Holy Cross Parish

Like other churches in the country, it stands majestically over all other structures in the community. According to the inscription on its main door, the church was constructed in 1760. This makes it the oldest standing structure in the province, even older than the Boac Church, which was constructed in 1792 by the Jesuit priests.

The church was not only built for worship; it was also designed to provide natives a refuge in times of calamities and attacks by Moro pirates. It did serve its purpose very well. When piracy was at its height, a deep moat was constructed parallel to the walls to make it doubly difficult to penetrate the church defenses. The tile roofing destroyed by a quake was eventually replaced with galvanized iron from Europe and it has effectively preserved the whole structure for posterity.