After exploring Gigantes and making our way back toward Iloilo City, we stopped in Miagao to revisit its famous church and meet local artisans and salt makers who continue traditions that have long been part of Iloilo's cultural identity.
Exploring San Joaquin and Tigbauan: Beyond Iloilo’s Heritage Façades
.JPG "Garin Pilgrimage shrine")
From Miagao, instead of continuing toward Iloilo City, we turned around and backtracked to Tigbauan, where we would spend the night. It might have seemed like an unnecessary detour, but it gave us the opportunity to explore San Joaquin, Tigbauan and, farther north, parts of Ajuy that I had previously overlooked.
.JPG "Sol y Mar Beach Resort")
I had passed through these towns before, most notably during a Visita Iglesia more than a decade earlier, but back then I was mostly following a route from one church to another. This time, we slowed down and looked beyond the façades—to old cemeteries, pilgrimage sites, marine sanctuaries, farms and the people working to preserve the traditions and landscapes around them.
.jpg "Tigbauan Church")
What followed was one of the more interesting stretches of our Iloilo road trip, connecting Spanish-era heritage with farming, fishing, conservation and the everyday stories of these communities.
San Joaquin Church and Its Battle Relief
A battle scene unfolds across the façade of San Joaquin Parish Church, where soldiers clash in a sculptured relief depicting the 1859 Battle of Tetuán in Morocco. Built in 1869, the church stands apart from many Spanish-era churches in the Philippines, where religious imagery tends to dominate the façade.
.jpg "San Joaquin Church")
The relief depicts the Spanish victory over Moroccan forces. A similar martial image can be found at the main gate of Fort Santiago in Intramuros, where a mounted Saint James is shown trampling Moorish fighters.
Why the builders chose a Spanish military victory as the subject of a Philippine church façade remains unclear. The imagery can be read in several ways, including as an expression of Spanish imperial power and the missionary enterprise that accompanied it.
Whatever the original intention, the relief has made San Joaquin's church one of the most distinctive heritage churches in Iloilo—and an important stop for devotees making the Visita Iglesia during Holy Week.
.jpg "San Joaquin Camposanto in Iloilo")
Erlyn Alunan, San Joaquin's Tourism Officer and a veteran tour guide in the province, explained why she believes her town deserves more attention. "Ours is the only town in Panay Island with two national cultural treasures," she tells us. "This one," she pointed to the San Joaquin Parish Church. "And the Campo Santo," she continued, referring to the nearby cemetery that Augustinian priest Mariano Vamba established in 1892.
San Joaquin's Historic Campo Santo
I remember stopping by the cemetery during my first visit to Iloilo in 2010, when I also went on a Visita Iglesia around several of the province's Spanish-era churches: Iloilo City, Molo, Guimbal, Tigbauan, Jaro, Miagao and San Joaquin. Initially, I found the cemetery's centerpiece, its Baroque mortuary chapel, a little frightening. On subsequent visits, however, including this one, I grew to appreciate it. What initially struck me as frightening eventually became one of the places I most looked forward to seeing again.
Garin Farm and the Stairway to Heaven
Just a short distance from San Joaquin Church, a white cross rises on a hill, crowned by a towering cross and surrounded by angelic statues. Visitors can climb the 480-step staircase known as the Stairway to Heaven or take a small vehicle up the hill.
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| Up for a climb atop Garin Farm Pilgrimage Cross? |
Near the top, the route takes an unexpected turn. A narrow, dark passage snakes through the hill before opening toward the light—and eventually the Garin Farm Pilgrimage's Cross.
The pilgrimage site attracts visitors throughout the year, with crowds swelling dramatically during Holy Week. From the hilltop, the statue of the cross also offers a sweeping view of Garin Farm and San Joaquin's coastline.
Kuliatan Marine Sanctuary and San Joaquin's Coastline
Aside from the pilgrimage sites of San Joaquin, the town also has one of the province's longer coastlines, stretching 26.5 kilometers and fringed by coral reef. Along this stretch is Kuliatan Marine Sanctuary, a community-managed ecotourism site where visitors can snorkel and scuba dive.
.jpg "Kuliatan Marine Sanctuary")
According to local legend, this shoreline was also the landing site of the 10 Bornean datus who supposedly took part in the Barter of Panay in the 13th century.
.jpg "marker of the ten bornean datu landing spot")
"You see, aside from our church, campo santo, Garin Farm, and our sinfully sweet bandi (an Ilonggo delicacy made of roasted peanuts and caramelized sugar), there's a lot more reasons why one should include San Joaquin in their Iloilo itinerary," Erlyn proudly told us.
Exploring Tigbauan Beyond Its Church
From San Joaquin, we continued to Tigbauan, where we would spend the night. I had passed through the town more than a decade earlier, but my memory of it was largely confined to St. John of Sahagun Parish.
During my first Dinagyang Festival experience, I spent a day doing a Visita Iglesia loop around Iloilo, and Tigbauan was one of the churches where I lingered longer than usual. I remember hanging out at the nearby town plaza and chatting with locals, who even gave me recommendations on where to eat.
This time, however, Phoebe M. Torrico, Tigbauan's Tourism Officer, made sure we saw more than the church. She took us around the town and introduced us to layers of history and culture that I had missed on that earlier visit.
Among the stories she shared was one connected to the historical marker in the churchyard, which commemorates Fr. Pedro Chirino's establishment of a Jesuit boarding school in Tigbauan in 1592.
.jpg "Tigbauan sculpture wall")
The school also raises an intriguing historical possibility: could Pedro Calungsod, the Filipino saint whose birthplace remains disputed, have studied here?
According to the late priest and biographer Catalino G. Arevalo, S.J., “It is not unlikely that Calungsod could have come from nearby and joined the Tigbauan school.”
The plaza also contains the Tigbauan Bas Relief, created by local artists to depict the town's history, as well as a war memorial honoring unidentified soldiers from Panay who died during World War II.
SEAFDEC FishWorld and a Rescued Sea Turtle
At SEAFDEC FishWorld, I met Geraldine, a staff member caring for a rescued sea turtle that could not be returned to the ocean. Because air had become trapped inside its shell, the turtle remained permanently buoyant, unable to dive for food or escape predators.
.jpg "SEAFDEC Iloilo")
Geraldine told me that the turtle suffers from "Bubble Butt Syndrome," where air has entered its shell, thus making it impossible for the poor turtle to dive underwater to feed or avoid predators.
"She's always buoyant, so I have to hand-feed her all the time," Geraldine told me in Tagalog. I asked whether the air trapped in the turtle's shell could eventually be removed. Geraldine explained that the lack of marine veterinarians in the country made it difficult to determine whether the turtle could ever be safely returned to the ocean.
A Night at Sol y Mar Beach Resort
We spent the night at Sol y Mar Beach Resort, whose wooden interiors and natural materials reminded me of the family beach resorts I remember from years ago—places where the appeal was less about polished luxury than spending an unhurried day by the sea over a picnic or a spread of freshly cooked seafood.
.jpg "Iloilo artworks")
Outside, fine gray sand meets a line of palms along the quiet shoreline. An art exhibit happened to coincide with our visit, adding another layer to the otherwise laid-back setting.
Farm-to-Table at Sol y Mar Eco Farm
.jpg "Sol y Mar Eco farm")
The following morning, we had breakfast at Café Verde, located inside Sol y Mar Eco Farm. We also took a brief tour of the property, which features a man-made lagoon, cogon-thatched cottages, a vineyard, and various fruit and vegetable plantations.
More Places to Visit on an Iloilo Road Trip
Our exploration didn't end in Tigbauan. We also ventured farther north into Ajuy, where Terra Verde Heritage Farm and Silagon Mangrove Eco-Park offered two very different ways of experiencing the province: through its agricultural past and its coastal environment.
Terra Verde Heritage Farm occupies the former Hacienda San Antonio, which dates to the early 1900s and once operated as a muscovado mill. Today, the farm combines traditional and modern agricultural practices with farm-to-table dining, serving dishes and sweets made with ingredients grown or sourced locally.
The most tangible reminder of Hacienda San Antonio is the original Simboryo, a smokestack where sugar cane juice was once cooked into muscovado sugar.
Silagon Mangrove Eco-Park
The Silagon Mangrove Eco-Park forms part of a 283-hectare marine protected area, including 37 hectares of mangrove forest, 7 hectares of coral reef and 3 hectares of seagrass beds. A 300-meter bamboo boardwalk leads toward the coast, while the community also offers mangrove-planting activities.
What began as a detour from Miagao to Tigbauan turned into a broader exploration of Iloilo's towns and the stories tucked between its better-known attractions. San Joaquin's battle-scarred church, Tigbauan's centuries-old religious history, a rescued turtle at FishWorld and the farms and mangroves farther north showed us another side of Iloilo—one where heritage isn't confined to its grandest landmarks. Sometimes, it is found by taking the longer way around.
