Historic Churches of Panay Island, Philippines.

        It is difficult to establish exactly when the Church in Tigbauan was originally built. It appears that an original church may have been built in the late 16^th century (possibly between 1575 and 1580 when Friar Luis de Montoya was assigned as Prior). There had been no ‘resident’ parish priest at Tigbauan until his arrival.

     The then church under the patronage of Our Lady of Grace was renamed after St. John of Sahagun, an Augustinian Saint, at about that time.  The church was transferred to Secular Priests in 1593 and remained so until 1617 when the Augustinians took charge once again. It is suggested that Friar Fernando Camporredondo may have re-built the church in the early to mid 1700s – Fr. Camporredondo served as the parish priest in Miagao between 1734 and 1737 and again between 1744 and 1750. This time horizon indicates that it is entirely possible that he spent the time between his two ‘terms’ in Miagao or indeed during his entire time in the area working on the churches at both Miagao and Tigbauan. The record is unclear.

The church is considered a classic example of the Churriqueresque style.

The Churrigueresque column, or estipite, in the shape of an inverted cone or obelisk, was established as a central element of ornamental decoration. This can be clearly seen in the manner in which the main exterior entranceway is decorated with intricate floral carvings, cherubs and columns. The photo below provides a clear example of the style.

The church was built with forced labour and used local reddish coral and limestone from ‘nearby’ Igbaras. Just below the statue ofSt Johnon the front of the church is the Augustinian Coat of Arms referred to in our preface. A clear indication that the church was built by the Augustinian Friars.

After the 1948 earthquake, the church was restored in stages and the final redecoration of the interior was finished in 1994 when the current mosaics were completed under the direction of the then parish priest Father Eleuterio Rojo Carton. The church was rededicated on February 3^rd, 1997.

Something quite interesting is that the side walls of the church are in effect non-existent – they have been replaced with metallic grates which give the church an open and very bright feeling.

 

In the inner courtyard of the church we see an ‘Adoration Centre’ in what may have originally been part of the cemetery for the parish.

Just north of the adoration centre can be seen the bell tower, which dates to the original building of the church in the 1570s. It has obviously been refurbished several times during its lifetime and as we can now see, it is sorely in need of some restoration at this time.

A closer look of the work that needs to be done on a large bit of stone work can be seen in the photos below of the bell tower and the exterior walls of the church itself.