History of Parish of St. Agustin Church (Dumangas, Iloilo)

The town was formerly called Araut. Dumangas was made parish in 1569 and in 1572 under the leadership of Fr. Juan de Alva, the construction for their church started. Until the end of the Spanish rule, their Church gained a wide popularity as a vital center of religious activities in Iloilo.

Fr. Juan Medina in 1617 built a wooden church in the new town. However, this church was burnt with the convent in 1528 during the time of Fr. Tomas Morales, another church and convent was built thereafter. On the other hand, on a Saturday, March 15, 1687 the almost 60-year old convent was turned into ashes taking along 2,000 canvass of rice stored in the camarin.

It was Fr. Juan Aguado in 1759 who proclaimed St. Agustin as the patron saint of Dumangas. He defended the town in a very famous legend. In 1777, Fr. Agustin Casan reconstructed the old citadel bounded by stone walls and high watch towers. It was destroyed by a strong density earthquake in 1787. Over 1,000 years later, in 1887, Fr. Fernando Llorente (famous Augustinian Friar for his engineering skills) began the construction of the present church. It was through force labor with the bricks locally manufactured and white coral stones were taken from nearby seashores to as far as Antique.

It was finished during the incumbency of Fr. Rafael Murillo in 1895, burnt down during the Fil-Am war in the 1900s and once again in 1946, Fr. Ramon Pampona started another set of reconstructions. Serious restoration works started in 1983 under Fr. Santiago and on the same year, a national landmark was given by the National Historic Institute through the efforts of Congressman Narciso Monfort. This Gothic Byzantine Church is said to be the first stone church of Panay.

The predominant design is gothic with flame-like arches of the main entrance and windows. The rectangular opening of the pediment distracts from the main motif. The windows are flanked by slender Corinthian columns.