HISTORICAL SKETCH OF STO. NINO PARISH
BUGASONG, ANTIQUE
By: Fr. Joaquin Dioso
1565 – The Legaspi expedition arrived in the Philippines and in the same year, it set foot on Panay soil.
1569 – Legaspi transferred his headquarters from Cebu to Panay and expeditions were sent to survey the extent of the island. They came across the villages of Hamtic and Bugasong.
1571 – Legaspi decided to transfer the center of government from Panay to Manila , for political motives as well as for reasons of convenience. He divided the archipelago into encomiendas. An encomienda was not a grant of land but of jurisdiction over a certain territory and its native inhabitants. This was given by the king of Spain to deserving Spanish colonists. It gave the incomiendero the right to collect tributes from the inhabitants the duty to exercise justice and to give them proper instruction in the Catholic faith.
1591 – Bugasong was given 250 tributes represented by one thousand persons and collected by Pedro Guillen. Faith was planted in Bugasong soil.
1596 – The Agustinian Friars founded the parish of Bugasong.
1714 – Bugasong became a visita of Hamtic. Bugasong paid 177 tributes.
1726 – Friar Felix Rioja constructed the first concrete church. He was the first Parish priest. Spanish authorities were able to establish their government due to the confidence and trust of the people in their priests. Thus, the town was organized and established.
1740 – The eighteenth century witnesses an intensification of the Agustinian work in the parishes already established. By Royal Decree, Bugasong was established.
1779 – Santiago (Pangalcagan) was made a “pueblo civil” under the jurisdiction of the parish priest, but it was not made a parish due to the poverty of the place.
1898 – Philippine revolution against Spain . General Leandro Fullon started to liberate Antique from Spanish rulers. On September 29, 1898, Bugasong was a significant site of encounter with the Spanish forces at Kambaludan, Bugasong.
1902 – Don Mariano Kabayao was the first elected Municipal president. American regime started. Public School System was established.
1942 – On April, the Catholic Church and Convent built during the Spanish time, Bugasong Central School , Public Dispensary Building were burned by the United States Armed Forces in Far East (USAFFE). This current church constructed on the present site, was constructed in the year 1881. Friar Manuel Asencio, together with Fra. Salvador Pons, directed the construction. It was made of adobe stones, sand and gravel. The adobe was quarried at Maray, about five kilometer from the town. The church was finely built.
1944 – General Macario Peralta Jr. in October coup de etat, appointed Major Calixto Zaldivar of the 65 th Infantry, JAGS, as military Governor with the seat of Antique government at Bugasong. This government lasted till April 14, 1945.
1947 – A rural high school was opened in the present site where Antique Vocational School is.
1960 – The church was rebuilt by Reverend Father John Sweere from usable materials out of the ruins until June 14, 1990 earthquake which rendered it not safe for public use.
