San Jose Parish (San Jose, Antique)
Long before, San Jose belonged to the parish of Hamtic. Due to frequent Moro raids, the old church was rammed down by raiders and the Augustinian priests were forced to abandon the place and look for another site to relocate. The parishioners decided to move to a higher place away from the sea.
They have finally found a very suitable place, it was high, far from the sea and has an exquisite view of the mountains. The parishioners as well as some priests chose to settle and erected a village which they referred to as “Buenavista” which means beautiful site.
A story is passed from one generation to the next how St. Joseph the Worker became the patron saint of the parish. Long ago, there was a very strong typhoon to hit Buenavista Village, which caused sea turbulence. Soon, a tidal wave was formed that was to devour the whole village. It made the people terrified until they saw a man in the midst of the storm, he face the shore with the roaring huge wave. He raised his hand, holding a staff as though commanding the sea to settle down. And it did! The angry wave slowly settled down. When the storm was finally over, the villagers tried to look for the man, but he was nowhere to be found. The people who have witnessed the event swore the resemblance of St. Joseph the Worker in many ways. They believed it was a miracle and so the Augustinians consecrated the village as San Jose de Buenavista named after St. Joseph whim the people made their patron saint.
In 1793, San Jose became an independent Parish with Fr. Manuel Ibañez, OSA as parish priest. In 1802, San Jose became the capital town of Antique.
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