Sta.

Barbara, Iloilo

The history of the municipality of

Santa Barbara covers four centuries.

The Agustinian Archives, Vols. 17-18,
which records achievements of
Agustinian missionaries in the
Philippines, bares a historical note
that as early as 1617, the
missionaries attended to the spiritual
ministration of a community or
pueblo then known as Catmon.
The name was derived from a fruitbearing tree that served as an
imposing landmark in the vicinity.

In 1760, Catmon was

economically established
as an independent parish,
whose patroness was
Santa Barbara, and the
settlement, which was
constituted into a
pueblo was named
after her.

Mayor
Juan Somocierra was Santa Barbaras first

mayor.

Mayor Dennis S. Superficial is the current

mayor.

Santa Barbara Church and

Convent

 It was only in 1760 that the settlement became a

Pueblo (town) and the church an independent parish.

It's patron Saint was Santa Barbara and the parish
priest was Friar Juan Ferrer.
It was not until Friar Francisco Aguerria arrived in 1845
that construction of the present church was started.
The start o fthe church construction coincided with the
establishment of the road network in the region. The
roads were being built to link Cabatuan, Maasin,
Janiuay, Leon and Alimodian.
This is an Augustinian Church and as with all others it
bears the Augustinian seal on the facade of the church.

The Augustinian Seal

The seal can be

seen just above
this beautiful
Stained Glass
window on the
facade of the
church.

The main church building used stone quarried in and

transported from not so nearby Leon, Alimodian and

Tubungan. The wood used: mulawonand mangle was
also carried from the mountains and hillsides of those
same municipalities.
The masons, carpenters and other skilled tradesmen
came from farand wide to work on the project. And in
a brief history provided to us by the church we find
that there were no formal plans for the church. It is
said that on close inspection of the walls and posts in
the church and ancillary buildings that sketches
showing the proposed designs and plans can be seen.

The main altar is flanked by, a statue of St

Augustine on the right and a statue of St Monica
on the left and Santa Barbara occupies a niche at
the very top of the altar overlooking the entire
church.

wall which commemorates the friars and

priests that have served the parish since
its inception.

Msgr Juanito Tuvilla is the

current parish priest.