Paoay, Ilocos Norte Etymology
- Jul 24
- 4 min read
Paoay’s former name was Bombay. Its site was originally located in the village of Callaguip - along the coastal shores of the South China Sea - now a barrio of Paoay, which is about two kilometers west of the present town proper.
Historians say: “From the date of early settlement to 1701, little could be said about the activities of the early settlers of Paoay except that much had been done in the clearing of the forests nearby. They converted the forests into rice and sugar lands through the slash-and-burn method called ‘kaingin.’ The early settlers were of a peace-loving tribe, but their major problem was the frequent furious incursions of Sea Rovers and Moro pirates called Tirong, who looted their agricultural produce and other valuables. To protect themselves from further incursions, the folks moved towards the nearby inland, where the present town proper is now located. In the farther western inland, some settlers formed the neighboring town of Batac. Sensing that the Bombay people had suffered too much from the Moro raids, the people of Batac offered the people of Bombay to live with them. But the brave and maverick folks rejected the offer, and instead they uttered "Maka-paoay kami" – an Ilocano dialect jargon meaning they could live independently. The settlers from Batac were offended, and it was from this incident that the name of the town came to be known as PAOAY.”
Source: https://guiang.info/proloque.htm...
Special credits: https://lakbaypinas.com/ultimate-guide-to-paoay-sand.../
Church in town: 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡
Saint Augustine Parish Church, commonly known as Paoay Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, in the Philippines. It is under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Laoag. Completed in 1710, the church is famous for its distinctive architecture, a highlight of which are the enormous buttresses on the sides and the back of the building.
It was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the Philippine government in 1973 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the collective group of Baroque Churches of the Philippines in 1993.
The earliest historical record of the area dates back to 1593, becoming an independent Augustinian parish by 1686. The construction of the present church was started in 1694 by Augustinian friar Father Antonio Estavillo and was completed in 1710. It was later rededicated in 1896.
Some portions of the church were damaged in the 1865 and 1885 earthquakes, but were later restored under the initiative of former First Lady Imelda Marcos.
Several projects for the restoration of the Paoay Church were sought by government and non-government organizations due to possible questions over its structural integrity. The Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte, through a resolution in 2014, sought the retrofitting of the church and the reconstruction of the church's convent, which were in ruins.
The restoration of the church's buttresses, walls, tower, and interior was announced in 2018. Conservation of the church's exteriors was begun by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines in the second quarter of 2019 and completed in June 2020. Work focused on the historic stone masonry walls and buttresses. Vegetation was removed from the exteriors to prevent stone erosion and lime grout loss. Major structural repair was done on the stairway of the bell tower. The entire roof system was also rehabilitated as part of the project.
The restored structure was turned over to the Laoag diocese in November 2020 and was reopened on November 15 of that year.
Paoay church is the Philippines' primary example of Spanish colonial earthquake-baroque architecture, dubbed by Alicia Coseteng as an interpretation of the European Baroque adapted to the seismic conditions of the country through the use of enormous buttresses on the sides and back of the building. The adaptive reuse of Baroque style against earthquakes has been developed since many destructive earthquakes destroyed earlier churches in the country. Javanese architecture reminiscent of Borobudur of Java can also be seen on the church walls and façade.
The most striking feature of Paoay Church is the 24 huge buttresses of about 1.67 metres (5.5 ft) thick at the sides and back of the church building. Extending from the exterior walls, it was conceived as a solution to possible destruction of the building due to earthquakes. Its stair-like buttresses (known as step buttresses) at the sides of the church are possibly for easy access to the roof.
𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐨𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
The town of Paoay was founded in 1593. Its founder, DON MARTIN GUIANG, formally established Paoay as a municipality in 1701 through a Royal Decree issued by the Spanish hierarchy. The Town of PAOAY was formally sanctioned as a municipality by virtue of a Royal Decree from the King of Spain. Thus, it was formally established in 1701 by DON MARTIN GUIANG with the executive title Capitan Bosar. Those who succeeded Capitan Bosar Guiang (he ruled the town in 1701-1704 as Paoay’s first local executive) were Don Jose Soto, Don Tomas Cadalig, Don Lorenzo Clemente, Don Andres Bergara, Don Cristobal de Leon, and Don Herminigildo Diaz de la Concepcion. These six Bosars separately served from l705 to l7l5.
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐨𝐚𝐲:
- Saint Augustine Parish Church or Paoay Church
- Paoay Sand Dunes Adventures (Suba)
- Culili Point 4x4 & Sand Boarding Adventure
- Paoay Lake National Park
- Malacañang of the North
- Paoay Church Bell Tower
- Paoay Lake
- Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center
𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐨𝐚𝐲:
- Valentin Diaz (co-founder and one-time treasurer of the Katipunan; was born in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, to Geronimo Diaz and Maria Villanueva. His family is said to have moved to Tayug, Pangasinan sometime in 1857.)
- Mateo Noriel Luga (was a Filipino revolutionary who left Isabela province to join the 1896–1898 Philippine Revolution in Manila. He also participated in the consequent Philippine–American War in Luzon but was later appointed in April 1899 by Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo and then Secretary of War Antonio Luna to assist in the resistance in Cebu)
𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐨𝐚𝐲:
-Conchita Carpio-Morales (Associate Justice of the Supreme Court)
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