Ormoc City, Leyte Etymology

Jack Maico
Jun 5
3 min read

The city's name is derived from ogmok, an archaic Visayan term for "lowland" or "depressed plain". The city also celebrates an annual Thanksgiving festival called the Piña Festival in honor of the saints Peter and Paul and thanks for the bountiful pineapple harvest.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ormoc

Special credits: https://www.facebook.com/thecityoformocofficial

Church in town: 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡

The formal Christian evangelization of Ormoc started in the year 1597 with the arrival of the Jesuits, who founded the church of Ormoc under the heavenly protection of the apostles, Sts. Peter and Paul. Overcoming difficulties, the early missionaries ventured into a systematic task of introducing Christianity to the communities around present-day Ormoc, even establishing a visita as far as Baybay. The Jesuit presence in Ormoc ended with their expulsion from the country in 1768. That same year the Augustinians took over the Jesuit mission in Ormoc and their town administration of Palompon (becoming a vista of Palompon) until their eventual departure from Leyte in 1834, handling the administration of the parishes in the western side to the Diocesan Clergy of Cebu (and those in the East to the Franciscans). Soon after, the parish of Ormoc was re-established in 1850 with the secular priests belonging to the Diocese of Cebu. Throughout these years, there has been a continued presence of the Christian community who have constantly invoked the divine protection and the intercession of her heavenly patrons, Sts. Peter and Paul. This year, 2013, marks the 416th year of the annual celebration in honor of these two pillars of the church. The present-day church of the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul date their original foundation and expanded throughout the centuries. The present structure emerged after the bombings and destruction during the Second World War. The sanctuary and its original altar (with the twin five-foot images of Sts. Peter and Paul right at the center on the upper portion of the altar and their images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary flanking on the side of the apse) have been renovated in the mid 1960’s right after the second Vatican Council to demands of the new liturgy. The old altar was torn down to give way to a freestanding altar at the center of the sanctuary, and bigger six-foot Gothic images clearly visible from the entrance of the church replaced the original images of the patrons at the upper of the apse. In the 1980’s images of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart were once again taken down. The year 2007 saw the construction of a new reredos (or retablo) in the sanctuary. The images and their positions were retained, but now closed in a baroque altarpiece. In 2013, the desire to enhance the present-day altarpiece (for the sake of artistic harmony and iconography authenticity) and the need to retrieve this historical patrimony of the church led to the decision to replace the image of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart on the left. However, the newly refurbished images of Sts. Peter now holds a miniature of a church (upon Peter the church was built), also points to the future look of the parish church with a dome on top and a portico up front. All these have been accomplished with a fervent faith and the belief that the structures, images, and symbols of the church do aid in the encounter between God and his people.

Source: https://ormoc.gov.ph/culturalmapping/heritage-detail.php...

https://www.facebook.com/iloveormocofficial?locale=et_EE

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093298371365

https://shellwanders.com/how-to-get-to-lake-danao-ormoc/

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐜 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

On May 1507, a mission in Ormoc was established by these missionaries. That year, the locals were converted to Christianity. Their years of peace were short-lived when in the year 1634, a ruler of Sulu by the name of Raja Bungsu captured 300 natives from Ormoc after the invasion of the notorious pirates in the town.

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐜: