St. Benedict's Monastery and Lady of Manaoag Prayer Center in Carmen

St. Benedict's Monastery, as its name indicates, has St. Benedict, the great father and founder of monasticism, as it's Patron Saint.

The monastery started with very humble and pure origins.

Three monks of South Indian origin were sent from Rome by the Abbot General Rt. Dev. Andrea Pantaloni, OSB to begin a monastery in Cebu, Central Visayas, Philippines, more precisely in the town of Carmen.

The monks were invited by His Eminence Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu. The three monks from Kerala, India are: Rev. Frs. Thomas Thekkumthottam OSB, Bernard Devasia Kallakavunkal OSB and Joseph John Manjadyil OSB.

They reached Carmen in February 10, 1999, which is the feast day of St. Scholastica, the twin sister of St. Benedict.

The monks organized medical and dental camps monthly for the poor people of the mountain barangays. Many doctors and hospitals from Cebu City helped them in this. They organized gift programs for poor families with the help of businessmen and rich families of the city.

Slowly the monastery began to be a center of activity. Counseling, Confession, Healing Prayer and consoling the afflicted became a major activity of the monks.

A center for Reflexology foot therapy and free clinic was opened with 15 of the local people trained as therapists. The monks started the Holy Rosary for the people daily in the evening at 4:30 p.m.

In 2003, Our Lady of Manaoag Rosary Center was blessed by Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu. The Rosary Center is a big building almost like the church and it contains 20 life-size paintings of the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. This is probably the only one of its kind in the world.


These paintings are the imitation of the 15 th and 16 th century paintings from Europe, done by two artists from Cebu. About two thousand people were present for the blessing of the Rosary Center. Within one year, over 40,000 pilgrims visited this place of pilgrimage.

Side by side with the Rosary Center, a huge Sto. Nino, in cement was also built near the church. This Sto. Nino is a twelve feet statue on a twelve feet base and is supposed the biggest anywhere. This also attracts pilgrims to visit this place especially those devotees of St. Nino.

According to the history of the Philippines, Magellan the Spanish Navigator brought a small statue of Sto. Nino or Child Jesus to Cebu and slowly the whole of Cebu and later the whole of Philippines became Catholic.

Today, the Philippines is the only Catholic country in Asia and second biggest after Mexico in the world. Around 75% of the 84 million population is Catholic.

Near the Rosary Center are two other smaller shrines. The first is the lovely little Oratory of Beato Pedro Calungsod. Pedro Calungsod is the only Cebuano Saint, beatified by Pope John Paul in 2000.


Pedro was a young man from Cebu, missionary, catechist, migrant, lay minister, who was martyred in the island of Guam in the Pacific in the 16 th century. In this Oratory, many cancer patients claim to have been healed. Under the Oratory is the grotto of Saint Benedict, a small little haven of silence, so conducive to prayer and contemplation.

All these places of prayer and pilgrimage were built by the generous support of the hundred sick people who were here and pilgrims who flocked here for prayer.

These institutions are located in a panoramic natural landscape, surrounded by high hills and creeks, which create a unique impression of Mother Nature's beauty and human labor.

Just facing the church is the famous bat cave of Carmen, which is a major tourist attraction. Millions of rice-bats come out of this cave in the Philippines where millions of rice-bats, which is rare indeed, can be seen together and so well. This cave was once featured in the National Geographic Channel.

As the number of young men wanting to follow the monastic way of life increased, the need for building up a bigger monastery was felt. So with the help of hundreds of benefactors, the present monastic building was completed.

The monastery is a very simple but elegant architectural poem built amidst the green mountains and blue sky, with the mountain line gradually receding into a thin basin of sea front.


Today this remote village has become a spot on the world map of pilgrimage.

The monks have toiled hard and prayed in the past six (6) years to transform this place and the people according to the motto of the Holy Father St. Benedict “Ora et Labora” ie. Pray and Work.

At present, the strength of the monastery is eleven monks and 25 postulant members. (benedictinesil.org)

Cebu Business Park

The Cebu Business Park (CBP) is an integrated development emerging as the premiere business district in Southern Philippines.

It is the only masterplanned business subdivision that integrates the natural environment in a business setting.

The Cebu Business Park is located approximately three kilometers from residential subdivisions in the north, and fifteen kilometers from Mactan International Airport.

The provincial government's office is only a kilometer away while downtown is two kilometers away.50 hectares of prime investment opportunities.

An impressive development showcasing the highest standards of quality and rational growth. State-of-the-art office and residential buildings set amidst refreshing expanses of greenery and wide, concrete avenues.

Cebu Business Park (CBP) is a 50-hectare integrated development with fully landscaped greenstrips, 9 hectares for mixed use superblock, residential block, hotel block, tree nursery and fire station. It is strategically located at the heart of Cebu City.

Features include:
Underground utilities
Sewage treatment facility
Water reservoir deepwells
Drainage system
30-meter wide main roads
Ample surface parking area
Wide open spaces full of greenery

CBP today is building up fast. Completed projects that are owned by Cebu Holdings, Inc. include the Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu Holdings Center, Ayala Life - FGU Center Cebu, Park Tower One, Park Tower Two and Cebu City Marriott Hotel.

Buildings of other lot owners include First Abacus Financial Center, Keppel Center and Pag-Ibig WTCI Tower and City Sports Club - Cebu. (cebubusinesspark)

Magellan's Cross

The large cross was planted in Cebu by Portuguese and Spanish explorers as ordered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. This is to celebrate the baptism into the Roman Catholic religion of island chief Rajah Humabon, his wife, and some 500 of their followers.

This cross is housed in a small chapel next to the Basilica Minore del Santo Nino on Magallanes Street, just in front of the city hall of Cebu City. The street is named after Magellan, Magallanes being the Spanish translation of the Portuguese explorer’s name.

A sign outside claims that the original cross is encased in the tindalo wood cross displayed in the center of the chapel. This is to protect the original cross from people who chipped away parts of the cross for sourvenir purposes or in the belief that the cross possesses miraculous powers. Some people, however, believe that the original cross had been destroyed or had disappeared after Magellan's death, and the cross is a replica that was planted there by the Spaniards after they successfully colonized the Philippines.

Magellan's Cross is a symbol of Cebu City and the chapel's image can be found in its city seal. Many other Cebu-based government and non-government organizations also use Magellan’s Cross in their seals and logos.It is also seen as the symbol of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.

Magellan was killed on April 27, 1521 in what is now known as the Battle of Mactan. The Portuguese explorer died when his men fought Mactan natives led by the island’s chieftain, Lapu-Lapu.

The cross is a popular tourist attraction together with other Cebu historical landmarks like the Fort San Pedro, built by the Spanish conquistador who came some 40 years after Magellan, and the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, considered the oldest church in the Philippines.

Within the vicinity of Magellan’s Cross are Cebu guitar vendors and shellcraft and woodcraft displays. The products are popular with the locals and tourists.

Basilica Minore del Santo Nino

The basilica is a 16 century church structure in the heart of downtown Cebu City. It is build in the exact spot where the image of Santo Nino was founded by Spanish conquistadors in 1565 preserved in a burned wooden box which was left behind by the Portuguese and Spanish explorers in 1521.

The church of Santo Niño de Cebu was first founded by the Augustinian priest, Andres de Urdaneta on April 28, 1565 . The first church structure was built out of earth, hard wood and nipa in 1566 ordered by Fr. Diego de Herrera. In 1735, Fernando Valdes y Tamon, the Governor of Cebu, ordered the church to be constructed by hard stone, which was build in the same spot were the previous church stands. Constructions finally finished in 1739.

The "first monastery in the Philippines islands" was founded by Andres de Urdaneta in April 28, 1565. It houses the oldest and the most celebrated Christian relic in the country, the image of the Senor Sto. Nino de Cebu (Infant Jesus). This statue is Magellan's baptismal gift to Queen Juana. After being destroyed by fire, the structure was rebuilt in 1602 and then rehabilitated in 1740.

Every third Sunday of each year, throngs of the faithful converge in the centuries-old Basilica del Santo Niño to venerate the miraculous icon of the Holy Child enshrined in a marble chapel, and to accompany the solemn procession of the icon as it winds through the major streets, surrounded by a sea of humanity fired by faith in the power of the God-Child.

Santo Nino de Cebu
The propagation of the devotion to the Holy Child as boy and king was of Spanish origin. It was most avidly promoted by the reformed order of Carmelite nuns led by the enigmatic St. Teresa of Avila in the 16th century.

From La Madre, the devotion to the Christ Child caught on. Icons of the Child Jesus soon began to appear in many churches and homes in Europe and was mass-produced in Flanders (now Belgium). It gained wide popularity in Prague and Bohemia in the Vitarra River.

Eventually, the cult of the devotion to the Holy Child reached Latin America, Asia and the rest of the Christian world.

In 1517, King Charles V of Spain visited Flanders and brought home with him to Spain several Flanders-crafted icons of the Holy Child, one of which was given to the adventurer Ferdinand Magellan who took the icon with him in his voyage to the other side of the world and to Cebu.

In this Malay settlement, Magellan gave the icon as gift to the wife of the Cebuano datu (chief) in 1521. Nothing was known of the icon until 44 years later when it was discovered by Juan Camus, a soldier in the second Spanish expedition led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, in one of the charred houses in the old Sugbu in 1565. The event also marked the founding of the first permanent settlement in Cebu named City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in 1571.

On April 28, 1565, Fr. Andres de Urdaneta founded the first convent of the Augustinians and church housing the Sto. Niño. From Cebu, the devotion spread throughout the islands where Christianity was accepted as faith.

Sometime in the 18th century, the now-popular weekly Friday novena was introduced in Cebuano by Augustinian Fr. Mateo Diez who served as rector of the sanctuary from 1889 to 1893. The booklet was printed in Guadalupe (Manila) Asilo de Huerfanos in 1888.

The popularity of the devotion was of such magnitude that Fr. Juan Delgado, in the 1700s, commented that ''the island of Cebu ranks first in dignity on account of the miraculous image that set his residence in this island and which was found by the Spaniards on the first day of the conquest.''

Fr. Egidio Vivara, father provincial of the Jesuits in the Philippines, added in 1773: ''Sto. Niño is the most famous in all the islands'' referring to the Visayas and Mindanao. The chronicles of the Augustinians recalled the miracles of the Holy Child, ranging from temporal to spiritual favors.

The first of the accounts of the miracles attributed to the Holy Child was written by Fr. Nicolas de la Cuadra, rector of the convent from 1698-1713, in a booklet along with several letters and prayers, titled ''Milagros del Santo Niño'' and ''Sermone Misticas.'' It was Father De la Cuadra who initiated the ornamentation of the icon with precious jewels and held solemn rites in its honor.

Other tales of the icon border on the subversive during the pagan years in which none was known about the whereabouts of the icon. The 44-year gap to the rediscovery of the icon has indigenized the Sto. Niño into the culture and religious beliefs of the natives who have reverted to their old ways with Magellan's death. Their animistic perceptions at the time the Sto. Niño was introduced were after all quite apparent.

Oral tradition has it that King Humabon of Sugbu worshipped Bathala, which interestingly, according to some interpreters, actually means Bata Allah or Child-God. This deity was supposed to have been naughty and would sometimes play pranks on its followers. It was sooty and had curly hair.

Thus, it would not have been too difficult for the natives to accept the Iberian icon; and for Queen Juana to tearfully accept the icon from Pigafetta, chronicler of the Magellan Expedition. This in part would explain the rather embarrassing historical postscript that recounts the presence of an icon of Mary at the bottom of the well, evidently discarded in disesteem, at the time the Sto. Niño was found.

It would seem then that within the so called ''pagan years,'' before the icon was reinstalled in its proper edifice and reclothed with the entry of Legazpi, the ancient worship of the Bata Allah kept by the natives, was evidently united with the Christ Child in the form of the Sto. Niño. To the natives then, the Sto. Niño was Bata Allah reconfigured.

With this fusion of the personality of the native and Christian God in the figure of the Iberian icon came the tales that may have formed an oral tradition in Old Sugbu explaining the presence of the icon whose powers was recognized by the natives.

These tales later evolved with almost religiously subversive myths with the entry of Legazpi who restored the icon to Christian veneration.

The tales claimed the Spaniards stole the icon and wrestled the power of the Child-God called Salvador del Mundo or Ai Suno, found in the settlements of Bohol, Cebu and Mactan and renamed it the Sto. Niño, which is now celebrated all over the islands.

These tales may be explained as an attempt by adherents of the old faith to resist the change brought by the white men whose presence and belief system disrupted the existing religion, especially when they reclaimed the icon of the God-Child already revered by the natives as one of their deities.

Though claimed by the natives as their own, the Spaniards in Legazpi's time believed the icon was obviously of European features even though it was clothed in native garments called pinukpok.

Whatever these claims are, the Sto. Niño remains a powerful symbol of faith both to the natives centuries ago and to the present-day converts.

People continue to talk of the touch of the powerful hand of that Little Child in their personal lives as ''when the lame walked, the mute spoke, the seafarer overcoming a storm and a fisherman getting more catch than usual, a leper cured, harvest crops were preserved from force majeure'' and other signs and wonders that have touched many lives.

Those stories of faith continue to be told far and wide, especially to those who feel shorn of miracles in their lives. They serve as a testimony to the power of faith. Many derive comfort from them and miracles are retold to all who believe with childlike faith in He who made His dwelling among men

Malacanang sa Sugbo

Constructed before World War II, the building housed the headquarters of American officials who led the liberation of the Philippines.

After decades of benign neglect, the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo decided to restore the building’s old beauty and transformed it into what is now called Malacanang sa Sugbo or the Presidential Palace of the South.

But unlike other rehabilitation projects that cost the government hundreds of millions, if not billions of pesos, the restoration of Malacanang sa Sugbo required only P700,000 in public funds, with the 53rd Engineering Brigade of the Philippine Army providing free labor, and a private company donating the painting requirements.

Adding the final touches to the structure were 23 of Cebu’s top furniture manufacturers who made sure that only the finest furnishings are found in the Palace of the South. This made Malacanang sa Sugbo a showcase of the best that Cebu has to offer: the best hands of the engineering brigade that undertook the rehabilitation of the building, the best intentions of the private companies that donated materials, and the best furnishings that one could find nowhere else in the world but in the Queen City of the South.

The palace’s furnishings and accessories, all donations by the 23 firms, enabled the government to save millions of pesos, while transforming the seat of power in Central Philippines as a showcase of their best products.

These furniture manufacturers met with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Malacanang sa Sugbo last March 9 during her visit to Cebu City.The Cebu Furniture Industry Federation (CFIF) got the furniture companies together and encouraged them to participate in the project.

The President tapped Chary Aboitiz to handle the interior design and made sure that the furniture donated by various companies and used in each of the rooms actually match. The biggest furniture donor was Maitland-Smith, followed by Cebu Fil-Veneer, which furnished the Guitar Room. Pacific Traders donated the furnishings for the lobby of Malacanang sa Sugbo which is known as the Traders’ Lobby, in recognition of the contribution of the private firm. Mehitabel Furniture Inc. provided some of the furnishings for the guest rooms and the private living area.

Other major donors are Metamorfose and Detalia Aurora. They provided the furnishings for the other rooms. Dedon, another furniture manufacturer, provided the furnishings for the inner courtyard, which is named Patio Dedon.

The minor donors are Raphael Legacy, Castillex, Silya, Arden Classics, Kirsten International, Murillo, Maple and Pine, Mendco, Interior Basics, Coast Pacific, Nature’s Legacy, Brianex, Riverside Arts and Rattan Pacifica. (gov.ph)

Sinulog

Sinulog is a dance ritual in honor of the miraculous image of the Santo Niño.

The dance moves two steps forward and one step backward to the sound of the drums. This resembles the current (Sulog) of what was then known as Cebu's Pahina River. Thus, in Cebuano, they say it's Sinulog.

More than just the meaning of the word is the significance of the dance. Historians say that Sinulog,which is of pagan origin and is the link between the country's pagan past and its Christian present.

Historical accounts say that before Portuguese navigator came to Cebu on April 7,1521 to plant the cross on its shore and claim the country for the King of Spain, Sinulog was already danced by the natives in honor of their wooden idols and anitos. Then Magellan came and introduced Christianity. He gave the Santo Niño ( image of the Child Jesus ) as baptismal gift to Hara Amihan, wife of Cebu's Rajah Humabon who was later named Queen Juana.

At that time, not only the rulers were baptized but also about 800 of their subjects. Unfortunately however, shortly after the conversion, Magellan went into a reckless adventure by fighting the reigning ruler of Mactan, Rajah Lapu-lapu, with only a handful of men. He died in the encounter. That was on April 27,1521.

The remnants of Magellan's men were however able to return to Spain to report the incident and the possibility of conquest. It took 44 years before a new group came and started the formal christianization of the islands. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived in Cebu on April 28, 1565. His ships bombarded the village and in one of the burning huts, one of his soldiers named Juan Camus found inside a wooden box the image of the Santo Niño lying side by side with native idols.

Historians now say that during the 44 years between the coming of Magellan and Legaspi, the natives continued to dance the Sinulog. These time, however, they danced it no longer to worship their native idols but a sign of reverence to the Santo Niño, which is now enshrined at the San Agustin Church (renamed Basilica Minore del Santo Niño).

Through the years since 1521, the dance was a small ritual danced by a few in front of wooden idols or before the Santo Niño. In fact, at the Santo Niño Church where the image is consecrated, only the candle vendors could be seen dancing the Sinulog and making offerings.

During the Santo Niño fiesta which fall on the third Sunday of January,children dressed moro-moro costumes also dance the Sinulog. This was really no big event for Cebu City.

In 1980, however, David S. Odilao, Jr., then Regional Director of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development (MYSD), organized the first ever Sinulog parade. He gathered a group of students, dressed them up, taught them how to dance the Sinulog to the beating of the drums. It was a small parade really which went just around the Basilica but it caught the imagination the City of Cebu, which then thought of making the Sinulog a festival that would rival all other festivals being held yearly in the country.

Thus, under the direction of the Cebu City Mayor Florentino S. Solon and through the help of lawyer Manuel S. Satorre, Jr., Juan B. Aquino Jr., Robert Grimalt and Antonio R. Aseniero, Jr.,Odilao turned over the Sinulog project to the Cebu City Historical Committee under Kagawad Jesus B. Garcia, Jr.

Through Garcia's committee, the Sinulog organization came into being. The first task of the organizing committee was how to conceptualized the festival and make it a big event.

The committee then came up with the idea of having a Sinulog logo that would identify the event yearly if it was to be institutionalized. The group didn't however want to use the Santo Niño image itself because this would have been a sacrilege. And it had to look for something that would identify the project.

This was the coat of arms of the Santo Niño, which is quite visible as they are being embossed in the benches, architecture, and banners of the old San Agustin Church.

The coat of arms of the Santo Niño bears a two- headed hawk, the mark of the House of Hapsburg ( Hapsburg ) in Europe, which then ruled most of the known world from the 15th century to 20th century. Spain was under the Hapsburg dynasty when it sent the expeditions out across the globe to spread the Faith and expand the influence of the dynastic house to be unknown lands beyond the oceans.

The royal origin of the Hapsburg started with the ruling family on Austria in 1276 and for centuries until the 20th century the house ruled most of the kingdoms in Europe. The Hapsburg established the Holy Roman Empire in 1452 and it was at the height of their power under Charles 1 of Spain ( who was also Holy Roman Emperor known as Charles V1) the first expedition under Ferdinand Magellan which discovered the Philippines for Spain was sent initially to look for the Spice Island.

The second expedition under Miguel Lopez de Legaspi was sent by his son, Philip II who ruled Spain for 42 years from 1556. In fact, the Hapsburg rulers continued to hold power until 1700 not only in Spain but also in the colonies under the Spanish regime while the Austrian line of the Hapsburg dynasty also ruled Central Europe until about the same time.

Thus, the Hapsburg emblem, now the coat of arms of the Santo Niño, was influential in many kingdoms in that time. The two-headed hawk emblem was in some of the banners brought by Magellan's men to Cebu settlement in 1521.

The same emblem was carried all the way from that time, through the Legaspi's expedition in 44 years after Magellan, on to others that would come to the country in those days, such as Loaisa, Saavedra and the Villalobos expeditions.

The emblem of the two-headed hawk at the peak of the power of the Hapsburg dynasty represented the twin purpose of the House, which was to stand as "Champion of Catholicism and Defender of the Faith."

With this background, the Sinulog committee used a native warrior's shield on whose face is imprinted the coat of arms of the House of Hapsburg that now represents the Sinulog logo as interpreted by Miss Olive Templa, who coincidentally is a Cebuana.

The native shield figure symbolizes the country's continued resistance to colonization. It speaks of the Filipino's readiness to defend the country from all forms of foreign incursion and to resist any move that may endanger the country's self-determination.

The coat of arms of the Santo Niño on the face of the shield on the other hand, traditionally symbolizes the country's acceptance of Christianity as it was brought to the settlements in 1521 by European rulers.

Sinulog '81 was then organized. Practically all sectors in the Cebuano community got involved. To distinguish the festival from the popular Ati-atihan Festival in Aklan, the organizers decided to use the parade to depict the history of the Sinulog which, as had been said, is the dance which links the country's pagan pasty and Christian present.

Seven floats were created to depict seven different periods of history. Each float were followed by dancers wearing costumes depicting the periods. They all danced the same beat the Sinulog parade started at 1 P.M. at the Cebu Provincial Capitol and ended about midnight at Fort San Pedro-Plaza Independencia area. And the show continued until the wee hours of the morning.

This made Sinulog the country's biggest spectacle. So every year thereafter, the Sinulog parade and activities became bigger and better.(sinulog.ph)