Argao’s bamboo organ plays again

The bamboo organ installed at the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Michael the Archangel in Argao, southern Cebu will finally be heard again after 40 years.

The organ of the church was turned over to the Archdiocese of Cebu by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) two years after it was restored to its original working condition.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma and town officials graced the turnover ceremony last Saturday night.

In an interview, Fr. Brian Brigoli, chairman of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Culture and Heritage, told SunStar Cebu that the restoration work on the old bamboo organ started after the NHCP successfully restored the old church in Argao, which the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in 2013 had damaged.

Brigoli said that the Department of Tourism initially funded the restoration of the organ, but it was eventually shouldered by the NHCP in the succeeding years.

The restoration, which cost P6 million, was facilitated by the Diego Cera Organ Builders Inc., the same group that maintained the famous bamboo organ in the St. Joseph Parish in Las Piñas City.

NHCP also trained some people in Argao for the maintenance of the organ.

Brigoli said that the bamboo organ, believed to have been constructed during the 1800s, initially baffled historians due to its similarities with the old bamboo organs in Luzon made by Fr. Diego Cera, a Spanish priest.

Cera, who belonged to the Order of the Augustinian Recollects, was also instrumental in the construction of the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ.

Brigoli said that while there are similarities in the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ and that of Argao, no one has ever claimed who made the latter.

The Argao bamboo organ is one of the three pipe organs installed in churches in Cebu. Pipe organs placed in the churches of Dalaguete and Boljoon are also being restored by NHCP.

After the turnover ceremony, residents of Argao were treated to a concert featuring the restored bamboo organ.

Brigoli said the concert is just one of the many activities that they plan to implement to promote the town’s bamboo organ to the rest of Cebu. /