First terra-cotta retablo in Pampanga

STO. TOMAS, Pampanga—Not many people know for a fact that a small village called Sitio Sto. Nino Sapa here made history by building the first-ever terra-cotta retablo or altar – all made of baked clay and skillfully sculpted and contoured by a small band of potters.

This was the announcement made by Regional Director Ronaldo Tiotuico of the Department of Tourism – Region III in a press statement issued recently.

Tiotuico said that Sitio Sto. Nino Sapa is known to be one of the few villages in Pampanga that has a chapel.

Thru sheer perseverance and generosity of townsfolk, Sto. Nino is proud to have a place of worship they can call their own. It was in January 1985 when the chapel, after almost seven years of conducting fund-raising projects by local officials and private sector groups, was completed and was named in honor of the Holy Child Jesus or Sto. Nino at the instance of then parish priest Fr. Benjamin Henson.

The completion of the chapel then saw the subsequent realization of an ardent ambition of many townsfolk to embellish the chapel with a centerpiece retablo made of earth or baked clay as this material was abundant in the area and that the town of Sto. Tomas was becoming popular as the pottery-making capital in the province.

And so it came to pass, the task of building the first terra-cotta altar fell on the shoulder of a devout parishioner, Jerry Basilio, whose unwavering devotion to the Sto. Nino was unquestionable. Armed with a small band of local potters and sheer guts, Basilio and his workers worked long months into the year to sculpture what was supposed to be one great piece of history in the making.

The imposing altar—about 10-meter long and five-meter high—is adorned by the icons of Virgen de los Remedios and Cristo del Pardon. At the center is the image of the Sto. Nino.

According to incumbent Mayor Joselito Naguit, Sto. Tomas prides in its pottery-making industry. A large percentage of its households are into pottery business; others are into casket-making.

The industry produces items like water vessels, garden wares, table wares, containers and even sculpture. Each factory is characterized by the presence of a master potter turning around with his bare hands the so-called potter’s wheel where a mound of clay is rotated and hand-worked into desired shape. After thorough drying, it is placed in an oven or kiln, and then fired and cooled to strength. Their products are either glazed or unglazed in color.

Barangay chairwoman Teresita Juarez revealed the fact that some workers from Sto. Tomas were sent to Vietnam in the ‘90s to train local workers there in the art of pottery making. Today, pottery is that country’s most popular product in the world market.

During the inauguration of the altar in 2006, Archbishop Paciano Aniceto cited the hard work and creativity of the residents of Sto. Nino Sapa as he announced the significant achievement of the villagers for making history by building the first and perhaps the only earthen altar in the Philippines.

As they say, one has got to see it to believe!