March 17, 1952
Eugenio H. Lopez Sr. receives the Businessman of the Year Award given by the Business Writer’s Association of the Philippines and presented by Pres. Elpidio Quirino.

March 22, 1969
The Meralco Theater in Ortigas Avenue, Pasig City is inaugurated. The Russian Bolshoi Ballet performs there from March 22 to April 1 to mark the event.

March 9, 1971
The Meralco Computer Center is inaugurated.

March 17, 1971
Eugenio Sr. receives a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from Silliman University in Dumaguete City. Source: Mercy Servida, head librarian, Lopez Memorial Museum Library

IT has been a tradition of Catholics to visitchurches or do the visita iglesia every Holy Thursday during Holy Week or Semana Santa. This practice dates back when devotees would visit the seven great basilicas in Rome for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during Maundy Thursday.

In the Philippines, the tradition includes a contemplation of the 14 stations of the cross. Most visit seven churches, with two stations per visit. While others, with more time and effort, visit 14.

There are four Baroque churches in the country on the UNESCO World Heritage List worth visiting during the Holy Week. Make them your start off point for the Visita Iglesia. Up North in Ilocos Norte is the San Agustin Church in Paoay, built from 1694 to 1710. It is a premier example of Philippine “Earthquake Baroque,” an architectural solution to the area’s challenging, natural setting. Both sides of the nave are lined with 26 massive side-buttresses and a number of external staircases. They are decorated with huge scrolls and topped by decorative pinnacles. There are other famous churches nearby: St. William’s Cathedral in Laoag famous for its sinking bell tower; St. Monica Church in Sarrat, the biggest church in the Ilocos Region; Bacarra Church which was destroyed during an intensity 7.8 earthquake in 1983, reconstructed and reinaugurated in 1984; and the Immaculate Conception Parish in Batac built in 1587. In Sta.

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