HISTORY of CATUBIG
The town of Catubig was an ancient village in the region of Ibabaw. After the Jesuit missionaries
arrived in Tinago and founded their first cabecera and residencia in Samar on October 15, 1596,
the other cabecera and residencia was also established in the Ibabaw region specifically in the
ancient town of Catubig. Fr. Miguel was the founder of the town. About the year 1616, the
Catubig mission was transferred to the town of Palapag and continued to be the cabecera of
Ibabaw until 1768.
This town was formerly called Cagnipa. In 1768 the spiritual administration of the town was
passed down to the Franciscans. Fray Antonio de Valdeolivas was the first Franciscan parish
priest of the town of Catubig where he collected 510 tributes with 1515 souls. The site of the
poblacion was used to be where Las Navas now is, but it was moved to its present location
between the years 1770-1775 after the Moros raided and burned the town and took five
hundred captives. In 1777 it was added to the parish of Palapag and in 1784 to the parish of
Laoang until 1790 it received its own parish priest, Fray Juan de Plasencia.
The church is dedicated to the Patriarch, St. Joseph the Worker. Under the direction of Fray
Juan de Plasencia he started to built the church of wood in the year 1790. In 1805, Fray Jose
Mata built the church of mamposteria which was destroyed by the typhoon because it was not
being well cemented. A new church was built made of wood by Fray Agaton Martinez in 1838. A
cemetery was built located outside the town with a small chapel made of nipa. In the years
from 1885 to 1888, Fray Vicente Zamora, at his own expense and with the help of his
parishioners, built a beautiful church of stone with a galvanized iron roof, using all the modern
advances in its construction. The year 1890 a road was opened by Fray Aquilino Majuelo and
Fray Arsenio Figueroa, passing from Catubig through Pambujan and arriving at Mondragón,
being financed by the townspeople. There was also another road that leads to Palapag, directed
and financed by Fray José Fernandez with the help of the townspeople. In 1892, Father Antonio
Ibañez built a firm and consistent bell tower. In the year 1895 he also built the convent with
firm and consistent conditions very well oriented and beautiful. Catubig has a good cemetery
with a chapel, a court house and two primary schools. In the year 1894 a big fire reduced to
