Wood Carving

Overview

Alburquerque’s wood-carving tradition is centered at the workshop behind Sta. Monica Church in East Poblacion. The trade is led by master carver Arsenio Lagura, who began working in wood at age 17 at a furniture shop in Tagbilaran City and turned to religious imagery around 1990, after concluding that furniture work alone was missing something. The carvers around him are former carpenters who moved into sculpture under Lagura’s guidance, forming a craft community that takes commissions from churches and private clients. The most significant completed work is the rebuilt retablo of Sta. Monica Church — a three-panel main altarpiece and two side altar retablos.

Wood carving (lalik) has deep roots across Bohol, especially for religious work — church altars and urna (reliquaries) — with Carmen and Tabuan in Jagna as the province’s other notable carving hubs; the craft has its own showcase in the annual Sandugo Lalik Festival. Alburquerque’s workshop sits within that wider tradition rather than as an isolated practice.

Location

East Poblacion, Alburquerque, Bohol. The workshop is situated directly behind Sta. Monica Stone Church in the town center. Alburquerque is a small municipality approximately 15 km southeast of Tagbilaran City along the coastal highway.

Getting There

From Tagbilaran City, take a bus or van heading southeast toward Loon, Dimiao, or Valencia — Alburquerque is approximately 20 to 30 minutes by road. Ask the driver to drop at Alburquerque town center (poblacion). The workshop is located at the back of Sta. Monica Church. (verify details locally)

Practical Info

• Commissions: accepted from churches and private entities — inquire directly at the workshop
• Products: religious icons, retablos, decorative carvings — (verify details locally)
• Workshop visits: (verify requirements locally)
• Hours: (verify operating hours locally)

A Philippine Information Agency report identifies the lead carver as Arsenio Lagura Jr. (the file’s “Arsenio Lagura” appears to be the same person) and states he led the Sta. Monica retablo project, completed in 2017, with support from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, the Provincial Government of Bohol, and the Diocese of Tagbilaran. Lagura had previously won a carving competition at the Sandugo Lalik Festival. (verify details locally)

What to Expect

The workshop runs as a working atelier, not a museum — visitors who stop by may catch carvers mid-piece. The craft grew out of carpentry rather than formal art training, which shows in the structural, architectural sensibility the Albur carvers bring to large-scale work like church retablos.

The Sta. Monica retablo — the team’s largest commission to date — took three years to complete and uses timber salvaged from trees felled in the 2013 earthquake, mainly molave, sourced with DENR permits. The three-panel main retablo and two side altarpieces work Bohol cultural motifs in alongside the religious iconography: women carrying pots, a nod to local pottery, and the calamay delicacy carved into the structure beside the saints.

A Philippine Information Agency report on the same retablo adds further design detail: the altar takes the form of an urna (wooden reliquary) with three niches topped by a broken pediment, in the Baroque style. At its base, carved figures of calamay makers (tigpangkalamay) and potters carrying baskets or clay jars flank the tabernacle, accompanied by angels bearing the same livelihood symbols — a design intended, in the carver’s words, “so they will be remembered” (Aron mahinumduman), honoring Alburquerque’s historical livelihoods before its current association with artisanal sea salt. The altar also features hand-carved finials, flanges, shallow and pierced carving work, clamshell-form alcoves, and grapevine motifs on double Solomonic columns.

Notes

• The workshop and Sta. Monica Church form a combined heritage and craft visit — the retablo can be viewed inside the church
• Alburquerque is also known for Asin Tibuok (traditional salt making) and Calamay Making — three distinct craft traditions in one small municipality
• The Albur carvers also accept private commissions for secular decorative work
• Verify specific site conditions, local guidelines, and safety rules with local guides or barangay officials before visiting.
• Calamay, pottery traditions live on in Bohol church carvings - Philippine Information Agency, accessed 2026-07-17.