• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The public is invited to tour for free the fourth temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from Nov. 21 to Dec. 13 this year, located in Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang in Muntinlupa City.
The open house from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., except on Sundays, aims to provide people of all faiths the opportunity to tour the temple’s interior and grounds, and learn about the purpose of these sacred structures, the church said in a statement Nov. 17.
“Tours are free, and no reservations are needed,” it added. Additional information is available at http://alabangphilippinestemple.org.
The 3,344 square-meter building, a cast-in-place concrete structure clad in white Oro Cristal granite, rises 175 feet to the top of the spire in a 1.06-hectare landscaped property, and features a representation of the white jasmine flower, or sampaguita, the national flower of the Philippines, with the art glass in cream, amber, white, green, and pink.
After the public open house, the new Alabang Philippines Temple, the second in the Manila metropolitan area after the sacred house of worship in Quezon City, and the fourth in the country, along with the one in Urdaneta, Pangasinan, and in Cebu City, will be formally dedicated on Jan. 18, 2026.
Once dedicated, the Alabang Philippines Temple will only be open to members, especially those living in the southern part of Luzon.
“We hope that this temple will stand as a beacon of light and hope for members,” elder James Rasband, General Authority Seventy of the Church, said during the media tour Nov. 17.
He said the two-story Alabang Philippines Temple will be the 213th dedicated temple worldwide. It broke ground on June 4, 2020, and its construction was funded by consecrated funds donated by members worldwide.
Temples differ from meetinghouses or chapels, where members gather for Sunday worship services, per the factsheet. “Each temple is considered a house of the Lord, where Jesus Christ’s teachings are reaffirmed through sacred ordinances that unite families eternally. In the temple, Church members learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants to follow Jesus Christ and serve others.”
Additional temples are under construction in Bacolod City, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and Tacloban City, and have been announced in Iloilo, Laoag, Naga, San Jose del Monte, Santiago, and Tuguegarao City.
The Philippines has the fourth largest population of Latter-day Saints in the world, with more than 900,000 members worshipping in 1,346 congregations, with 1,013 chapels or meetinghouses. | CGC
