Pao Ong Hu Temple, Manila马尼拉包公府（Pao Ong Hu）

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

Philippines · Manila · Santa Ana District, Manila · Santa Ana, Manila; official Chinese name not confirmed

Coordinates

14.5815, 121.0138 Map ↗

First built

Consecrated in 1951 · A dedication is also recorded within the temple for 1928; in 2016 it was listed by the National Museum of the Philippines as an Important Cultural Property

Heritage status

Philippine Important Cultural Property (2016)

Overview

The Pao Ong Hu temple in the Santa Ana district of Manila was consecrated in 1951 (though a dedication is also recorded within the temple for 1928); it is dedicated chiefly to Pao Ong Hu and Mazu, with Guanyin also enshrined, and includes a shrine to "Santa Ana Lao Ma" — that is, the Catholic Virgen de los Desamparados (Our Lady of the Forsaken). The presence of Daoist, Buddhist, and Catholic deities within a single temple makes it an extreme case of the localization of Chinese-Filipino belief, and an important sample for the study of religious syncretism. In 2016 it was listed by the National Museum of the Philippines as an Important Cultural Property, the only Daoist temple in the Philippines to receive such a cultural-heritage designation; in 2021 an application to have this designation removed, prompted by a transfer of ownership, met with opposition from heritage groups. It should be noted that Manila's Chinatown, Binondo, has no traditional Daoist temple of major standing; the larger sites there are mostly Buddhist or mixed Buddhist-Daoist establishments — for example, the Guandi temple at the corner of Ongpin Street, housed on the second floor of an ordinary building, is Chinatown's most popular site for consulting oracle slips, though its founding date and affiliation remain unconfirmed. Its official Chinese name has likewise not been established.

Highlights

• Daoist, Buddhist, and Catholic Marian worship under one roof
• The only Daoist temple in the Philippines with a cultural-heritage designation
• 2021 controversy over removal of its designation