The Parish of Pinamungajan, Cebu
Fr. Felipe Sendino Redondo (he was the secretary of Bishop Benito Romero de Madridejos, Bishop of Cebu from 1876 to 1885) reported in 1886 that Pinamungajan was erected as a parish by Diocesan decree on September 4, 1850 and through Superior Approval on March 22 of the same year. It is under the patronage of Santa Monica. Its mother parish was Barili.
This was how the book of Fr. Redondo described its church and its attendant structures: "Church: made of hardwood and tabique pampango, with cogon grass roofing; it is 32 brazas long, 10 brazas wide, and 5 brazas high. -Cemetery: enclosed by light materials.-Rectory: made of hard wood and planks, it is in poor state of repair; its visitas are Aloguinsan, to the south one league away, with a church made of tabique pampango."
The glossary of the book "A Brief Survey of What was and what is the Diocese of Cebu in the Philippine Islands" translated into English by Azucena L. Pace, says that a "braza" is a fathom, a nautical unit of length equal to six feet, while "tabique pampango" is a thin partition wall made of interwoven pieces of bamboo or hardwood slats plastered over with a coating of lime mixed with sand.
Recorded as one of its earliest parish priests was Severino P. Picson. In the 1960s its parish priest was Reverend Dionisio Larosa.
President Manuel Acuna Roxas Sr. appointed Jesus delos Reyes as councilor of Pinamungajan on August 24, 1946. Roxas became president after defeating Don Sergio Suico Osmeña (who succeeded President Quezon who died of tuberculosis on August 1, 1944, as the disease was incurable at that time) in the first post-war election held on April 23, 1946. Roxas earlier bolted from the Nacionalista Party which Don Sergio founded, and became head of the Liberal Wing of the party. Later on it became a party of its own called the Liberal Party
Pinamungajan mayor, Samson B. Cerna, was ambushed on January 21, 1970 in Barangay Tutay and his vice mayor, Juan S. Kyamko, succeeded him. A son of Mayor Samson by the name of Manolo P. Cerna, who became a lawyer, also became mayor of the town. A member of the Cerna clan earlier served as municipal president (this was during the early years of the American occupation, and the town's chief executive was called president) by the name of Valentin Cerna.
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