The old church in Palompon

For more than forty –years, early Palomponganons labored for the construction of this towering structure.

Some 300 native forced laborers including skilled mason Balarisay, Tumbalasay, and Alha constructed the church from coral stones, which they took from the sea, cut into square blocks, and piled on to each other. They used bamboo to move and lift the stones in position, and used the white of a million eggs as to cement them together.

A walled stone was built around it. And the belfry was separate from the church (near the present location of the acacia tree). It has big and small bells, that were heard even to faraway villages then. Here, the Spaniards were said to be collecting taxes from people who were very poor.

The church, when constructed was buttressed by artillery pieces in defense against the Moro raiders (pirates). The weapon is now prominently displayed at the plaza, to remind us that long time ago, our forefathers fought against the invaders and generously shed their blood to protect this place from the invasion of the Muslim bandits many hundred years ago.

The church was finally completed in 1784, the same year, Palompon gained parochial independence from its mother parish – Hilongos.

It housed many important relics, like the century-old statue of St. Francis placed in a wooden and glass urn brought by the Jesuit missionaries in 17^th century.