History of Dumalag Title of the Book: Angels in Stone Augustinian Churches in the Philippines Author of the Book: Fray Pedro G. Galende, O.S.A. Copyright Year: 1996 Designed and Produced in the Philippines Printed and Bound in Hong Kong History of Dumalag Dumalag is located by the slopes of several mountains on hilly but fertile land irrigated by the Panay and Malisbug rivers and other rivulets. It is bounded by Dao, Dumarao, Cuartero, Calinog and Tapas. During the meeting of 1590 the Fathers agreed to receive once more the ministries of the Pintados (Panay), abandoned in 1578 for lack of religious priests. Dumalag, formerly known as Ayombon, was accepted by this council, so Fernandez suggests, as a visita. The council of May 4, 1596, accepted it as a house of the Order under the category of priory with Fr. Sebastian Mendez as minister, who was re-elected in 1599. The Prior was relieved from the obligation of paying rent to San Agustin Monastery in 1599 and again in 1602, even if it was given a priest and for the third time in 1605. This meant that, very possibly, the priors were doing the construction of the parochial buildings. In 1608, the convent was made a vicariate, subject immediately to the father provincial, who was authorized to appoint a minister as soon as he could. In 1610, it was elevated to the category of a priory. The Estado of 1612 surprisingly does not mention this convent. In 1613, the original name Ayombon was replaced with Dumalag; according to Fernandez, that was also the very year when it was handed over to the diocese for a period of one year. The Libro de Gobierno states that the convent of Dumalag in the Panay River was accepted in 1613 with Fr. Lucas de Atienza as minister-vicar, who according to Fernandez, was the first minister of Dumalag. We believe Fernandez is mistaken. In 1639, Dumalag was classified under the category of vicariate for the province of the Visayas, a clear proof of the high esteem of the Augustinians for this convent. Furthermore, in 1687, the private definitory gave the prior authority to grant religious profession to the sisters who helped in the Church. Only in 1714 was Dumalag required, for the first time, to pay the annual rent of 10 pesos to San Agustin Monastery, to be exempted, again, in 1725, on account of the low income of the ministries caused by calamities of the times. In 1728, it was ordered to contribute rent as other convents do. In 1732, the council fathers wondered whether they should give it up or not in view of the lack of religious. Although the decision was never reached, it spoke very clearly of a not self-supporting condition or of fear of the frequent pirate raids from the Tapas mountains. The town was exchanged once with Ibahay. The titular patron is San Martin, Bishop of Tours. The townsfolk, some sources say, were given to superstitious beliefs spread by the babaylanes who were known to meet regularly under the shadow of the malia tree, thought to be the dwelling place of their ancestors. Thousands of birds used to nestle on branches and would never be bothered because of the fear and respect of the natives towards their ancestors. Fr. Fernando de Morales dedicated the best years of his life to eradicating such practices. In 1732, Dumalag had 4,006 souls. In 1760, it had 6,119, three of whom were Spaniards. In 1896, its population increased to 8,833. In 1990, it soared to 25,484. The first buildings were probably erected between 1600 and 1720, in which years the convent was exempted from paying rent to Manila. In 1833, a note pointed to Fr. Agustin Duran as the one who started building the present Church, quite possibly the rebuilding of the previous one which had been damaged or even destroyed. Thus Fr. Angel Abasolo built or rebuilt the present Church between 1866 and 1881 with an initial fund of just 300 pesos. By the time he had finished it in 1873 he had spent 50,000 pesos. He was greatly assisted by Jaros Bishop Mariano Cuartero, O.P. and the people of Dumalag. It was destroyed, together with the convent, by the typhoon of 1875. Fr. Abasolo, who worked here for 15 years, became the hero of the town for his dedication in uplifting the peoples material and moral levels. Aside from the Church, he built schools for boys and girls, the south cemetery and several bridges and roads that raised the town to an enviable peak of progress. The Church, made of yellow sandstone, is 70 meter and 18 meter wide. It has two doors at the side and one in front, six arched windows between columns reaching up to the roof which is supported by massive buttresses. Small pilasters decorate the facade wall. Six engaged rectangular pilasters rise up to the triangular pediment. It has five bells brought in 1881 by Fr. Lesmes Perez. The interior follows the pattern of a Latin Cross. It had been considerably retouched and in the process, the beautiful paintings done by Fr. Juan Carlos have peeled off. The five-story belltower rises gracefully by the left side of the Church. The vertical movement initiated by the pilaster is stressed by the slender, tapering six-storey octagonal belltower which lends elegance to the otherwise drab surface of the facade.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 07:37:08 +0000
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