Just two months after the Alabang Philippines Temple dedication, an open house is now underway for another Philippines temple, prior to its dedication in May.
The Davao Philippines Temple — to be the 215th house of the Lord for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — will be open to the public from March 26 to April 10, excluding Sundays.
The tours began with a March 23 media day, where local media representatives were guided through the temple and afterward talked with Church leaders and local Latter-day Saints. Invited guests will also tour the sacred edifice March 24-25.
Two General Authority Seventies led Monday’s media tours: Elder William K. Jackson, second counselor in the Philippines Area presidency, and Elder Erich W. Kopischke, assistant executive director in the Temple Department.
In coordination with the March 23 media day, interior and exterior images were published on the Church’s Philippines Newsroom.
The month after the open house concludes, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the Davao temple on May 3. The single dedicatory session — at 10 a.m. local time and transmitted to all units in the temple district — will be rebroadcast at 2 p.m.
Once dedicated, it will be the fifth house of the Lord in the Philippines. But the country’s temple milestones don’t stop there.
The Bacolod Philippines Temple will be dedicated May 31, and the Alabang temple was already dedicated Jan. 18. That means the first half of 2026 is doubling the number of operating temples in the Philippines, from three to six.
Of the 14 Latter-day Saint temples in various stages in the Philippines, the Davao temple is the southernmost, on the island of Mindanao. It stands on a 2.7-acre site at Ma-a Road and Anahaw Road, Barangay Ma-a, Davao City, Philippines.
Design and features
The Davao temple, built with a cast-in-place concrete frame, is clad in stone. A fiberglass resin dome sits atop the spire.
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. The ceilings, with suspended and framed systems, incorporate plastered and mineral fiber tiles.
Made of steel framing and plasterboard lining, the walls throughout the building primarily show colors of whites and creams, finished with a low-sheen acrylic paint. 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.
About the Davao temple
Church members in Davao are currently assigned to the Cebu City Philippines Temple, about 250 miles northwest and over the Bohol Sea.
On Oct. 7, 2018, then-Church President Russell M. Nelson announced a house of the Lord for Davao, Philippines. It was one of 12 temple locations he identified in that general conference, with 10 of them outside the continental United States.
Ground was later broken for the Davao temple on Nov. 14, 2020. The ceremony was limited to a handful of individuals due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
Elder Taniela B. Wakolo — a General Authority Seventy and then the president of the Philippines Area — presided over the groundbreaking and dedicated the site.
In his remarks to attendees, Elder Wakolo said, “It never ceases to amaze me how the hand of the Lord has been over this nation — how He has prepared its people and its land to receive the gospel and the blessings of the temples of the Lord.”
The Church in the Philippines
Fourteen houses of the Lord are dedicated, under construction or announced in the Philippines.
Four of them are in operation: the Manila (dedicated in 1984), Cebu City (2010), Urdaneta (2024) and Alabang (2026) temples.
In addition to the Davao temple, a second is planned for dedication this year: in Bacolod, on May 31.
Another two temples are under construction: in Cagayan de Oro, since August 2024, and in Tacloban City, since January 2025.
That leaves six houses of the Lord in planning stages: in Naga (announced 2022), Santiago (2022), Tuguegarao City (2023), Iloilo (2023), Laoag (2023) and San Jose del Monte (2025).
Since the Philippines opened for missionary work in 1961, Church growth in the country has been among the fastest in the world. By 1970, the Church had a presence on eight major Philippine islands. In 1974, then-Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles organized the first stake in the Philippines.
The country is now home to more than 880,000 Latter-day Saints in over 1,300 wards and branches. With its high number of Church members, the Philippines has the fourth-largest population of Latter-day Saints in the world.
Davao Philippines Temple
Address: Ma-a Road and Anahaw Road, Barangay Ma-a, Davao City 8000, Philippines
Announced: Oct. 7, 2018, by President Russell M. Nelson
Groundbreaking: Nov. 14, 2020, presided over by Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, a General Authority Seventy
Public open house: March 26 through April 10, 2026, excluding Sundays
To be dedicated: May 3, 2026, by Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Property size: 2.7 acres
Building size: 1,714 square meters (18,450 square feet)
Building height: 37.3 meters (122 feet)
