In my last post about Ilocos Region, we sealed Ilocos Norte with our trio hot spot Kapurpurawan Rock Formation, Cape Bojeador Lighthouse and Malacañang of the North. There’s more to Ilocos Norte but in the interest of time, we weren’t able to visit the rest.
Today, we'll kick in the Ilocos Sur virtual tour right away. Aren't you excited? Well, I am. For one, it's great to revisit this historical spot in Bantay, Ilocos Sur before it was recently damaged by a Magnitude 7 earthquake last July. The earthquake’s epicenter was in Abra, a neighboring Province of Ilocos Sur. The earthquake was too strong it was even felt in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Fortunately, this site wasn’t totally damaged but at the moment it has been closed for public viewing.
This site has been around for 431 years now. If you’re fast enough to compute, that’s right, our destination for today, Bantay Watchtower was built in 1591. If you don’t speak Tagalog, bantay means guard. True to its name, it served as a watchtower during the Spanish Colonialization Era. This ancient structure was then turned into a bell tower that why it’s sometimes called Bantay Bell Tower The tower is located on top of a hill just less than 100 meters away from the Bantay Church.
My reaction when I saw what happened during the earthquake was a mix of shock (a normal reaction) and gratefulness; I uttered “May gani nakaanha nako” (Good thing I already went there before!). In case you’re curious what happened, here’s a link of the video during the actual earthquake.
I’m pretty sure that the Local Government will do something to restore this historic treasure. Let’s see in the next few months!