St. James the Great Parish – Albuera

Albuera is 3rd class municipality in the province of Leyte, the Philippines with a land area of 18,1200.000 has. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 34,335 people in 7,193 households.

It was about the year 1862 when settlements began to appear in the areas between south of Ormoc farther down towards the town of Baybay. The appearance of these settlements was soon followed by the formation of barangays. Among these settlements, Sebugay led in population.

Due to the constant danger posed by marauding bands of Moros who plundered the coastal settlements and kidnapped a number of its inhabitants, the village heads soon got together and formed a junta. Among those kidnapped and killed were a prominent Sebugaynon couple, Ta Sindi, and her husband. During that eventful gathering, it was agreed to adopt St. James the Apostle as their patron saint. The village heads stayed near the shore at Wangag, where mounted volunteers scanned the seas for the Moro vintas. When the dreaded vessels appeared the guards beat their gongs on top of a tower as a warning of impending danger. The men would then take their families to safety and afterward, gather along the shore with their bolos and spears ready. Blood flowed both from the attackers and the attacked.

The growing community was then under the parish of Ormoc Father Catalino Cabada, parish priest of Ormoc (1849-1867) came to organize the said community, but some family heads disagreed with the establishment of a poblacion near the Sebugaynon River. This river always threatened the lives of the settlers that lived along its side. Most of them agreed to have the Poblacion situated in Balugo but a strong-willed Sebugaynon, Eusebio Calabia, who later became known as Kapitan Sebio, gave a suggestion. He proposed that the image of the patron saint is tied on horseback and wherever the horse would first stop, that particular place would become the site of the Poblacion. The church was built near the beach across the place where the horse had indicated. The majority of the settlers disliked the name Sebugaynons. One day, the settlers held a meeting with the purpose of renaming the community “Herrera” in honor of Governor Herrera, thus expediting its recognition as a pueblo. When the junta was formed, a sailboat, coming from Pilar Island and on its way to Ormoc, dropped anchor in order to fetch water at the spring near the market. The Spanish priest on board saw in the many beautiful and numerous springs, a similarity with the town in his own native province of Galicia, Spain known as the town of “Albujera” – – which means “freshwater lake” – – was noted for the healthful springs and cool lagoons. Impressed by the clear and cool water, the priest wandered around and thereby noticed the assembly; he approached the gathering and with a smile inquired why the meeting was convoked. Thereat, the question of renaming the town from Sebugaynons to Herrera was brought up and without hesitation, the Spanish priest immediately responded saying: “Name this pueblo ALBUERA because of the plenty and beautiful springs your town has, just like my home town Albuera (The information from the internet indicated that the original Albuera is a Spanish village located in the southeastern part of Badajoz and adjacent to Seville near the Portuguese border) is Spain has.

Much more, your Patron Saint, Sr. Santiago, is also the Patron Saint of Spain and is against the moors. With me, we are Albueranons Viva Albuera. The Spanish priest then lost no time in naming the town after his own municipality and the name “Albujera” or “Albuhera” was popularly adopted by the people of the town.

Towards the end of the Spanish regime in the Philippines, Albuera was still part of Ormoc. The locality had gradually increased its settlements along with the coastal areas which were unevenly distributed within the existing territory. Hence, due to geographical proximity, all socio-economic, political, cultural, and religious activities were directly under the influence of the Municipality of Ormoc.

During the American regime, a petition from the inhabitants was sent to the Governor-General for the creation of Albuera as a separate municipality.

On December 19, 1917, Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison issued Executive Order no. 99 formally creating Albuera as an independent Municipality. The locality officially started to function as a separate municipality on January 1, 1918.

The Spanish priest who was also the parish pastor of Pilar, Cebu at that time was given the honor of christening the town during its inauguration in 1918. The town officials have since carried the name “Albujera” in their records. However, for easier pronunciation and because the natives of the town always referred to the municipality as “Albuera” prominent citizens petitioned to have the name changed officially. The request was granted and the name remained to this date.

The town of Albuera lies on the western coast of Leyte. It is only 14 kilometers away from the City of Ormoc. Despite its being a fifth-class community, the people have always been self-sufficient and Albuera has never had a deficit since its inauguration.

Father Leoncio Faelnar, the first parish priest, served for 25 years (1862-1887). He organized the parish of Albuera extending from Benolho to tinag-an. He was responsible for the erection of the church which was completed by Father Casimiro Abete. This stood for many years but was destroyed during World War II. A new and beautiful church now stands in its place, through the efforts of the beloved and energetic parish priest of the town, Fr. Frumencio Cainglet.