Dedication of the Davao Philippines Temple
Just five days after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reached 65 years in the Philippines, the Davao Philippines Temple was dedicated. When he offered a prayer on the country on April 28, 1961, President Gordon B. Hinckley — then an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and later Church President — asked that “many thousands who shall receive this message will be blessed.”
The Davao temple, the country’s fifth, was dedicated May 3, 2026, by Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was accompanied by his wife, Sister Ruth Renlund; Elder Erich W. Kopischke, a General Authority Seventy and assistant executive director in the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Christiane Kopischke; and Elder Carlos G. Revillo Jr., General Authority Seventy and president of the Philippines Area, and his wife, Sister Marites Revillo.
“I have found the faithful Filipino Saints resilient, cheerful, exemplary. If I could spend eternity with people like the faithful Saints in the Davao temple district, I would count myself eternally blessed,” Elder Renlund said. With a temple in Davao, he said, the Latter-day Saints can attend and worship more often, but not to cloister themselves from the world. “What we do in the temple gives us strength outside the temple.”
A blessing that comes from frequent worship in the temple is gaining an eternal perspective and having a greater disposition to do God’s will. “We know what is going to happen if we choose to follow the Savior. That should give us the greatest optimism in the world,” he said. “That is what these Filipino Saints do — they get the big picture.”
Donna Pareja, a member of the temple open house committee, said how grateful she was to have a temple nearby. “I am overjoyed to finally have a temple here in Davao City,” she said. “In the past, we traveled to Cebu or Manila to attend the temple. Now it is only a few minutes away.”
Davao Philippines Stake President Rizaldito S. Castro foresees rapid growth coming. “This will hasten His work in our stake and the entire Mindanao island,” he said. “Everything we do inside His holy house points to the Savior. It allows me to prepare myself to strive to be holy, learn of His ways and develop Christlike attributes.”
Jewel Hernaez helped place white shoe coverings on the guests as they entered for the Sunday dedicatory session. Her parents served as the temple open house committee chairs. “For me as a young single adult, especially as I’m preparing for a mission, this is a beacon of hope for me because it has brought my family together in service,” she said. “Whenever I feel down or whenever I’m worried about stuff in my life, I can always look to the temple and feel a source of comfort and hope and especially the love from the Savior.”
Cynthia Romo, Relief Society president in the Davao Philippines Stake, shared how the temple has influenced her life. “The temple has been a great blessing to me,” she said. “It is a place where I feel the love of the Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Zamboanga Philippines Stake President Rommel C. Abundio said: “The temple is deeply sacred to us — it is a house of the Lord where we make covenants, find peace and draw closer to Jesus Christ. For our members, it represents hope, eternal families and spiritual strength.”
Sister Nova Vida Palaganas saw unity, hope, beauty and truth reflected through the house of the Lord. With regards to unity, she said many members of the Church brought friends, neighbors and family with them to the temple — saying it was for all of God’s children. “The open house helped our members feel more urgency to share the gospel with their loved ones, and it brought everyone together in a sacred space,” she said.
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We are grateful that by worshipping Thee and Thy Son here, we can better learn of Thy ways and more completely follow Thy Son. We pray for the fullness of the Holy Ghost to direct our lives. We humbly pray that our worship here will help us mature in our discipleship and help us live our lives with an eternal perspective.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Davao Philippines Temple here.
Timeline of the Davao Philippines Temple
The Davao Philippines Temple was announced by Church President Russell M. Nelson on Oct. 7, 2018. The groundbreaking ceremony was held Nov. 14, 2020, presided over by Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, a General Authority Seventy.
After a public open house from March 26 to April 10, 2026, the Davao Philippines Temple was dedicated May 3, 2026, by Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Architecture and Design of the Davao Philippines Temple
The house of the Lord in Davao City is a two-story, 18,450-square-foot edifice under a two-story steeple. It stands on a 2.7-acre site at Ma-a Road and Anahaw Road.
Inside the building, design motifs draw from traditional Filipino piña embroidery — a textile woven from fibers of the pineapple plant and often accompanied by local flora and geometric artisan designs. Art-glass windows, also reflecting the region’s indigenous tropical flowers, are adorned with bright hues of pinks, purples and greens.
African mahogany makes up doors and millwork within the temple, and brass and crystal lighting fixtures illuminate the interior. Flooring of the temple uses broadloom carpet, tufted cut-pile nylon carpet tiles and both standard and custom broadloom rugs. Burdur beige marble constitutes hard flooring surfaces, along with roma pietra porcelain tile.
Interior Photos of the Davao Philippines Temple
