A Journey to the Ruins of Sininbahanan

A Journey to the Ruins of Sininbahanan

Our class at TCC is only half a day every Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Since our class ends at 1 p.m., I thought of visiting a place in Tiwi that I had never been to before. I asked my classmate, Ella, if she wanted to go to the sea in Baybay, Tiwi. She immediately agreed, which made me happy because it felt like an adventure, even though I had already visited that place. However, I told Ella that I wanted to explore a new area in Tiwi. She recommended ‘Sininbahanan’. I didn’t know anything about the place, but I was intrigued because ‘Sininbahanan’ means church. At first, I thought it was just a beautiful church to visit. I didn’t have any particular expectations for the place, but I was eager to go there and gain a new experience.

"We decided to have lunch in the afternoon first, and then visit the Chinese garden. I'm not sure of the exact name of the place; some people refer to it as the Japanese garden, but that doesn't really matter. I loved the fresh air there, and it provided a great opportunity for my classmate and me to chat about random topics and share jokes. We also picked guava near the fish pond and watched children throwing stones at a mango fruit. After a few hours, three of my classmates left us; we were six classmates together, so only Ella and I were left. A few minutes later, Ella and I decided to visit the place known as 'Sinbahanan'. We followed John Rick's instructions on how to get there; he assured us it was straightforward and that we would see it if we just walked straight ahead. After walking for a few minutes while chatting, we finally arrived at our destination 😂."

The place was so beautiful; however, I didn't have much information about it. Therefore, I did some research and found out that "Sinimbahanan" is a Bikol term known as abandoned church buildings mostly in ruins according to govph (2021). In addition, It is unknown when the Sinimbahanan church was built, but clues showing the prior existence of a friary or parish house (case parroquial) adjacent to the building may indicate that it was built before the Franciscans left the administration of the Malinao parish in 1696. The friary served as the temporary residence of the Franciscan friars assigned in the area (GOVPH, 2021).

Upon seeing the place, I found it to appear both abandoned and ruined. However, it was also large and beautiful. I noticed stairs leading upwards and upon ascending, I discovered a bell tower. Despite my efforts to look up, I couldn't see the bell. It was dark and eerie, but I wasn't afraid.

I won't delve into the history of Sininbahanan as you're likely already familiar with the Spanish era when Spanish priests constructed churches in the Philippines. This is why in our country we have churches that were built during colonization. 

If you're interested in learning more about "Sininbahanan", you can find numerous articles on Google. Thank you.