Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Bacolod Philippines Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday, May 31, 2026, calling temples a source of spiritual power that help members make and remember covenants with the Lord. He said the Lord blesses those who keep those covenants.
In his remarks, Elder Andersen also honored the pioneering Villanueva and Barredos families in Bacolod, whose descendants were present at the dedication. He praised the early Church members in the region who embraced the restored gospel when the Church was still beginning in the Philippines.
Bacolod Philippines Stake President Marc Barredo, a grandson of one of those pioneer families, said the temple is both a blessing and a responsibility for local Saints, adding that they “stand on the shoulders of those pioneers.”
The dedication was held in a single session translated into Hiligaynon and broadcast across the temple district, which includes the Negros and Panay islands. It was later rebroadcast the same day. Elder Andersen was joined by his wife, Kathy; Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, First Counselor in the Philippines Area Presidency, and his wife, Carol; and Elder Steven R. Bangerter, executive director of the Church’s Temple Department, and his wife, Susan. Elder Bangerter had also attended the temple’s groundbreaking in December 2021.
The Bacolod temple is the third temple dedicated in the Philippines in 2026, following the Alabang Philippines Temple in January and the Davao Philippines Temple on May 3. It joins three other temples already in operation in the country: Manila, Cebu City and Urdaneta. Two more temples, in Cagayan de Oro and Tacloban City, are under construction. Six additional temples are in the planning stages in Naga, Santiago, Tuguegarao City, Iloilo, Laoag and San Jose del Monte.
Elder Andersen said the growing number of temples in the Philippines will have the same effect seen around the world: more disciples of Christ, more devoted Latter-day Saints, and more families sealed together across generations. He noted that more than 905,000 Latter-day Saints live in the Philippines, underscoring the country’s importance in the Church’s global growth and temple expansion.
