Stone Church of Alimodian: Story to remember

The stone church of Alimodian, Iloilo was completed in 1864 and was dedicated to Saint Thomas of Villanova, the town’s patron saint.
Fr. Florencio Martin, OSA was credited for building it while his successor, Fr. Ignacio Marcos, OSA, completed the stone and wooden convent in 1868.

Its belfry was fitted with bells manufactured in 1876 by Juan Reyes in his foundry in Arevalo.

The largest bell weighed 120 arrobas or 1,470 kilos and two pairs of bull carts transported them from Arevalo to Alimodian.

Both the church and the convent survived the earthquake of 20 June 1869 where a number of churchgoers were injured, and the tremor of 13 February 1882 where the image of Saint Augustine fell from its niche over the church’s main entrance.

During the outbreak of World War II, the convent became the refuge of the Ysmael and Caram families who were friends of Fr. Mariano Perez, the parish priest at that time.

Shortly after the invasion of Iloilo by the Japanese Imperial Army on 6 April 1942, fleeing residents looted the convent and set it on fire.

A month later, Filipino guerrillas under Col. Macario Peralta torched the church to prevent Japanese soldiers from turning it into a garrison.

Its roof was restored in 1943 by Fr. Genaro Ramos following the surrender of the town to the Japanese.

Five years later, the church collapsed to the ground during the 25 January 1948 Lady Caycay 8.2-magnitude earthquake that also toppled the Jaro bell tower and the Oton church.