon churches we are familiar with, are regarded as the “holiest spaces on earth”, where heaven and earth feel closest. They are considered the House of the Lord and aren’t used for Sunday worship. Rather, temples are reserved for what they call the sacred ordinances. Ordinances refer to sacred rites or ceremonies, which include baptism, temple endowment, and temple sealing. We were made to see the rooms for which these three ordinances are performed.
The Baptistry has a large baptismal font resting on life-sized statues of 12 oxen facing all four directions. The 12 oxen, Elder James said, represent the 12 tribes of Israel. This is where baptism for ancestors is performed. This baptism is foreign to my ears. But the long and short of it is the belief that families continue after death, and that ancestors are part of that family forever. Thus, members consider this one of the most loving acts they can perform for a departed one, Elder James said.
Then, there’s the Celestial Room, designed to bring forth deep silence and meditation. The Celestial Room is a sacred space for quiet prayer and personal reflection; no ordinance is performed there. It’s a place without ceremony, symbolic of having arrived in the presence of God.
High-ceilinged and equally high stained-glass window, which in the Alabang Temple has the representation of the Sampaguita, you can’t help but sit in awe and meditation.
A smaller space is the Sealing Room, a small, well-lit room with mirrors on opposite walls to achieve that infinite reflection representing eternal marriage and eternal families. Before that is the Bride’s Room, a dressing and preparation room for the bride. There is no room for the groom for practical reasons. Grooms usually come already dressed in formal attire and wear no ceremonial clothing.
The Alabang Temple is the fourth temple in the Philippines after Manila, Cebu, and Urdaneta in Pangasinan. Ten others are under construction or have been announced. The one in Maa is near completion. Others under construction are in Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, and Tacloban.
Soon to be constructed are Tuguegarao, Naga, Santiago, Iloilo, Laoag, and San Jose del Monte.
The Davao Temple in Maa is one place you can look forward to visiting once it announces its
open house schedule.