Bacolor

On Saturday April 16th, we drove to the city of Bacolor. This city was covered by the 'lahar' flow (lava) from Mt Pinatubo which erupted in 1991. The city was not covered until 1995. I was interested in this because of the time frame. I knew that the molten lava was still not flowing 4 years after the eruption and that a lot of the area around Angeles was covered by several feet of ash. I spoke with a lady at church on Sunday who was from the area. She told me that in 1995 they had heavy rainy season. The rain mixed with the ash to form a cement like mud with covered the city of Bacolor. The entire town was evacuated and all lost their homes. They have since rebuilt.

In this town is the San Guillero Parish Church which was about 50% buried by the lahar. I spoke with the Priest while we were there and he told me that you now enter the church through the windows which were originally the upper floor of the church.

The sign telling the history of San Guillero Parish Church

This is a picture of how San Guillero Parish Church looked originally

Wade in front of the churchThis is above the entry to the church. Notice in the picture where that this was located on the right side above where the entry doors wereThe bell tower of the church

An arbor of flowers outside the parish officeInside the church - looking from the entrance

A closer look at the front of the church

The building to the left of the main church in the original picture