History of San Joaquin Church

San Joaquin Church is located a few meters away from the highway. It’s situated on an elevated hill near the coast. It’s pretty good location for a church. This greyish-white church was constructed under the supervision of the Spanish priest Tomas Santaren, together with Spanish and Mexican artists. It was built in 1859. Made with coral stone or limestone, egg whites, blood, sweat and tears by our ancestors, this church became a fort when the Moro raiders invade the southern Panay coast. According to Funtecha, the church became an evacuation centre during the Japanese occupation. However, Col. Macario Peralta, leader of the guerrilla resistance in Panay, ordered the church and the rest of the town to be burned to the ground in 1943 (talk about the burning culture). In 1948, a powerful earthquake toppled down the old belfry—yup, the same tremor that destroyed Jaro’s belfry and the magnificent old Oton Church!  Good thing though, the church facade remained intact. Later on, in 1974, it was declared as a national historical site by the National Historical Institute.

Although architecturally baroque, the church has its own crown jewel—the Rendicion d’Tetuanstone relief (The Surrender of Tetouan) carved in its pediment. This obra maestra is one of its kind in Western Visayas, and perhaps the whole country, since this is one of the most militaristic motifs in any religious structure in the country.

Depicting the Battle of Tetuan in 1860, the relief features Spanish forces defeating the Moorish forces in the siege of Tetuan—which resulted Spanish victory. The medieval town is shown on the upper part of the pediment while the Spanish forces moved in towards Tetuan. Horses, men with guns and a medieval city dominate the pediment. However, the lush tropical fauna was incorporated in the relief. The legendary Santiago Matamoros was said to have been included in the carvings. On top of the pediment, instead of a cross, a carving of Nuestra Señora de Angustias was installed.

The battle somehow reflects the Moro-Moro thinking during the Spanish colonial era in the Visayas, given that the Visayans were frequently raided by the Moros of Mindanao during three centuries that the Philippines was under the rule of the Cross and the Sword. Perhaps, it gave San Joaquinhons some boost in their morale during those times–a manifestation that San Joaquinhon Christians see their victory over the marauding Moros back then.

Location of San Joaquin Church (Iglesia de San Joaquin):