History of Bantayan Island.

Timeline

1. before 1565

   Chinese and Vietnamese trade ceramics and small gold pieces found near Bantigue point to early overseas trade [1]
   finds, not yet excavated

2. 1575

   Spanish officials report fine pearls from a fishery near Bantayan [2]
   documented

3. 1580 (11 June)

   Augustinian friars found a mission and church on the island [3]
   documented

4. 1582

   A Spanish report counts about 1,000 people, large fisheries and millet instead of rice [4]
   documented

5. 1600

   Moro raiders burn the church; it is rebuilt the same year [3]
   documented

6. 1628

   Raiders from Jolo kill or capture more than 150 islanders; a small fort follows [5]
   documented

7. 1790 (about)

   Stone forts are built in Madridejos and Santa Fe [6]
   date disputed

8. 1824

   A papal permission lets islanders eat meat on fasting days; it ran out in 1843 [7]
   reported, original not seen by us

9. 1839–1863

   The present coral-stone church is built [3]
   documented

10. 1872

    Ogtong becomes its own town and is renamed Santa Fe [8]
    documented

11. 1903

    The American government merges the island back into one town, Bantayan [9]
    documented

12. 1911 / 1917

    Santa Fe, then Madridejos, become separate towns again [10]
    reported by the municipality

13. 1942–1945

    Japanese occupation of Cebu
    events on Bantayan itself not yet confirmed

14. 1981

    The whole island is declared a wilderness area; reports from 2019 link this to limits on private land titles [11]
    current legal position not verified

15. 2003

    Over 100 poultry farms produce about 1.5 million eggs a day [12]
    press report

16. 2013 (8 Nov)

    Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hits the island; most houses are damaged or destroyed [13]
    documented

17. 2023

    The longer runway of Bantayan Island Airport in Santa Fe opens [14]
    documented

18. 2025 (30 Sep)

    A magnitude 6.9 earthquake off Bogo damages the Bantayan church and sinks part of Hagnaya port [15][16]
    documented

Before the Spanish: fish, pearls and trade

Bantayan sits in the middle of the Visayan Sea, between Cebu, Negros, Panay and Leyte. Its shallow reefs made it rich in fish. The first Spanish reports, from 1575 and 1582, describe large fisheries, a small pearl fishery and about a thousand inhabitants. The soil was too poor for rice, so people grew millet [2][4].

Trade with Asia is older still. Near Bantigue, porcelain, small jars from Vietnam, celadon ware and tiny gold beads wash out of the ground after heavy rain. Archaeologist Jobers Bersales saw these finds in 2007. He warned that looters had dug there since the 1970s and that no proper excavation had been done [1].

The mission and the raids (1580–1800s)

On 11 June 1580, Augustinian friars founded a mission on Bantayan. It was first dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption and later to Saint Peter the Apostle [3]. In 1603 the parish passed to priests of the Diocese of Cebu [6].

The island lay on the route of raiders from Mindanao and the Sulu islands. They burned the church in 1600 [3]. In 1628 raiders from Jolo killed or carried off more than 150 people. The Augustinian chronicler Juan de Medina wrote in 1630 that the island was “almost depopulated” by these raids. He also called it the “mother of fish” [5]. The parish priest then built a small fort.

Stone watchtowers once stood along the coast: in Suba, Kabac, Tamiao, Kaongkod, Ocoy and on Doong islet. There were also two small forts, the kota of Madridejos and the kota of Santa Fe. Most of the towers are credited to Fr. Doroteo Andrada del Rosario, parish priest in the 1800s [6]. A storm washed away the Baluarte tower in Suba in 1968 [10].

Where does the name come from?

Bantay means “to watch” or “guard” in the Visayan languages. A popular story says lookouts in the towers shouted “Bantayan!” (“keep watch!”) and the name stuck [17]. That is a legend. The name already appears in Spanish documents from 1575 and 1582, before most towers were built [2][4]. Heritage researchers think the island was named for its position as a lookout at the north end of the Tañon Strait [6].

The church of Bantayan

The present church was built from coral stone between 1839 and 1863 [3]. In 1886 its walls were described as about three metres thick [6]. The National Historical Institute placed a historical marker there in 1980 [3]. The parish is known as Saints Peter and Paul. Its official name is the Parish of Saint Peter the Apostle.

The earthquake of 30 September 2025 brought down parts of the church front [15]. Repair plans exist, but we could not confirm that work has started; ask the parish about the current state before you visit.

One island, three towns

The parish dates from 1580; when Bantayan first became a town is not clear. In 1872 the village of Ogtong won its own town status and was renamed Santa Fe [8]. In 1903 the American government cut the number of towns in Cebu. Santa Fe and Madridejos became part of Bantayan again [9]. Santa Fe became a separate town once more in 1911, and Madridejos (old name: Lawis) in 1917 [10]. Madridejos is said to be named after Benito Romero de Madridejos, Bishop of Cebu from 1876 to 1885.

Three towns at a glance

Population: Philippine Statistics Authority [18]. Area figures from PSA 2015 as published; fiesta dates to be confirmed locally.

From pearls to eggs: how people made a living

Fishing has fed the island since the earliest records. In 1937 the island’s main products were pearls, fish and piña cloth. Mother-of-pearl went as far as Europe and the United States [19]. Dried fish, especially danggit, is still the best-known souvenir.

In the second half of the 1900s, poultry farms spread across the island. One farm that began with 500 hens in 1974 had grown to 50,000 birds by 2003. By then the island had more than 100 farms producing about 1.5 million eggs a day [12]. That is why people call Bantayan the egg basket of the Visayas.

Beach tourism grew mainly around Santa Fe, where the ferry from Hagnaya arrives. In 2022, Santa Fe counted 134,770 overnight visitors, fourth in Cebu province [20].

Holy Week and the meat permission

Bantayan’s Holy Week draws thousands of visitors. Its processions carry life-size statues, some of them antique, many prepared by old town families [21].

The island is famous for an old permission to eat meat during Lent. According to secondary accounts, a papal indult dated 27 July 1824 allowed meat, eggs and milk on fasting days. The usual explanation: fishermen did not go out to sea during Holy Week, so there was little fish to eat. The same accounts say the permission ended in 1843; we have not seen the document ourselves. It is no longer valid [7]. Holy Week on Bantayan is a time of prayer, not a fiesta.

The island’s own language

Many islanders speak Bantayanon, a Bisayan language of its own, not a dialect of Cebuano. It has three local forms: Binantayan in Bantayan, Sinantapé in Santa Fe and Linawis in Madridejos. Linguists list it as threatened, with about 71,600 speakers (an Ethnologue estimate) [22].

Typhoons and the 2025 earthquake

The island lies low and flat, so storms hit hard. A typhoon in 1912 killed about 400 people [10]. On 8 November 2013, Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) crossed the island around 10:40 a.m. [13]. Reports say 80 to 95 percent of houses were damaged or destroyed. The town of Bantayan estimated its losses at 4.3 billion pesos in December 2013; a later report gave 1.5 billion. The egg industry lost most of its roughly one million hens [23][24].

On 30 September 2025 at 9:59 p.m., a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off Bogo on the Cebu mainland. It came from a newly found fault under Bogo Bay. The ground at Hagnaya port, where the ferries to Santa Fe leave, sank for good. Reports from October 2025 describe part of the pier flooding at high tide; we have not confirmed the current repair status [16]. Ferries kept running from the undamaged berths.

What we don’t know yet

• What happened on Bantayan during World War II: we have found no reliable record yet.
• When the stone forts in Madridejos and Santa Fe were really built. Dates range from about 1630 to 1792.
• When the Hagnaya–Santa Fe ferry service began.

Do you know more, or have old photos or family records? Tell us – we will check them and credit you.

FAQ

Sources

1. Bersales, J. R. “Finding gold in Bantayan”, Cebu Daily News, 13 Sep 2007 – southeastasianarchaeology.com/?p=531
2. Blair & Robertson, The Philippine Islands 1493–1898, vol. 3 (documents of 1575–76) – gutenberg.org/ebooks/13616
3. National Historical Commission of the Philippines, registry: “Ang Simbahan ng Bantayan” (marker 1980) – philhistoricsites.nhcp.gov.ph
4. Miguel de Loarca, Relación de las Yslas Filipinas (1582), in Blair & Robertson vol. 5 – gutenberg.org/ebooks/16501
5. Juan de Medina OSA, Historia (1630), in Blair & Robertson vol. 23 – gutenberg.org/ebooks/16451
6. Panublion heritage survey, Ateneo de Manila (archived) – web.archive.org (admu.edu.ph/…/panublion/r7_bantayan.html)
7. Baluyos, M. “Bantayan fasting exemption has expired”, Sugbo.ph, 2 Apr 2021
8. Cebuano Studies Center, University of San Carlos, “Today in the History of Cebu”, 3 October and 10 June entries
9. Philippine Commission, Act No. 952, 22 Oct 1903
10. Municipality of Bantayan, “Historical Events” and “Milestones” (2019)
11. The Freeman, 11 Nov 2019, on Proclamation No. 2151 (1981)
12. The Philippine Star, “The egg, not the chicken”, 28 Jul 2003
13. PAGASA 11 a.m. update of 8 Nov 2013, as reported by philnews.ph
14. The Freeman, “Sta. Fe airport inaugurated”, 9 Mar 2023
15. Interaksyon (Philstar), 1 Oct 2025
16. PHIVOLCS, “Poster of the 30 September 2025 Magnitude 6.9 Offshore Northern Cebu Earthquake”; SunStar Cebu, 6 and 12 Oct 2025
17. Municipality of Bantayan, “Historical Background” (2019)
18. Philippine Statistics Authority: censuses 1903–2020; 2024 POPCEN
19. Golden Book of Cebu (1937), as quoted in The Freeman, 27 Apr 2020
20. Department of Tourism figures for 2022, as reported by Manila Bulletin, 24 Feb 2023
21. The Freeman, “Holy Week in Bantayan”, 9 Apr 2017
22. Baran, B. S. C. (2023), “Amini ang Linawis”, UP Working Papers in Linguistics 2(2)
23. The Freeman, 11 Dec 2013 and 2 May 2014
24. The Philippine Star, 9 Dec 2013