Explorations

Two years later in 1565, Esteban Rodríguez of the Legazpi expedition, caught by storm on his way back to Cebu from Bohol, sought refuge in the eastern shore of the island and met local Negritos called ata, agta, or ati.

The first map of the Negros Island, dated 1572 and charted by Diego López de Povedano identified it as Buglas, the native reference derived from the tall cane-like grass which ranged thick and persistent over the island (now known as cógon).

His report upon returning to Cebu prompted Fray Andrés de Urdaneta to visit the island, landing in what is now Escalante in Negros Occidental. In the same year, Capitán Mateo de Cádiz led a small expedition which reached an area near present-day Tanjay. Capitán Miguel de Loarca followed with a larger expedition and force and proceeded to lay claim to what the Spaniards called the Island of Negros. Both Povedano and Loarca pointed to the Tanay-Dumaguete area as the most densely populated in the eastern half of the island. Tanay, considered the more important settlement, was made the administrative capital of Negros Island. It however, remained under the jurisdiction of the province of Cebu. It was the first archdeacon of Cebu, Fray Diego Ferreira, who sent Fray Gabriel Sánchez and other Augustinian priests to the new territory. Thus, on June 11, 1580, Tanjay was founded as the Missión de Santiago de los Ríos de Tanay, the center of religious supervision for Dumaguete, Marabago, Siaton and Manalongon.

When it officially shifted from Tanay to Tanjay is not exactly known, but may have started as a typographical error on an official document sometime in the 18th century.^[8]

From these few parishes along the coast, the priests administered the sacraments to the people in the hinterlands and served as mission to the wandering locals, converting them to Christianity. Evangelization began very slowly because of the great distance over hills from one hut to another.

By 1587, the Augustinians had almost abandoned all missions in Negros due to lack of manpower. Evidence, however, points to a secular priest in charge of the Parish of Tanjay before 1602. It was in 1600 that these missions regained pastoral attention when the Jesuits were assigned in Negros. The first priest of Tanjay, Fray Diego Ferreira, was appointed in 1589. Tanjay parish, under the patronage of St. James the greater is the oldest in the Orient.

Parish of Tanjay

Catholicism was brought to this part of Oriental Negros by the Augustinians. The Definitorium dated June 11, 1580 mentions of the foundation of the Parish of Tanjay, with the communities of Dumaguete, Siaton, Marabago and Manalongon. Due to the lack of personnel on the part of the Augustinian Fathers, the spiritual care of this new foundation was entrusted to the care of the Diocesan Clergy of Cebu. This is why the reason Tanjay Parish became part of the Diocese of Cebu.

Later in 1851, at the request of the Bishop of Cebu, the Augustinian Recollect Fathers took over the spiritual care of the Parish and up to the time the diocesan clergy again took over. Then when the Diocese of Jaro was erected in 1865, Tanjay as part of Negros became part of the Diocese (since the whole island was made part of the new Diocese). And then, when the Diocese of Bacolod was erected in 1933, again, Tanjay became part of this new Diocese (since Oriental Negros and Siquijor were made part of the new Diocese). And in 1955, Tanjay became part of the Diocese of Dumaguete. Up to the present, it is still part of the Diocese of Dumaguete.

From the Parish of Tanjay, came later the following parishes: Dumaguete was separated in 1620; Amlan in 1848; Siaton in 1848; Bacong (Marabago) in 1849; San Jose (Ayuquitan) in 1895. And when Dumaguete became a Diocese, again two more parishes were taken from Tanjay: Pamplona in 1960, and Santa Cruz in 1969.

Sinulog de Tanjay

The Sinulog is purely Tanjay tradition. It is a religious devotional festive dance with a mock battle depicting the war between the Moros and the Christians in Granada, Spain in centuries past. It is based on the legend that St. James miraculously aided the Christians by riding on white horse from the heavens and slew hundreds of Moors.

Thus, the Sinulog is a religious exercise glorifying the Christians and honoring the feast day of Señor Santiago who is the patron saint of Tanjay and also of Spain.

The Sinulog was first performed in this town in 1814, under the auspices of the Catholic Church with Fray Fernando Félix de Zúñiga (1814–1816) as Parish Priest. It then became the highlight of every fiesta celebration during the incumbencies of succeeding parish priests from the brothers Fray Pedro Bracamonte (1816–1839; 1843–1847) and Fray Luciano Bracamonte (1839–1842)^[9] to Fr. Jorge Gargacilla (1885–1889). Fray Jorge Adán (1889–1898) dispensed with the Sinulog in 1897 for reasons known only to him, but then his successor Fray Baldomero Villarreal (1898–1929) revived it in 1904 until the end of his term in 1929. There was Sinulog performance for two fiestas during the term of Fray Gregorio Santiagudo as Parish Priest in 1930–1931.

In 1932, through the initiative of group of laymen from Tabúc (now Barrio de San Isidro) and Iláud, the Sinulog was again a part of the Tanjay fiesta celebration through the years until the outbreak of the Second World War in the Pacific in 1941. The war ended in 1945 but the Sinulog came to be resumed only in 1947 and continued to be an annual fiesta spectacle until 1970 when most of the long-time devotee participants were already too old to perform, or had already died.

In the early 1970s, the Sinulog devotion was taken over by a group of elementary school children from Ilaud under Alfred Garcia, a schoolteacher and lone survivor of the old-time Sinulog team. Until the 1987 fiesta, the Sinulog had been a children's affair. Although the children's Sinulog bore the spirit of the Tanjay fiesta celebration, it was evident that they lacked the right expressive moments and authenticity of the former groups which were composed by matured men.

Because of its high historical and cultural value, the Sinulog de Tanjay was featured at the Folk Arts Theater in 1981. Later, in the year 1988, a significant milestone in Tanjay's Sinulog history was attained. In the spirit of love and concern – of cherishing what is really ours, and of keeping and preserving a beautiful Tanjay tradition – then Tanjay mayor Arturo S. Regalado introduced a Sinulog contest as the highlight of that year's fiesta celebration. His purpose was to revive the real Sinulog de Tanjay, and for the different participating groups to recapture the art and skill as well as the logical movements and sequence of the Sinulog in the past. It was the then mayor's aim to let the contesting groups portray the Sinulog dance and mock battle with the right grace and ability, the right logical sequence of movements, and the ability to elicit the air and spirit of festivity. Above all, he also wanted the contestants to re-live the authenticity of the Sinulog that Tanjay used to witness in the past which our forefathers proudly termed as the "Sinulog de Tanjay", the original Sinulog.

There was a short period during the tenure of the then mayor Baltazar T. Salma that the name Sinulog de Tanjay was changed to Saulog de Tanjay for reasons that they say it connoted the Sinulog de Cebu and thus had it changed to Saulog de Tanjay. After some time, the original name was preserved to reinstate the original Sinulog de Tanjay.

Choreographed street dancing with a finale is incorporated with the mock battle to make for a more artistic and colorful Sinulog. Also present is a Sinulog Merry-Making Contest in the evening of July 23. The Sinulog de Tanjay finale on July 24 is immediately followed by an endurance contest.