"Ili a Baluarte ": Revisiting the Cradle of Aglipayanism ERICSON M. JOSUE 1 My first month as parochial vicar of the Roman Catholic Parish of the Immaculate Conception in Batac led me to a first visit to its barrios. As I conversed with the barrio folks and even parishioners from the poblacion, there was a common line in almost everyone's mouth: "Aglipayano kami idi, Apo" (We were Aglipayans before, Father). I said to myself, "O, here I am, a "Padi a Romano" 2 (Roman Catholic Priest), standing on the very soil of Aglipay's ili a baluarte (Bailiwick). The town (now City) of Batac, Ilocos Norte was very important and dear to Padre Gregorio Aglipay y Labayan, the Primer Obispo Maximo (First Supreme Bishop) of the Iglesia Filipina Indepen- diente (IFI) and the man who gave his name to that church, Aglipayano. The town was the place of his birth, childhood and guerilla activities. It was the stronghold of the church he led. While browsing old files, I coincidentally found in an old journal a photo of the town's landscape sometime in the first quarter of the 20th Century. The photo showed a ruinous baroque 3 1 The author is a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Laoag serving as parochial vicar at the Immaculate Conception Parish in Batac City Likewise, the author is a non-resident instructor of Church History at the Immaculate Concep- tion School of Theology (Regional Theologate for Northern Luzon) in Vigan City. 2 In the earlier years, Catholics were called by Aglipayans as "Romano," stressing the idea that it is a religion of Rome and not of the Filipinos. 3 Sometime in the 1930's, the Church facade was reconstructed and its archi- tecture was changed into modern Romanesque design. • PHILIPPINIANA SACRA, Vol. XLIV, No. 130 (January-April, 2009) 129-186