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Loboc, officially the Municipality of Loboc ( ceb, Munisipalidad sa Loboc; tgl, Bayan ng Loboc), is a 4th class
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 m ...
,
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 17,418 people. Located east of
Tagbilaran Tagbilaran, officially the City of Tagbilaran ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Tagbilaran), is a 3rd class component city and capital of the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 104,976 people. Encompassing a la ...
, Loboc is widely known for its lunch cruises along the scenic and winding
Loboc River The Loboc River (also called Loay River) is a river in the Bohol province of the Philippines. It is one of the major tourist destinations of Bohol. The source of the Loboc River is located in the town of Loboc, almost in the center of Bohol. F ...
. The Loboc Children's Choir, who perform in different floating stations located at the river's end, has won numerous competitions both domestic and international. Tourists also visit to see the
tarsier Tarsiers ( ) are haplorhine primates of the family Tarsiidae, which is itself the lone extant family within the infraorder Tarsiiformes. Although the group was once more widespread, all of its species living today are found in Maritime Southeast ...
, a small, nocturnal, monkey-like mammal with large, red eyes. It is one of the world's smallest primates. Until the 2013 earthquake, portions of the
Loboc Church The San Pedro Apostol Parish Church (also ''Saint Peter the Apostle Parish Church'', Spanish: ''Iglesia Parroquial de San Pedro Apóstol''), commonly known as Loboc Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Loboc, Bohol, Philippin ...
complex (specifically parts of what became the convent or priests' residence) were amongst the oldest standing religious structures in the island of Bohol. The earthquake also damaged the lunch cruise's Docking Port, and caused damage to the pedestrian river bridge and its passenger elevator. In late 2014, Tropical storm Seniang passed directly over the Loboc river area. Although the winds were relatively weak, Seniang brought substantial rainfall. This caused the river to burst its banks in several places: the entire poblacion main plaza was flooded, including the town hall; many of the lunch cruise boats were damaged; and the accumulated debris of the church was disturbed and some washed away. It was fortunate that the new replacement bridge across the river had been completed just a few weeks before, allowing traffic to reach Tagbilaran via Sikatuna since the Loay interior road was damaged and impassable. The Loboc Church is currently in the tentative list for
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Sites under the ''
Baroque Churches of the Philippines The Baroque Churches of the Philippines are a collection of four Spanish Colonial-era baroque churches in the Philippines, which were included in UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1993. The churches are also considered as national cultural treas ...
(Extension)''. A proposal has been suggested by scholars to make a separate UNESCO inclusion for the ''Old Centre of Loboc which includes the Loboc Church''. The same would be made for other churches listed in UNESCO's tentative sites, where each town plaza and surrounding heritage buildings would be added. At present, government agencies are still yet to take action on the proposal.


History

Since pre-Hispanic times, Loboc has always been an inland market village where produce from the sea was bartered for the agricultural goods of the upland regions. It is said to be the domain of Sigala, another chief of Bohol, whose contemporary, Sikatuna, made the famous Blood Compact with
Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as '' El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and, i ...
in 1565. In 1596, the
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
priest Fr. Juan de Torres, SJ came to Loboc from
Baclayon Baclayon, officially the Municipality of Baclayon ( ceb, Munisipalidad sa Baclayon; tgl, Bayan ng Baclayon), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 22,461 people. ...
to found the second Christian settlement on the island. After the traumatic Moro raid on Baclayon on 26 October 1600, the Jesuit
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
decided to move the center of their missionary activities to the inland village of Loboc. By 1602, Loboc became a
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
, making it the oldest on the island. To the Jesuits, Loboc was the ''"Residencia Boholana"'', where their local superior resided. It remained so until the middle of the 18th century when the exigencies of the times forced to them to move once more to Baclayon. Around 1604, the Jesuits established a "Seminario-Colegio" or boarding school for native boys. This school laid the foundation of the musical culture of the town. Today the name Loboc is synonymous with musical acumen. In June 1942, troops of the
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
occupied Loboc. In 1945, Loboc was gradually liberated by the Philippine Commonwealth Army troops of the 8th and 83rd Infantry Division, together with Boholano guerrillas, forming part of the conclusion of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.


Places of interest


Loboc Church

The
Loboc Church The San Pedro Apostol Parish Church (also ''Saint Peter the Apostle Parish Church'', Spanish: ''Iglesia Parroquial de San Pedro Apóstol''), commonly known as Loboc Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Loboc, Bohol, Philippin ...
is one of the most beautiful in the entire province. The first stone church was built in 1602. It was destroyed by fire in 1638 and its replacement built beside the site of the older one. This is the church presently standing, a fine example of the Jesuit colonial architecture of the 18th century. After the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1768, the
Augustinian Recollects The Order of Augustinian Recollects (OAR) is a mendicant Catholic religious order of friars and nuns. It is a reformist offshoot from the Augustinian hermit friars and follows the same Rule of St. Augustine. History The Order was founded in 16t ...
took over and renovated the unfinished structure. They were responsible for the free-standing bell tower, the arcade façade, the mortuary chapel, the heavy stone buttresses and the unique three-storey convent built into the fabric of the Jesuit-built 17th century church. Two saintly figures lived and were buried at the Loboc church: Fr. Alonso Humanes, SJ whose grave became the object of pilgrimages after his death in 1633, and the native boy, Miguel Ayatumo, a student of the Seminario Colegio, who died in the honor of sanctity at the age of 16 in 1609. Contemporary Jesuit records speak proudly of a second "
Aloysius Gonzaga Aloysius de Gonzaga ( it, Luigi Gonzaga; 9 March 156821 June 1591) was an Italian aristocrat who became a member of the Society of Jesus. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of a serious epid ...
" who is from Bohol. The Loboc Church contains a lot of interesting treasures. Among these are the decorative stone carvings and
friezes In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
on the exterior walls; a relief of St. Ignatius Loyola in polychrome stucco hidden behind the main altar, seven ancient
retablo A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...
s from both the Jesuit and Recollect periods; ceiling murals executed in the 1920s by Cebuano artists Ray Francia and Canuto Avila, one depicting the miracle of
Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...
, the town's secondary patron, during the great flood of 1876; carved wooden
cornices In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
and decorative
corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...
shaped as gargoyles or mythical animals. Much of the early history of Bohol was made around the town and church of Loboc. It would not be an understatement to say that to know Loboc is to understand the entire drama of Bohol history. At present, Loboc church is deteriorating, ignored by tourists and visitors and continually threatened by the annual flood that has already robbed it of its ancient records and other priceless relics. The church was severely damaged by the
2013 Bohol earthquake The 2013 Bohol earthquake occurred on October 15 at in Bohol, an island province located in Central Visayas, Philippines. The magnitude of the earthquake was recorded at 7.2, with epicenter of Sagbayan, and its depth of focus was . It affe ...
, and the tropical storm Seniang at the end of 2014 washed away most of the remains waiting for repair.


Geography


Barangays

Loboc comprises 28 barangays:


Climate


Demographics


Economy


Gallery

Loboc Bohol 1.jpg, Poblacion and municipal hall Loboc River 03.jpg, A view of Loboc River lobocchurch.jpg, Loboc Church Remains of Loboc church post-2013 earthquake.jpg, Remains of
Loboc church The San Pedro Apostol Parish Church (also ''Saint Peter the Apostle Parish Church'', Spanish: ''Iglesia Parroquial de San Pedro Apóstol''), commonly known as Loboc Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Loboc, Bohol, Philippin ...
post-2013 earthquake lobocrivercruise.jpg, Loboc River Cruise Busay Falls on Loboc River.jpg, Busay Falls on Loboc river


Notes


References


External links

*
Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
br>Municipality of Loboc
{{Authority control Municipalities of Bohol 1596 establishments in the Spanish Empire