DAET, CAMARINES NORTE--The bishop this capital town has ordered the creation of a new fact-finding group that will probe on the blaze that gutted a 400-year old church in the Parish of San Pedro Apostle in Vinzons, Camarines Norte in the early dawn of Dec. 26, 2012.
Daet Bishop Gilbert Garcera directed a church based probe team to look into the “real cause of the fire” even as the Municipal Government of Vinzons and the office of Governor Eduardo Tallado started an inquiry on the delayed response of the Bureau of Fire Protection coming too late to save the 400-year old historic landmark from the unexpected conflagration.
Garcera in a statement to a Bicol newspaper said, “it is only the report from Vinzons Parish Priest Fr. Francisco Regala’s statement that the fire was triggered by faulty electrical wirings,” the Bishop said.
But the bishop said he wants an official finding from the Bureau of Fire Protection on the said controversial incident.
The Bishop also required the Vinzons Parish priest to give a detailed accounts of the fire incident being the administrator of the Church complex and he likes to determine the parish priest has any liability in the incident.
Last week, the parishioners of Vinzons town met with Bishop Garcera to air their sentiments on the loss of their historic church that remain unchanged for centuries.
The Bishop also said that antique documents and records of the parish had been transferred to a new building before the fire. “It is the practice that the Blessed Sacrament and church documents were the first to be saved during a fire,” Garcera added.
It was reported that the old convent, where the fire was reported to have started did not have the old records of the Vinzons church. The reconstruction of the church will start after complete damage assessment if the remaining structures are still stable, the Bishop said.
Historical records showed the Vinzons Church predates the Shrine of the Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga City in the 1700s and was among the three early churches built by the Franciscan fathers in the province of Camarines Norte in 1611. The two others were built in Daet and Paracale towns.
The Vinzons Church was among the most visited Catholic landmarks, popular among pilgrims touring Bicol churches during Holy weeks. (SONNY SALES).