St. Michael the Archangel Parish – San Miguel, Palompon

The Saint Michael the Archangel Parish has indeed come a long way since its humble beginnings from a very small chapel built in 1970 in a place where the gate of the Alfredo Parilla National High School is now located.

The chapel was run by a complete set of chapel officials who were closely coordinating all its activities with the officials of the barangay and with the mother parish, the St. Francis Xavier Parish. A mass was celebrated ones a month by a priest coming from the mother parish.

The barangay San Miguel, with a population of more or less two thousand two hundred (2,200) people and with a household of more or less four hundred fifty(450), worked hand-in-hand for the improvement of the chapel from a very small parcel of land to a larger one and thus, was transformed from a small chapel into a bigger one in 1980.

The new location of the St. Michael the Archangel Church was formerly used as the Social Center of the barangay. The land was donated to the church by the late Roque Olorvida. The barangay is composed of barangay folks with very generous hearts, to mention a few were the Apolinar Family. The three Apolinar brothers, the late chief Engineer Pablito R. Apolinar, Second Engineer Manuel R. Apolinar and the late Second Engineer Jose R. Apolinar moved hills and mountains to be able to come up with the needed amount for the construction of the church. With God’s grace, the church was built and was able to serve a larger number of churchgoers.

With the effort of the church to really cater to the spiritual and pastoral needs of the lay faithful, Rev. Msgr. Cesar Petilla,H.P., the former Parish Priest of St. Francis Xavier Parish recommended to the former Archbishop of Palo, His Grace the Most Rev. Pedro R. dean,D.D. the conversion of the San Miguel Chapel into a Mission Station which comprises of the other six barangays namely; Tinago, Tinubdan, Caduhaan, Liberty, Santiago and Mabini.

January 6, 2005 by no less than His Grace the Most Rev.Pedro R. Dean,D.D., former Archbishop of Palo Canonically Established the St. Michael the Archangel Mission Station and officially installed Rev. Fr. Michael Arevalo as the first priest-in-charge of the Mission Station.

Because the church has no convent, Rev. Fr. Arevalo was housed in the residence of Mrs. Josefa C. Festejo. The same house also reserved as the church’s office.

Rev. Fr. Michael Arevalo upon assumption to office, initiated several church activities with the delight of the churchgoers. Church development was observed every now and then including the effort to getting the church renovated.

Additional parcels of land were donated to be able to construct a larger church and a convent. The lot where the altar was built was donated by Mrs. Patrocinia Pernes Chiong and for where the convent was built, the lot was donated by Mr. Luciano Tordillo and family and a small parcel of land was also donated by Mr. & Mrs. Sol Suralta to accommodate the stair case from the sacristy to the convent.

Rev. Fr. Arevalo embarked on major projects such as the renovation of the church altar and the construction of the convent. Several parishioners answered to the call of the Priest-in-Charge for donations thus, gradually completing the projects.

Rev. Fr. Arevalo was eventually promoted to a Parish Priest position and was assigned at Matag-ob, Leyte. And came the second Priest-in-Charge in the person of Rev. Fr. James Jubal P. Meneses was installed into office on January 6, 2009 by his Grace the Most Rev. Jose S. Palma, D.D., SThD the former Archbishop of Palo.

The leadership ability of Rev. Fr. James Jubal Meneses stirred the whole population of the Mission Station to more church activities and more projects and physical improvements both the church and the convent.

The highlight of Rev. Fr. Meneses’ term was the conversion of the Mission Station into a Parish and he became the first Parish Priest of the St. Michael the Archangel Parish. The Parish was canonically erected on September 28, 2009 with His Grace the Most Rev. Fr. Jose S. Palma, D.D., SThD. doing the rites.

During Rev. Fr. Meneses’ administration, the construction of the Parish Convent was completed and the face of the church was improved more, with him being a hands-on priest. The altar was again renovated including all its accessories. The facade of the church was improved. The steel truss was changed including the roofing, just to mention few.

Continued presence of church leaders in the parish conducting major activities, like the evangelization, establishment of the BEC’s in the different barangays, the different seminars and on-going formation, the establishment of mandated church organizations and celebration of major fiestas of patrons and saints and major religious celebrations are continually observed.