Colonial churches of the Philippines

When the missionaries came, they had the Bible, and we had the land. They said, ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible, and they had the land.

Desmond Tutu

As in so many other places around the world, Catholicism was introduced to the Philippines by Spanish missionaries and colonisers in the 16th century. Tutu, above, was talking about British missionaries in South Africa, but you could substitute many other European countries and any of those that they colonised.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to go into the ethics of colonisation and its legacy! I’m simply drawing attention to the impact that the introduction of this new religion had and continues to have. It played a crucial role in shaping the country’s culture, values, and social structures during the colonial period and beyond. But it wasn’t all one-way traffic. As we saw in the Cordilleras, local people still follow some of their ancient beliefs alongside Christianity, quite comfortably incorporating elements such as ancestral veneration, spirit healing, and magical practices into their Catholic faith.

During our time in the country we visited many of the colonial churches, especially on Luzon Island where our enthusiastic guide Jezzy was keen to show us as much as possible even if not on the planned itinerary.

I’ve already told you about Manila’s San Agustín and its cathedral in Intramuros, and the metropolitan cathedral in Vigan. Here then is a run-through of all the other churches we visited on Luzon.

Nuestra Senora de la Caridad de Bantay

Bantay is a community on the outskirts of Vigan, just across the river from the heritage district. Its church was built by Augustinian friars in the 1590s, but it was heavily damaged during World War II and reconstructed in the 1950s. Like Vigan’s cathedral it was also damaged by the earthquake of July 2022. It has since been partially restored and unlike the cathedral it is again in full use as a church. On the day of our visit there was a gathering of altar servers, we assumed for training.

The church is dedicated to Saint Augustine of Hippo but is commonly known Bantay Church or Nuestra Senora de la Caridad de Bantay in honour of the miraculous statue it houses. This statue of Our Lady of Charity is venerated for the many miracles she is believed to have performed. It has made the church a place of pilgrimage for many Filipinos. According to local legend, the statue was found inside a wooden box floating in Bantoay River in Ilocos Sur. Many attempted to retrieve it but to no avail until the people of Bantay were able to do so with ease.

We didn’t spend a long time looking around inside as we didn’t want to disturb the altar servers and those addressing them. But I did note some patched-up earthquake damage on the walls. I liked the restored stained-glass windows in particular.

Nuestra Senora de la Caridad de Bantay

Bantay’s bell tower sits on a nearby hill. This dates from 1591 and was used by the Spanish colonists to look for invading pirates. It was converted for use as the church bell tower in 1857 but again used as a watchtower during the two World Wars. It too was damaged in the earthquake and can only be viewed from a distance as the structure isn’t safe.

The watchtower and statue at the foot of the steps

La Nuestre Senora de la Asuncion, Santa Maria

Santa Maria is a town on the west coast of the island, a little south of Vigan. A rehearsal for a First Communion mass was in progress when we visited so we couldn’t look around fully inside.

Unusually for a church in a region colonised by the Spanish it is situated on a hill overlooking the town rather than on its main plaza. Jezzy told us the story of how the church was previously located elsewhere. But the image of the Virgin from the church kept going missing, always to be found in a guava tree on this site. Eventually therefore the church was moved here as people understood that to be her will.

La Nuestre Senora de la Asuncion

San Juan Bautista, Badoc

Badoc lies further north up the coast from Vigan. Its church, dedicated to San Juan Bautista, seems to be less visited than others in the region as we had it to ourselves.

Jezzy told us that the statue of the Virgin Mary at the altar, La Virgen Milagrosa, was brought here by Japanese Catholics fleeing persecution in the 1600s. However, accounts online suggest that the statue was sent floating off into the sea by missionaries operating in secret in Japan, along with another statue of Christ known as the Black Nazarene. The statues were found by local fishermen in 1620 on the coast in Barangay Dadalaquiten, on the boundary between Sinait and Badoc. Only fishermen from Sinait were able to move the Black Nazarene, while only fishermen from Badoc were able to move La Virgen Milagrosa. They took the statues to their respective towns, where they became the patron saints.

San Juan Bautista

San Agustín, Paoay

Further north again is Paoay with one of the most famous churches of the region. It was built at the start of the 18th century and is typical of the fortress churches of this region. It has heavy buttresses to protect from earthquakes and a separate bell tower that doubled as a watchtower.

The limestone from which it was built contains many fossils that show this area was once under the sea. Despite the buttresses it was partly damaged in earthquakes in 1865 and 1885 but later restored. While fairly simple inside there are a few lovely stained-glass windows.

San Agustín

Santa Monica, Sarrat

Sarrat is a small community that has been rather swallowed up by the neighbouring city of Laoag. Jezzy described Santa Monica as the largest church in the Philippines; Wikipedia however says merely ‘the biggest in Ilocos Norte and possibly in the Ilocos region’. It was originally dedicated to San Miguel and is often simply referred to as ‘Sarrat church’.

It was built in 1779 from red bricks in the style known as Earthquake Baroque. Despite that, in 1861 it was completely destroyed and rebuilt. It was reinforced with massive internal posts in the 1950s but has nevertheless suffered further earthquake damage in 1983 and 2024.

The interior is barn-like and unadorned, but the wooden ceiling is very striking. The long nave makes it a popular location for weddings, and President Marcos’s daughter Irene was married here in 1983. Unlike other parts of the Philippines, this region, Ilocos Norte, has never turned its back on the disgraced former president. Indeed it still venerates him with a museum in Batac and another in his former summer residence in Paoay.

Sarrat church

Catedral de San Guillermo, Laoag

Laoag’s cathedral was built in 1612 by Augustinian friars to replace a wooden chapel. It was damaged by fire in 1843 and was restored from 1873 to 1880.

Today its façade is strikingly painted in white and gold owing to a 1970s renovation. A niche above the entrance holds a statue of San Guillermo (Saint William).

It is relatively plain inside with another statue of Saint William above the altar. A few details caught my eye, such as the stained-glass panel depicting Our Lady of Guadelupe and a statue of Christ carrying the cross which, like other religious statues I’d observed in the county, had ‘real’ rather than carved hair.

Catedral de San Guillermo

Unusually the cathedral’s bell tower stands a good eighty metres from the cathedral. It is dubbed the ‘sinking bell tower’ and is one of the sights of the city. As that nickname suggests, it is sinking at a rate of several centimetres a year. Although there are no conclusive explanations of this, one generally accepted theory is that the tower is too heavy for the sandy land on which it was built. What was once the entrance now sits so low that it would be impassable even if entry were permitted!

The sinking bell tower

I visited Luzon in February 2025