BACOLOD CITY, Bacolod — With the dedication of the Bacolod Philippines Temple, Elder Neil L. Andersen honored the history of the area’s pioneers and also looked to the future blessings of a house of the Lord in Bacolod City, known as the City of Smiles.
“There’s been a great heritage of faithfulness and devotion to the restored gospel,” Elder Andersen said in an interview before the dedication.
The Bacolod Philippines Temple was dedicated in a single session on Sunday, May 31, in the morning, and it was broadcast throughout the temple district, comprising the Negros and Panay islands. Patron housing, with a distribution center, is also on the grounds.
The session, which had translation for Hiligaynon, was rebroadcast later in the day. The temple is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ 217th operating house of the Lord.
Elder Andersen was accompanied by his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen; Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Philippines Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Carol Wong; and Elder Steven R. Bangerter, General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Susan Bangerter. Elder Bangerter previously served in the Church’s Philippines Area presidency and was at the groundbreaking in December 2021.
Pioneers of Bacolod
“We honor the wonderful saints of Bacolod and the communities within the temple district who embraced the restored gospel when the Church was only beginning in this region of the Philippines,” Elder Andersen said.
The Church has been on Negros Island, where Bacolod is the capital of the Negros Occidental province, since the 1960s. Since then, the gospel “has spread and grown in a marvelous way.”
Two local couples separately joined the Church in the metro Manila area in 1964. One was Rosario Barredo and her husband, Carlos Flores Barredo Sr., who were staying with family while he recovered from an illness.
Rufino Alvarez Villanueva Jr. and his wife, Josefina Piedad Sacro, were baptized in October 1964 and eventually moved back to Bacolod to help with the fish farm owned by Rufino Villanueva’s family.
When missionaries came to Negros Occidental in 1968, they found both couples. Rufino Villanueva paid the missionaries the two years of tithing he had saved.
Elder Andersen said, “These are very devoted, wonderful people.”
Descendants of the Barredos and the Villanuevas attended the dedication.
Four of the Villanuevas children attended the dedication: Michael Villanueva, Mia Villanueva San Gabriel, Alma Villanueva Tan and Mary Ellen Villanueva Andrey.
Mia Villanueva San Gabriel, who was invited to share her testimony during the dedication, said after the dedication that her parents were always prayed and hoped for a temple in Bacolod. For her, a temple in their hometown is “a dream come true.”
After Rufino and Josefina Villanueva died, one of the missionaries who taught them reached out and shared parts of his journal about the experience teaching them. The Villanueva children learned more about how prepared their parents were.
Temples in the Philippines
The house of the Lord in Bacolod is the third temple dedicated in the Philippines this year — doubling the number of dedicated temples in the country, Elder Andersen said.
The Alabang Philippines Temple, the second in metro Manila, was dedicated in January, and the Davao Philippines Temple, first on the country’s southernmost island of Mindanao, was dedicated on May 3.
The other three in operation are the Manila (dedicated in 1984), Cebu City (2010) and Urdaneta (2024) temples. Two temples are under construction: in Cagayan de Oro, since August 2024, and in Tacloban City, since January 2025.
Six houses of the Lord are in planning stages: in Naga (announced 2022), Santiago (2022), Tuguegarao City (2023), Iloilo (2023), Laoag (2023) and San Jose del Monte (2025).
“These houses of the Lord bring a power to the people. It allows the people to covenant with the Lord and remember those covenants on a regular basis because they’re in the house of the Lord. And the Lord blesses them for keeping their covenants,” Elder Andersen said.
“So the effect of these many temples in the Philippines will be the same effect as it is across the world, there will be more disciples of Christ, more devoted Latter-day Saints, more families that are sealed who stay together and continue through the generations.”
The country is home to more than 905,000 Latter-day Saints, the fourth-largest in the worldwide Church.
Elder Andersen has previously been to the Philippines many times, including with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s “Songs of Hope” tour stop in 2024 and creating the country’s 100th stake in 2017.
“The Philippines is an amazing country of faith and a beautiful people of kindness and goodness,” he said. “They go through a lot of difficulties because of natural disasters. But they somehow keep their beautiful spirit of optimism and helping one another.”
Bacolod Philippines Temple open house: ‘Temple is a blessing’
More than 37,000 people attended the Bacolod Philippines open house, with the help of 3,799 volunteers from stakes and districts across Western Visayas islands, said Sunny and Hannah Herbolario, who served as the open house coordinators.
Guests included the Negros Occidental province governor, city mayors and officials, faith leaders and other community leaders across Negros, Panay and other nearby islands.
“People were excited to see in the Bacolod Philippines Temple during the open house,” Sunny Herbolario said.
Hannah Herbolario said she saw many people, both Church members and friends, who became emotional as they saw the inside of the temple and felt the peace and calm of the house of the Lord.
She said she heard of many people who would come to the open house, saying “it’s like heaven” and wanting to bring their family and friends — and she would see them the next day.
“The temple is a blessing for all Bacolodians,” she said.
The open house was in late April to early May, and there were several days where it was sunny and hot, more than 40 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit). Sunny Herbolario said that there were many people waiting to enter the temple, and he said a prayer about getting shade.
“After that, clouds came in,” he said, adding that the cover helped with the heat.
Hannah Herbolario was 13 years old when she was baptized with her family in 1979. A few years later, they went to the Manila Philippines Temple to be sealed — traveling 24 hours one way by boat to get there.
Sunny Herbolario was 23 when he met the missionaries in his neighborhood and joined the Church, later serving a mission.
After the dedication, the Herbolarios will again return to the temple to serve — this time as temple workers.
Several members of the open house and dedication committee said the open house provided an opportunity to share information about the Church with the community and their beliefs in Jesus Christ, which helped to clear up any previous incorrect information.
“We could explain how Jesus is the center of our faith,” said Desiree Areco, who served as the committee executive secretary. She added, “It’s the blessing of the open house that [people] can know who we are and what our beliefs are.”
Charrie Santillas, who was on the historical committee, has been a member of the Church since 1977 and has seen the Church grow.
For her, one of the best things about the open house was seeing members, including those who may not have been to Church recently, be excited about the temple.
“You can really see the joy in their eyes and in their expressions of how happy and proud they are to finally have our very own temple,” Santillas said.
Bacolod Philippines Temple dedication: ‘Becoming busy’ going to the temple
Light rain fell in Bacolod the morning of the dedication as attendees used blue umbrellas with the image of the temple printed on them to stay dry.
Bacolod Philippines Stake President Marc Barredo, who is the grandson of the Barredos pioneers, and his wife, Sister Cristine Barredo, are the parents of two youth and a 7-year-old.
“The temple here in Bacolod is a blessing and a responsibility for us,” President Barredo said after the dedication. “We stand on the shoulders of those pioneers.”
Sister Barredo said, “We’re looking forward for children and the youth becoming busy entering the house of the Lord.”
Youth temple trips to the Cebu City Philippines Temple would be up to 10 hours or more one way, taking the bus or driving across the island, taking the ferry and then driving across Cebu. Because of the time and expense, these temple trips for the youth to do baptism were annual, and the number of youth who attended at times had to be limited.
“Now they can go every week,” President Barredo said.
The Bacolod Philippines Temple represents many firsts for Uchi Loise Siacor, 14, of Bacolod City. It’s the first time she’s attended a temple dedication. Also, the house of the Lord is where she will be performing baptisms for the dead for the first time.
“I feel very blessed,” she said.
Kathlyn Ponce, 25, of Cadiz, served a mission in the Utah Layton Mission and helped with the Layton Utah Temple and the Syracuse Utah Temple open houses. However, the Bacolod temple is “extra special.”
“Because it’s in my hometown,” Ponce said after attending the dedication. Before she left to serve a mission, she was hoping she could attend the Bacolod Philippines Temple dedication.
She brought her father, who isn’t a member of the Church, to the open house.
“He loved the celestial room,” she said. “It was a great experience for all of us.”
Marie Lou Fernandez Calpito was 9 years old when her family joined the Church in the late 1960s, and she has seen the growth of the Church on the island.
When the Bacolod Philippines Temple was announced, “I shouted for joy,” she said.
Calpito was volunteering as an usher during the open house and the dedication. “We’ve been waiting all these years to have a temple in Bacolod.”
About the Bacolod Philippines Temple
Address: Corner of Bacolod Airport Access Road and Buri Road, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
Announced: Oct. 5, 2019, by President Russell M. Nelson
Groundbreaking: Dec. 11, 2021, presided over by Elder Taniela B. Wakolo and attended Elder Stephen R. Bangerter, both General Authority Seventies
Public open house: April 16 through May 2, 2026, excluding Sundays
Dedicated: May 31, 2026, by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Property size: 12.3 acres
Building size: 2,591.5 square meters (27,895 square feet)
Building height: 36.1 meters (118 feet)
