Address
Brgy. Rizal,
Saguday, 3402
Quirino, Philippines
Contact No.: +63 917 164 9569
Facebook Page: St. Augustine of Hippo Parish Saguday
About the Parish
The Municipality of Saguday, Quirino was formerly one of the barrios under the Municipality (now City) of Santiago, Isabela. It is a fifth-class municipality where the source of living is mostly farming and the language widely spoken is Ilocano. Saguday is an Ilocano term which means “one who possesses good traits and blessed with clean mind, heart and soul.” The town is composed of nine barangays, namely Rizal and Magsaysay (which formed the poblacion), Cardenas, Dibul, Gamis, La Paz, Salvacion, Sto. Tomas and Tres Reyes.
The St. Augustine of Hippo Parish Church began as Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel in the Municipality of Saguday, Quirino, which was under the jurisdiction of the Parish of St. Mark in Cabarroguis, Quirino. From 1981-1982, Fr. George P. Gelade, CICM oversaw the construction of the Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel in Brgy. Rizal, which served as the spiritual center of the parishioners in the municipality and its nearby barangays. In the succeeding years, Fr. Gelade constructed more chapels throughout Saguday in Brgys. Dibul, Gamis, La Paz, Sto. Tomas and Cardenas. However, the sacraments were irregularly celebrated in the chapels due to the scarcity of priests in the Diocese of Bayombong, and due to the extensive area covered by the parish in Cabarroguis. In fact, some parishioners attended to their spiritual needs in the neighboring parishes, while some have regrettably joined different religious sects.
The Most Rev. Ramon B. Villena, DD, Bishop of the Diocese of Bayombong, felt the spiritual needs of the faithful in Saguday. Thus, he invited the Augustinian Friars through the Prior Provincial, Very Rev. Fr. Eusebio B. Berdon, OSA, to send missionaries to take care of the spiritual needs of the faithful in the municipality of Saguday. The Augustinians accepted the invitation, and so, on June 7, 2012, the first two Augustinian missionaries arrived: Rev. Fr. Sisinio A. Paderog, OSA and Rev. Fr. Tarquin C. Gamao, OSA.
On October 7, 2012, Bishop Villena canonically erected the St. Augustine of Hippo Quasi-Parish, which covered the entire town of Saguday, and situated its seat in the Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel, installing Rev. Fr. Sisinio A. Paderog, OSA as the first parish priest and Rev. Fr. Tarquin C. Gamao, OSA as parochial vicar. The celebration was well-represented by different chapel representatives. Also during the celebration was the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Bishop of Bayombong, Most Rev. Ramon B. Villena, DD, and the Prior Provincial of the Augustinian Province of Santo Niño de Cebu—Philippines, Very Rev. Fr. Eusebio B. Berdon, OSA, formally turning over the pastoral care of Saguday to the Order of Saint Augustine. The signing was primarily witnessed by Mrs. Norma P. Feliciano, as representative of the Quasi-Parish Pastoral Council.
Now with a stable presence of ministers, the Catholic presence in Saguday was revived and flourished even more. Even Augustinian simply professed friars began to be assigned almost every year in Saguday for their pastoral exposure. The mission expanded in February 2014, when the Augustinians accepted the care of the San Pedro Calungsod Chapel in Brgy. Bannawag Sur, Diffun, Quirino, from the said town’s parish of St. Joseph the Worker.
The year 2015 proved significant in the life of the Augustinians and the parish. On August 26, the Augustinian residence in Saguday was formally established, solidifying the Augustinian mission in the Cagayan Valley.
Later, on August 28, the St. Augustine of Hippo Quasi-Parish was elevated to parish status by Bishop Villena. Lastly, the parish convent, which was constructed since February 2014, was blessed on November 13 by Fr. Berdon, and on December 19 by Bishop Villena. Before the convent was built, Frs. Paderog and Gamao and the succeeding Augustinian priests used to stay at a rented private house owned by the Gamboa Family in Barangay Rizal, located at some distance from the municipal hall.
The Augustinian mission and the St. Augustine of Hippo Parish grew in faith and numbers as time passed. Devotion to the Santo Niño began flourishing as regular Friday novenas were held and the Cofradia del Santo Niño – Saguday Chapter was established in 2017. The parish’s version of the Sinulog, the Panangidaton (“offering”) Festival began in 2019, and is celebrated every third Sunday of January. As the parish church gradually could not accommodate the large attendance in liturgical services, a church expansion project was launched on July 20, 2019, under the pastorate of Rev. Fr. Exuper G. Lumintac, OSA. Lastly, the Augustinian mission further expanded when, on August 25, 2019, the Santo Nino Mission Station in Pallas Valley, Vintar, Ilocos Norte was inaugurated, and was made an extension of the apostolate of the Augustinian residence in Saguday. For this reason, the friars in Saguday took turns to minister in Ilocos Norte, while the rest stayed behind in the parish.
During the COVID pandemic in 2020, the parish, in collaboration with the local government unit, assisted to the material needs of the Sagudayeños and of those in neighboring towns, reaching as far as the City of Ilagan, Isabela.
Effective July 1, 2021, new friars were assigned to the parish. To further stabilize the presence of the missionaries, Frs. Sisinio Paderog and Harold Langahin were assigned definitively to Vintar, while Frs. Armando Dayao, Exuper Lumintac and Christian Funtanares, and Rev. Jebie Jugarap remained in Saguday.
In 2022, the Diocesan Stewardship Apostolate of the Diocese of Bayombong was launched in the parish. As of this writing, there are more than 300 stewards who have pledged to assist the parish in a special way. The Augustinian friars hold dear their ministry in Northern Luzon, as evidenced by the missionaries sent to Saguday and Vintar, Ilocos Norte.
As the parish thanks God for the blessings it has received, and as it continues to fulfill the Gospel mandate under the guidance of the Augustinian Friars, the St. Augustine of Hippo Parish hopes to fulfill, by the grace of God, its vision to become “a dynamic, participative, dialogic, and committed Christian community living harmoniously with one mind and one heart journeying towards God.”
Edited by Norma P. Feliciano and Fray Albert Benedict B. Soliman, OSA
