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A pallium divides the shield into three fields. On chief azure is a rose drawn in natural form. Both the rose and the blue background represent Our Lady of Peñafrancia, the patroness of the Bicol Region.

 

On dexter is an eagle argent nimbed holding an open book proper from which issues a thunderbolt gules. A "nimbed" eagle is one with a halo or aureole. This silver eagle against the gold background represents St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, the titular of the Cathedral at Naga. The open book represents the Gospel. The thunderbolt alludes to the nickname “Boanerges” given by our Lord to St. John and his brother James, meaning sons of thunder.

 

On sinister against a red background are the three mountains, representing Mounts Mayon, Isarog, and Bulusan. Above the mountains are the insignia of the Franciscan Order, and below the mountains is a green palm branch drawn diagonally with the sinisterwise. This group of symbols alludes to the Franciscan St. Peter Baptist who was martyred in Japan among other Japanese martyrs on 6 February 1597, who was erroneously considered bishop-elect for the see of Nueva Caceres at the time of his martyrdom, and hence is venerated as the secondary patron saint of the cathedral 

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A word about the pallium. In its natural form the pallium is a circular band of white wool decorated with crosses of black silk, with two pendants similarly decorated. It is about two inches wide and is worn about the neck and shoulders. The pendants hang down in front and at the back. It is worn by the Pope as a sign of the plenitude of the pontifical office and by metropolitans (archbishops, primates and patriarchs) as a sign of their participation in the supreme pastoral power of the Pope. It is also given to some bishops as a mark of special favor although it does not give them precedence over other bishops nor does it increase their powers or their jurisdiction.

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The pallium is used in heraldry. According to the Vatican Enciclopedia cattolica it must hang from the upper edge of the shield from each side of the processional cross.

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"Il pallio, araldicamente reso d’argento caricato di croci di nero, scende ai lati della croce dal bordo superiore dello scudo dei patriarchi, degli arcivescovi, come insegna di giurisdizione metropolitana, e degli altri che ne abbiano il privilegio."
 

This statement conveys the sense that the pallium is something outside the shield like the mitre, crozier, processional cross and the hat with tassels. In the arms of the see of Nueva Caceres it is a “charge,” that is, a figure placed upon the shield itself.

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— Madriaga, Mariano. “The Coats-of-Arms of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions in the Philippines: Part I. The Metropolitan Sees.” Philippine Studies 5, no. 2 (1957): 177–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42720389.

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