Banton Church

Saint Nicholas of Tolentino Parish Church, commonly known as Banton Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Banton in Romblon province in the Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Romblon. The church is allegedly one of the oldest churches in the country, constructed between 1644 and 1650 during the Spanish colonial period. The façade and tower of the present church is Modern.

Banton was first mentioned in history when it was written in the chronicle of Maestre de Campo Martin de Goiti in his voyage to Manila on May 12, 1570, on the instruction of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi who then resided in the island of Panay. On October 31, 1571, Banton became an encomienda entrusted to the encomiendero Don Sebastian y Mena, a Spaniard resident in Villa Arevalo in Panay. In 1582, Banton was visited by Miguel de Loarca, who gave a clear view of the island. In his famous book, Relacion de Las Islas Filipinas, it says, "The island is mountainous and almost round in shape planted by coconut trees. There 200 families residing in the island. The majority of them are traders…"

Based on the historical accounts of the Augustinian Recollects, Banton was established in 1622 in the hill of Bacoco (now part of Brgy. Hambian), the earliest town established in the Province of Romblon. In 1635, the spiritual administration of the newly established town was entrusted to the Secular Eclessiastics of the Diocese of Cebu as a town annexed to the curacy of Ajui in Panay. Fr. Francisco Rodriguez was assigned as coadjutor priest to Banton and other neighboring islands. Fr. Francisco Rodriguez encountered obstacles administering the inhabitants of Romblon because of the geography of islands, being far from each other, divided by a rough sea that is a passageway for strong typhoons. Because of the seas that are also exposed to frequent incursions and hostile attacks by the Moro pirates, the priest wrote a letter and asked the Prior Provincial Padre Don Jose dela Anunciacion to send a fighting priest to replace him. The request of Padre Rodriguez was granted by the decree of the Bishop of Cebu Don Padre de Arce on July 27, 1635, entrusting the evangelization of Romblon Archipelago to the care of the Order of Augustinian Recollects (OAR). Fr. Pedro de San Jose was the first Recollect missionary to step in the soil of Romblon. In the same year, 1635, the OAR extended their missionary work to Banton. The missionaries relocated the town from the hill of Bacoco to its present location (Poblacion). The Recollects said, "Although it's more spacious that its former location, it is still not large enough to accommodate all the number of houses and edifices required by its inhabitants…"

According to the historical records of the Recollects, almost immediately after taking on the post of the missionaries, violent attacks were launched in Romblon by the Moros. The savage attacks of the Muslims gravely disrupted the evangelization of the first Recollect mission, Fr. Pedro de San Jose even reaching to the point of driving him to escape in mountains. When Fr. Juan de San Antonio, superior of the Recollects informed about the situation, he was determined and acted decisively to fortify the towns of Romblon and Banton (a task which would be very difficult for the missionary to undertake). The superior assigned Fr. Agustin de San Pedro to the islands to protect the lives of its Christian inhabitants. Fr. Agustin won fame for his heroic actions against the pirates and war exploits in Mindanao, which earned him a title of El Padre Capitan, a famous name in Philippine history. The newly appointed priest immediately began the construction of the churches and forts of the town of Romblon and the church fortress of Banton between the years 1640 and 165

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