he naming of the town as a Local Government Unit has two versions. One, some people believed that it was named ‘bantay’ after its natural and physical features, meaning, mountain, because of its hilly and mountainous terrain, particularly at its eastern portion. Second, the other explanation is linked to the Holy Shrine of the famous and miraculous image of our Lady of Charity, which was brought to the place during the Spanish colonial period and accidentally found by fishermen on board a ship that got stranded on the shores of the Ilocos coast. In her honor, Bantay residents built a chapel, which is now the main feature of St. Augustine Church.  It is often said that from the time the miraculous image was brought to Bantay, Tagalogs and Zambals would come to town claiming for the Holy Shrine and the image of Our Lady of Charity but even with all their might and efforts, they were not able to move nor possess the miraculous image.  Instead, they left Bantay with the notion and belief that the Holy Shrine was meant purposely, and the miraculous image of the Virgin intended to remain, for the residents of Bantay only, therein to remain forever to “guard” the place.  Thus, evolved the name of the town as BANTAY, meaning,  GUARDIAN.

CREATION OF THE TOWN

The town was founded by the Spaniards in 1593 and was first established by the Augustinian friars.  It is one of the thirty-four (34) towns of the Province of Ilocos Sur and was formerly part of Vigan.  However, it became so prosperous that during the American regime, it was constituted as a separate political subdivision, hence, the legal basis of its juridical existence is the MAURA LAW OF 1893.

MAJOR AND SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 

The Augustinian friars chose Saint Augustine de Hippo, the Doctor of Grace, as the Patron Saint and the town fiesta used to be celebrated every 28^th of August, but because of inclement weather during this month, the late Reverend Alfredo Verzosa caused the transfer of the celebration to May 5 of every year.   The original inhabitants of  the town  have family names starting with letter “ P” taken from the designated listing as an adopted system of the Spanish rulers in all the towns of Ilocos Sur to easily identify and monitor movement of residents.

In a report of Bishop Domingo de Soria on August 15, 1613, the population of Bantay was 4,000 while at that time, Vigan parish has only 2,000.  This can be explained by the fact that by then, Bantay parish was very extensive with the inclusions of the parishes of Magsingal, Santo Domingo, San Ildefonso, San Vicente and Sta. Catalina de Baba (now Santa) within its coverage.  However, it is also worth to mention that presently, Bantay is one of the very few towns in the country with two (2) parochial parishes, the other one located at Barangay Paing, the Christ the King Parish.

The early Spanish settlers made the town beautiful by building the ‘tribunal’, otherwise known as the Municipal town hall, the church, bell tower, roads and streets by forced labor.  The St. Augustine church was originally made of bamboo and cogon structure built by Bantay residents to house the miraculous image of Our Lady of Charity, but it was later-on changed into a permanent edifice because of the good fortune it brings to the people. During World War II, on April 15, 1945, three big incendiary bombs hit the church but none of them exploded, however five other bombs exploded fifty meters away from it that resulted in the collapse of its roofs but later-on was rebuilt after the cessation of the arm conflict.  Miraculously, the image of Our Lady of Charity, which is probably the oldest Marian image in Ilocandia, remained unscathed.  On January 12, 1956, Apostolic Nuncio Vagnozzi canonically crowned, while Archbishop Sancho proclaimed, Our Lady of Charity as “Queen of Ilocandia” which is now permanently enshrined at the Bantay parish church, turning Bantay as the sanctuary of our Lady in Northern Luzon.

Several battles have spillovers in Bantay, one of which was the Ilocos revolt led by Diego Silang.  Here, this heroic figure was killed by a Spanish mestizo nicknamed “Vicos”, who was so cruel to the residents.  The incident took place at Encuentro Street where now stands the Diego Silang Park (Municipal town plaza) in honor of the memory and courageous feat displayed by this Ilocano figure.  Ironically, the Diego Silang Park that was originally constructed in 1763 displays a commemorative monumental figure of Vicos and not of Diego Silang that people nowadays assail such complacency of the Spanish regime.

More schools were established during the American regime.  Education, however, was already gaining acceptance during the Spanish rule.  In fact, one of the Augustinian friars, Fr. Francisco Lopez, a great Augustinian Philologist, with the help of Pedro Bucaneg, the blind genius of the Ilocano tongue who was from this place, labored hard to translate the Bellarmine Catechism originally written by Robert Cardinal Bellarmine.  The book was approved at the Bantay convent in 1616, printed in Malayan script and Spanish alphabet, was first published in 1621.  The Bellarmine Catechism was the first book in Ilocano to be printed and its influence on the morality, culture and language of the entire Ilocos is immeasurable.

Not long before the coming of the Japanese, the people of Bantay were divided into two opposing groups called the Westerners and the Easterners.  The national road going to the North, which is located at the Poblacion, was then known to them as the ‘caratela general’ that served as a demarcation or dissection line between the two feuding factions. The spirit of strong sectionalism prevailed between the two groups that not anyone from either group dared to step in the other’s ground to  enjoy any form of  social l intercourse or to  ask for help.   This   dissenting spirit only ceased after the battle of the Greater East Asia and of the co-prosperity sphere, the aggressors of whom were the Japanese who occupied the Philippines in 1941.  In their evacuation places in the mountains and remote barrios, the two opposing groups finally decided to bury their hatred and fought united against the Japanese aggressors.