The Miracles Of The Our Lady Of Oton

According to history, the Parish of Oton, is the third to be established in Panay but the first to choose Our Virgin Mary to be its patron saint.

Tradition foretells that Mother Mary herself chooses Oton who name was deeply honored and venerated by the locals.

One day, a motor banca landed in Oton and included in the cargo is the image of  Virgin Mary and Santo Niño or Holy Child Jesus. The crew brought the image to the church. When they return to the banca the engine won't start. They thought there is some problem with the engine but upon checking it, they could not find any damage. No matter what they do, they could not make the banca move. In an instance the captain ordered to take the Santo Niño in the church and replace it with the image of Virgin Mary. After they did it, it was a wonder they can easily move the boat. This explains why the patron saint of Oton was the beloved Mother of God while in Tigbauan is the Santo Niño.

There is a similar story to that belief.

When an earthquake named Lady Caycay struck Panay Island and destroyed the church of Oton in 1948 and the image of Virgin Mary was lowered, a group of friars decided to transfer the patron saint to Tigbauan while the Santo Niño of Tigbauan will be transferred to Oton. They helped carry and put in the banca the statue of the Virgin Mary to be brought to Tigbauan but upon reaching Tigbauan they could not be able to unload the image so they continued to other towns but the same thing happened so they decided to bring it back to Oton. When they are near the town of Oton, the boat runs smooth and slow and the engine really stopped and doesn't want to leave.

It is so strange why the Image is so light and bearable when it was carried back to the church of Oton? It's really a miracle according to the townspeople of Oton because the Virgin Mary doesn't want to leave Oton because it is near to her heart.

There are more things that happened that tells about the miracles of Our Virgin Mary of the church of Oton.

In 1944, during the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese are guarding in the middle of the plaza fronting the church. It was evening then and they are patiently watching the approaching enemies when all of a sudden they saw a very beautiful lady with long hair, dressed in a floor-length white and blue clothes and it is coming closer to them. Many people saw it and the expression and aura of the lady is sad. She said to the Japanese: "Have mercy on the people, leave this place and return to where you came from." When they look up to the towers of the church the image of the Virgin Mary, it was not there. Everyone said that for certain the lady who came up to the Japanese is the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception. Eventually indeed, the Americans came, saved the people and liberated Panay Island from the Japanese Imperial Forces.

It was reported that a tidal wave will hit their area. Oton will surely sink and flooded because it is near the sea. The people are already preparing to leave the area but when the night time came, when the giant wave is ready to hit the town of Oton, a lot of people saw a lady with a long hair wearing a white and blue dress running towards the ocean outstretching her arms open wide and all of a sudden the giant wave goes back to the ocean never smashing the town of Oton. When this took place, many noticed that the statue of the Virgin Mary in the tower of the church is missing. It was believed that Our Lady of Immaculate Conception helped the townsfolk. So the people came in front of the church and tearfully thanking the patron saint of Oton.

One early morning, a dawn after the fiesta celebration of the town of Arevalo, month of January 1948, there's a sudden jolt so powerful that it caused the destruction of the very beautiful and imposing church of Oton. The miracle which took place there is this: all parts of the church fell to the ground except the tower which stood the statue of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception. It took a long time before the image of our Virgin Mary was changed.

Truly the image is miraculous!


Photo Source:

https://oneintheirhearts.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/novena-in-honor-of-the-immaculate-conception-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-second-day/

The Santo Niño Of San Joaquin

Can a little child saint make a naughty prank just like the following story?

Once upon a time there is a fisherman who went to the parish priest who is in charge of the church of San Joaquin to collect payment for the fish ordered by a child and points to the priest who will pay it. The priest paid the bill without asking any question but he knows that he did not ask any child to get some fish for him. When he held a mass the following morning, he saw a bundle of rotten fish hanging from the hands of the Santo Niño or the Little Child Jesus.



Photo Source: 

http://www.peanutbrowas.com/blog/santo-nino-church-bastion-of-christianity-in-cebu

http://theblackswampcornucopia.blogspot.com/2012/01/mysterious-case-of-moving-santo-nino.html

The Help Of Saint Anthony Of Padua

Long time ago before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippines, the Moros boarding a gabilan boat reached the shores of Barotac Nuevo and targets the town by capturing some men to be slaves. These slaves are being used in their leisure games like toreador and arm wrestling. Every invasion of the Moros bring lots of terror to the locals. One day the Moros arrived in the area again. The leaders of the town ordered the cuardilleros and other able bodied men to meet, face and fight the enemies  at the outskirts of the town.  They went to a designated place and hid before the arrival of the Moros. Upon the arrival of the Moros, they came out of hiding and the leader of the group shouted "bungga bungga". With this shout, the soldiers from the town attacked and fought ferociously the enemies. The battle became intense. It was stopped at about two o'clock in the afternoon in the sudden appearance of a very tall man who was dressed in a colorful clothes and a red belt around his waist carrying a small banner on his left hand. A glaring light came from his right hand hits the enemies while the phenomenon is in the middle of the way not far from the enemies. This place was called the mountain of Salihid which the battle took place. The enemies were dazzled by the blinding light and seems screaming and terrifyingly scared. They leave one by one. Since then, no Moros disturb the place. The people believed that the tall man who defended them is nothing else but Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of the town.



Photo Source:

http://www.catholictradition.org/Padua/padua-gallery.htm

The Legend Of Oton

Sheridan Boutique Resort in Barangay Buray, Oton, Iloilo

Oton Public Plaza

The Immaculate Conception Parish Church or the Old Oton Church, an architectural marvel during the colonial period. It is said to be the most beautiful and largest cathedral in the entire Western Visayas region during the colonial period. It was destroyed during the Lady Caycay Earthquake in 1948.

The altar of the old Oton Church

Oton became the first capital of Iloilo in 1571 during the time of Legazpi. Oton was formerly called Kagayunan a local term which means blue water.  There are three stories about the origin of the town's name.

It's one hot season at the time, while the two Spaniards are walking around the town, they reached Oton. They passed by the natives who were harvesting rice. Since the two Spaniards doesn't know the name of the place, they asked the people about its name in Spanish language. The natives who doesn't know what they are saying thought that they are asking about the time. It was noon time then so they said "Ogtong-Adlaw." Thinking that "Ogtong" is the name of the place, the Spaniards keep on saying it. Since the Spaniards could not pronounce well the phoneme "ng", Ogtong became OTON.

Some of the natives are saying that during those times, the fishermen always have a plenty catch of the fish known as "kogtong" - which are plenty in the area. Kogtong is a type of fish which is six inches in length, grayish in color and can be caught only in the river. They call the place Ogtong taken from the name of the fish kogtong.

Long time ago, there's a thriving plant growing  at the very shores of the river that surrounds the entire town of Oton. This plant looks like the vines or roots which are crawling at the shores of the river  and when this vine is axed, its releases resin or sap which is color blood. They call this plant "batang" however it was not mentioned by Father Demetrio Cobos in his book "Apuntos Historicos" and only said that Oton came from this plant.

In the three origins mentioned, the first one is the most popular of all and usually told by the elders.




Photo Source:

http://historicphilippines.com/our-churches/historic-churches-vi/immaculate-conception-church-oton/immaculate-conception-church-oton-iloilo-a-follow-up/

http://www.exploreiloilo.com/info/oton-church/

http://www.booking.com/hotel/ph/sheridan-boutique-resort.html

http://katagman.com/featured/oton-a-quest-for-its-heritage/attachment/oton-plaza/