LX. How the Other Half Stays Buried: The Ayala Chapel in Makati City

Continuing on the seasonal theme of visiting interesting repositories for the dearly-departed, it occurred to me that one of the two houses of worship in Makati that I frequent for weekday masses, the Santuario de San Antonio along McKinley Road (the other is the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the basement of BDO Tower 2 at the corner of Makati Avenue and H.V. de la Costa Street) conveniently features perhaps the poshest set of resting places for the deceased.

No, not the three separate structures built to hold the cremated remains of a few hundred moneyed folks, designated as Crypts One, Two, and Three, at the back of the main church in Santuario and next to the three so-called Multi-Purpose Chapels – the Capilla del Señor, the Capilla de la Virgen, and the Capilla de San Antonio – whose own sole purpose seems to be to host the wakes of the wealthy and prominent (or of anyone who can afford the rates).

Because there is another even more posh burial place in the vicinity, right inside the church itself.  This is the Zóbel de Ayala Family’s own mortuary chapel, hidden in plain sight, at the left side of the main entrance just behind the façade of the church.  As the Ayala family not only originally donated (via the Ayala Corporation, in 1951) the two-hectare land that is now the churchyard, but also must have shouldered a significant part of the construction cost of the church building (completed in 1953), it does not appear inappropriate to allow them to have their own private chapel within the church walls.

Perhaps contrary to expectation, the chapel is unassuming and is therefore very easy to miss.  Since it is shrouded in darkness most of the time (except perhaps when family members are present), it is easy to mistake its doorway as the entrance to one of a number of storerooms also frequently seen inside churches all around the world.

What adds to its relative anonymity is that it is not only unmarked, but also has arched and balustered wooden double doors identical to those of the confessional room adjacent to it, making it appear to be just one of those rooms, as it were.

I gingerly pull open the right-side-leaf door, and am relieved to find that it is unlocked.

The chapel is not very large, perhaps not much more than thirty square meters in area, all told.  It is configured like a regular chapel, with a marble altar table in front.   (And a kneeler -- communion rail? -- in front of the altar table.)

High above the altar table on the wall is a replica of a medieval image of the Blessed Virgin holding the Holy Infant from the town of Alava, Victoria in Northern Spain, to which the Ayala clan traces its roots.

This replica is now venerated as the Nuestra Señora de Ayala, and has on its base the family’s coat of arms.

The image is flanked on each side by pairs of rather modern-styled stained glass windows that sparingly admit light from the church façade into the otherwise pitch-dark chapel.

Expectedly first class materials, namely imported, possibly Italian, marble, and Philippine hardwood, had been specified for the chapel floor.

The floor of the altar area, as well as the base of the altar table, features this unusual streaky red-and-gray marble species.

The rest of the floor is in a most impressive tropical hardwood parquet combination of what appears to be rarer-and-harder-than-narra balayong (also known as tindalo), and kamagong (a.k.a. Philippine ebony).

The chapel also features a beamed and coffered ceiling

with an antique style wooden four-bladed ceiling fan, as the cool confines of this corner of the church do not really require airconditioning.

Spotlights are also mounted on the beams above the ceiling fan, the only other source of lighting (apart from the aforementioned four small stained glass windows) in this chapel.

While I could see where the switches were, I chose to keep the lights off, not only to avoid bothering the “residents” but also to keep the entire experience suitably eerie.  All my photographs here therefore made use solely of the built-in flash of my nondescript commercial-grade point-and-shoot camera.

There were two rows of pews within, with each row having two pews (and an extra kneeler for the front pew).

The pew backs are attractively adorned with miniature Romanesque-style balustrades,

each featuring the Ayala family’s coat of arms in the center.

On the wall to the left of the altar

is a trio of oil paintings on canvas by famed artist Atanacio “Tam” B. Austria, mounted onto arch-topped niches in the wall.

On the extreme left is “A Procession in Honor of Nuestra Señora de Paz y Buenviaje de Antipolo,” from 1970.

On the extreme right is “A Procession in Honor of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de La Naval,” also from 1970.

And in between these two depictions of famous Philippine Marian processions is a most interesting Crucifixion scene, painted by Tam Austria in 1968.

This artwork was designed around an antique crucifix, reputedly from the collection of the artist Fernando Zobel (1924-1984), who died abroad and is not among the family members interred in this chapel.

To complement this crucifix, Austria painted the rest of the traditional “Calvario” scene, scaled to the size of the corpus, with the Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother), Saint John, Mary Magdalene, and an additional unidentified Holy Woman all dressed in Filipiniana costume.

On the opposite wall adjacent to the altar’s right side

is a large mural in oil on canvas, painted by Fernando Zobel himself, of Christ seated in judgment, blessing with his right hand and holding the Book of Life in his left.

The words “Ego sum Resurrectio et Vita” – Latin for “I am the Resurrection and the Life” – encircle the figure of Christ.  Four figures representing the evangelists are immediately next to him – on the left, a man for Matthew and a lion for Mark, and on the right, an eagle for John and an ox for Luke.  This central panel is then flanked on each side by six apostles and two angels.

Immediately beneath this mural, which occupies the entire width of the right-side wall, are the wood-paneled niches for the ashes of deceased Ayala family members.

There are thirty-six niches in all, arranged in four rows of nine columns.

Only eight of the niches are currently occupied, three on the second row on the extreme left, and five on the second and third rows towards the middle.

The first of the three occupied niches on the left contains the remains of spouses Antonio Roxas Gargollo (5 April 1906 – 30 November 1982) and Maria de Mendezona Vda. de Roxas (20 May 1904 – 5 January 1985).

The title “Excmo.” is an abbreviation for “Excelentísimo” and roughly translates as “Excellency” or “The Honorable,” indicating perhaps that Don Antonio held an ambassadorial position or something equivalent.  As his spouse, Doña Maria automatically received the equivalent feminine honorific, “Excma.,” short for “Excelentísima.”

Next to them lie the remains of Don Jose Roxas Gargollo (2 October 1911 – 23 July 1973), presumably a brother of Don Antonio.

And next to him is His Excellency Don Eduardo Roxas Gargollo (24 August 1912 – 3 December 1982), presumably yet another sibiling of Don Antonio and Don Jose.

Two slots to the right of Don Eduardo lie the remains of Don Enrique Zóbel de Ayala (12 October 1877 – 17 February 1943).

His title “Ilmo.” is an abbreviation for “Ilustrísimo,” roughly equivalent in English to “His Lordship,” “Lord,” or simply . . . “Mister.”

Directly beneath Don Enrique is his wife Doña Fermina Montojo Torrontegui de Zóbel de Ayala (7 July 1881 – 24 September 1966).

Doña Fermina was actually Don Enrique’s second wife, as he first married his cousin Doña Consuelo Roxas de Ayala in 1901, who died at the early age of thirty-three due to a cholera epidemic, leaving three young children. (On the other hand, Doña Fermina eventually bore Don Enrique five children, one of whom was Fernando Zobel, the artist of the mural overhead.)

One of the three orphaned offspring of Doña Consuelo is interred to the right of his father Don Enrique: Don Alfonso Zóbel de Ayala y Roxas (20 December 1903 – 13 March 1967).

Directly beneath Don Alfonso is his wife Doña Carmen Pfitz Herrero de Zóbel de Ayala (22 March 1909 – 10 December 1999).

Don Alfonso and Doña Carmen are the parents of Don Jaime Zóbel de Ayala (born 1934), currently Chairman Emeritus of the Ayala Corporation, from which he retired as Chairman in 1995.

Immediately to the right of Doña Carmen lie the remains of spouses Colonel Joseph R. McMicking (23 March 1908 – 5 October 1990) and Doña Mercedes Zóbel McMicking (5 May 1907 – 3 December 2005).

Doña Mercedes was the younger full sister of Don Alfonso, who married Colonel McMicking in 1931.  McMicking was instrumental in running the family firm in the post-war years alongside Don Alfonso, especially in regard to the development of its Makati landholdings to become the premier residential and commercial district in the Philippines.

(The remaining full sibling of Alfonso and Mercedes was Don Jacobo Zóbel de Ayala, whose only son was Enrique Olgado Zóbel [1927-2004], who led the family corporation in the post-McMicking years.  Neither Jacobo nor Enrique are buried in this chapel.)

We take a final look at the eight brass-faced niches, helped along by a friendly (and wealthy-looking) orb.

The rear wall of the chapel has a lone balustered window that communicates with the confessional room next door.  I photographed it with and then without flash.

The rest of the rear side of this squarish chapel consists of the arched doorway that we entered at the beginning, now seen here from the inside

from which we can also view the left-side nave of the main church.

As we leave the Ayala Chapel, we realize that even if, as they say, you can’t take it with you, it’s only the other half that can afford to be surrounded by art and antiques even in the afterlife.

I really should make arrangements to be buried with my favorite aparador.

Originally published on 9 November 2008.   All text and photos copyright ©2008 by Leo D Cloma.  The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

Original comments:

zambaleno wrote on Nov 12, '08 Forget being buried "with" your aparado. Just make arrangements to be buried IN your aparador! LOL

rally65 wrote on Nov 12, '08 zambaleno said Forget being buried "with" your aparado. Just make arrangements to be buried IN your aparador! LOL I'll have to have the shelves taken out first then. Ha ha ha.

johnada wrote on Nov 24, '08 leo, is the altar attached to the wall or free-standing?

rally65 wrote on Nov 24, '08 johnada said leo, is the altar attached to the wall or free-standing? The altar table is free-standing, as this chapel was built post-Vatican II, perhaps in the early 1970's.

mjluelmo wrote on Oct 2, '10 I wouldk now if the tomb of the first wife of Enrique zobel, Consuelo Roxas de Ayala, is intis chapel, and the date of her death. thanks you

ndetorrontegui wrote on Jul 18 Great info. Dona Fermina is our great grand aunt!

LIX. The Not-So-Underground Nagcarlan Cemetery

Since it’s that time of the year when we take time off to remember our dearly-departeds, I thought that it would be good to actually visit the places where their remnants might currently be deposited.  And while basically all of my deceased immediate family members are in one specific place, this hasn’t stopped me from going to other places for the so-called defunct, for other than purely commemorative reasons.

One of the must-visits that had been on my list for many years was the famous Underground Cemetery in Nagcarlan, Laguna.  About five years ago, my big break came, when a colleague who was actually a native of the town invited a bunch of us to go and participate in their annual “Lanzones Festival” in October, with the possibility of a side trip to the Cemetery.  I readily accepted the invitation, and needless to say, my undivided attention on that day was not on some tiny sour fruit that I’m not really fond of anyway.

Nagcarlan is about 100 kilometers south of Manila, and is usually reached via San Pablo City. The cemetery itself occupies an approximately one-hectare plot at the southern edge of the town proper, in what is now called Barangay Bambang.

The cemetery, roughly semicircular in shape, is enclosed by a beautiful neo-baroque brick-and-mortar fence and gate.  Here is the main entrance, with the two-leafed iron grilled-gate open and therefore not visible in this shot.

A marker at the right side of the passage gives us a brief backgrounder:

This confirms that the cemetery was a project initiated by the Franciscan Father Vicente Velloc in 1845.  Prior to this, the faithful departed were buried in the churchyard, i.e., right next to the Nagcarlan Church.  The presumed need for more such burial places must have impelled Father Velloc to embark on this new cemetery project.  In the course of his stay in Nagcarlan, the enterprising parish priest also enlarged the church structure itself and built a large and comfortable convent to adjoin it.

Extant records indicate that all of these Velloc infrastructure projects required adobe blocks from Guadalupe in Makati and mortar from unspecified places in Manila, as well as plenty of bricks, which were fabricated about three kilometers from the Nagcarlan Poblacion and hauled to the building sites.

These materials made possible the construction of the Nagcarlan Cemetery’s tall undulating fence punctuated with iron grilles, still covered with paletada (lime plaster) in several places.

The entrance doorway itself has lost most of the surrounding paletada, and therefore while its current appearance is not strictly original anymore, it thankfully allows us to observe how Father Velloc’s master masons worked their materials a century and a half ago.

Directly in front of the entrance gate at the opposite end of the cemetery plot, and clearly visible in the distance in the next photo, is the cemetery’s mortuary chapel.

Walking on the straight red brick road from the gate, I approach the chapel and behold its façade.

The lone bell on the pediment must have been rung whenever a burial was in progress, of which apparently no more have taken place since the cemetery was designated a historical site and taken over by the National Historical Institute in the late 1970’s.

I attempt to enter the chapel’s doors

and find that the space within is teeming within with many other tourists.

I find too, to my great disappointment, that the NHI has forbidden photography within the chapel. To console myself, I take a careful look around, and note that the interior itself is not very large, perhaps not over a hundred square meters. There is an antique-looking dressed image of the Santo Entierro on the altar, which of course is highly appropriate.

To the right side of the interior is a staircase that leads to a lower level.  This is the chapel’s crypt, and -- look no further -- is in fact the very underground cemetery itself.  Needless to say, photography was forbidden as well in this space.

This crypt holds thirty-six niches, which apparently were reserved for the town’s most prominent citizens.  One of the niches was said to be actually the mouth of a tunnel connected to the church several hundred meters away.  I’ll leave it to the imaginative reader to conjecture how such a tunnel might have been used, if ever it actually existed.

In fact, it is this subterranean room that caused the Nagcarlan Cemetery to be designated a historical site, because the chapel's crypt was reportedly used as a secret meeting place by local revolutionary leaders during the struggles for independence in the last decade of the 19^th century.

At this stage, the earnest visitor or reader might be wondering, did they go to all this trouble to build this elaborate baroque-style cemetery for just thirty-six burial slots?  Going back upstairs and outside again, we realize that the Nagcarlan Cemetery is not so underground after all, for on both sides of the chapel are numerous niches, two hundred and forty in all, arranged in four rows of thirty columns on the east side to the right of the chapel’s façade

and another thirty columns of four rows on the west, to the left of the chapel.

I noted with interest that while the niche fronts were classically arch-shaped like many others from the Spanish colonial period, the actual tombstones affixed to each were, with only a few exceptions, the usual generic rectangular kind.

Both flanks of the overground cemetery were fronted by wide expanses of well-tended carabao grass lawns and santan hedges.

After taking a few more moments to appreciate and admire the design and execution of this most beautiful, interesting, and unusual heritage structure, I tread the now-electric-lamppost-lit brick pathway

towards the open grilled iron gates of the entrance

to emerge in the main Nagcarlan street outside. And morbidly dream of other cemeteries to visit in the future.

Originally published on 31 October 2008.  All text and photos copyright ©2008 by Leo D Cloma. The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

Original comments:

arcastro57 wrote on Nov 11, '08 Looks very "restful", indeed.

rally65 wrote on Nov 11, '08 arcastro57 said Looks very "restful", indeed. Yes, but unfortunately it's no longer accepting any more "new residents." Too bad.

mj527 wrote on Nov 11, '08 thanks for the info about the place. i always wanted to visit it but my sked is still a little bit hectic.

rally65 wrote on Nov 11, '08 mj527 said thanks for the info about the place. i always wanted to visit it but my sked is still a little bit hectic. Not to worry, I'm sure this place will wait for you -- ha ha ha. Seriously, it's definitely worth a visit.

zambaleno wrote on Nov 12, '08 Thanks, Leo, for posting this most informative blog on the necropolis of Nagcarlan. I have always wanted to visit; and through your musings I have! There is another, equally famous resting place of the dead in Ilo Ilo (Jaro, I believe) that was constructed at the very twilight of the Spanish regime. I'd like to go there too!

arkd wrote on Nov 12, '08 Thanks for posting this, leo. rey and I are fond of going to cemeteries also but have not been to any this interesting in the philippines.

rally65 wrote on Nov 12, '08 zambaleno said There is another, equally famous resting place of the dead in Ilo Ilo (Jaro, I believe) that was constructed at the very twilight of the Spanish regime. Have not heard of that, but that should definitely be worth checking out. Any leads?

rally65 wrote on Nov 12, '08 arkd said Thanks for posting this, leo. rey and I are fond of going to cemeteries also but have not been to any this interesting in the philippines. What are the most interesting ones that you've visited? You should blog about them.

batangprobinsya wrote on Nov 14, '08 i really wanted to visit this place. i find it very interesting....

robbyandharry wrote on Nov 14, '08 ibang-iba sa mga sementeryo sa kasalukuyan na sobrang crowded.

rally65 wrote on Nov 14, '08 robbyandharry said ibang-iba sa mga sementeryo sa kasalukuyan na sobrang crowded. Marami pa siguro talagang bakanteng lupa nuong araw. At mura lang ang lupa noon. At pag-aari pa ng Simbahan o ng mga Orden. Hindi ba nakapagtayo ng ganito ang mga Pransiskano sa Meycauayan? Hayaan niyo, balang araw ay papasukin ko ang memorial park business, at ang itatayo ko ay kamukha ng Nagcarlan Cemetery. Ha ha ha.

zambaleno wrote on Nov 15, '08, edited on Nov 16, '08 Just went to check my sources. Apparently some of the best and most fantastical mortuary chapels can be found in Ilo Ilo in Panay. The cemetery chapels of San Joaquin and Janiuay are especially noteworthy as they are reached by steps with the chapels located at the pinnacle. These two were the ones I referred to as being built just as the sun was setting on the overseas empire of Spain. The mortuary chapel of Jesus Christ at Cabatuan is an architectural gem as it is built in the neoclassical model (erroneously referred to as "Romanesque' by the natives) with large arch windows and classical urns surmounting the pediments. Note of interest and Dennis you might find this intriguing: The mortuary chapel at San Joaquin, with its mansarded roof, is build in the style of a small rococo German palace. For more, check Gian Alvarez's stream on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25292071@N00/

robbyandharry wrote on Nov 15, '08, edited on Nov 15, '08 nakapagtayo ng sementeryo dito... 1885 pa lang e may existing na na sementerio kasi yun yung nakalagay na date sa gate na bakal. hindi ko lang sure kung before pa nun e meron na talaga, may isang lupa pa kasi na binili ang simbahan noon na kung tama ang pagkakatingin ko sa gate na recently lang tinayo ay mid 1700's (baka mali ang tingin ko). wala na ang antiquity ng semeneryong yun kasi madalas na lumulubog sa baha kaya pinatambakan, binutas lahat at inalis ang mga adobeng nicho na pinalitan ng mga bagong concrete apartment style. ok din naman kasi hindi na talaga mapipigilan yung pagbabaha sa sementeryo. buti sana kung maging parang underground cemetery yun. sino ba naman ang gustong sumisid sa mga sapa at kailugan ng meycauayan? hahaha may chapel din sa may gitna ng sementeryo sa gilid ng simbahan na di kalakihan. ipatayo yun ni Fray Benito Madridejos na nagsilbing kura sa meycauayan na eventually ay naging probinsyal ng mga Franciscano sa Pilipinas... ang kaso, sa paglipas ng panahon, hindi naalagaan ang sementeryo. kasabay ng pagdami ng mga mamamayan dito e dumami din ang namatay at dumami ang mga nililibing doon karamihan sa mga nichong adobe na nakikita at inaakyat namin nung bata pa kami pag todos los santos e wala na... kasi isinaayos ang buong sementeryo... hindi tulad ng sa nagcarlan, nagkapatung-patong na kasi yung mga nicho dati, may umabot pa nga yata sa 8th level... hindi ko alam kung bago pa man ang secularization ng mga parokya e ganun na talaga.... (diba pamahiin yun na bawal pag patung-patungin ang nicho kasi mahihirapan daw ang kaluluwa ng mga namatay? hehehe na kahit kami e hindi sumunod kasi mismong mga patay namin na nasa loob ng sementeryong yun e magkakapatong) yung mga adobeng nicho na nasa picture... wala na yun ngayon... halos karamihan ng nasa gilid ng isle na yun e mga bagong concrete appartment type na.

rally65 wrote on Nov 16, '08 robbyandharry said 1885 pa lang e may existing na na sementerio kasi yun yung nakalagay na date sa gate na bakal. Sayang at di na na-preserve ang dating anyo ng sementeryo sa Meycauayan. Pero kahit papaano ay naiwan pa rin ang napakagandang wrought iron na gate. Puwede nating kopyahin para sa isang future cemetery project. Ha ha ha.

zambaleno wrote on Nov 16, '08, edited on Nov 16, '08 I just looked at Gian Alvarez's stream again and I noticed the absolutely exquisitie mortuary chapel of Miag-ao. The chapel itself is a neoclassical octagonal structure surrounded by eight arched doors surmounted by small rondels serving as windows. It is interesting to note that, 100 years after the style has passed out of Europe, the baroque and rococo were enjoying a rennaissance in Panay! How very intriguing!

rally65 wrote on Nov 16, '08 zambaleno said I just looked at Gian Alvarez's stream again and I noticed the absolutely exquisitie mortuary chapel of Miag-ao. The chapel itself is a neoclassical octagonal structure surrounded by eight arched doors surmounted by small rondels serving as windows. It is interesting to note that, 100 years after the style has passed out of Europe, the baroque and rococo were enjoying a rennaissance in Panay! How very intriguing! Yes, I saw that too. ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/iloiloonfoot/2395711138/ ) It's really quite beautiful and very well-constructed. Pity that the rest of the cemetery surrounding it would likely be the usual crowded hodge-podge of niche and grave styles, it seems. Here's another good one -- in San Joaquin, Iloilo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iloiloonfoot/1872042953/ I must visit these places one day.