History
 The town of Sariaya had its
simple beginning almost four hundred years ago in a place near the
sea, what is now called the Barangay of Castañas. The first
inhabitants of the place where the hardy and brown fishermen and who
upon the arrival of the Franciscan Friars were the first converts.
With the help of the early inhabitants, who are mostly fishermen,
the Franciscan Missionaries were able to build a church, entrusted
under the patronage of St. Francis of Assisi. Because the fishing
village was often attacked by the Moros, the people moved northward
of Castañas and settled in this place. About three kilometres from
this second site, the people once again settled in another place
which at present bear the name known as Barangay Tumbaga,also known
as Lumang Bayan. A church and convent were erected at Tumbaga as a
proof of their religious interest and filial regard to their
spiritual mentors, the Franciscan friars. A devout Spaniards was
able to secure an image of Christ Crucified from Burgos, Spain and
brought it forth to the church at Tumbaga.
The inhabitants celebrated at the
arrival of the Image and since the next is the feast of Exaltation
of the Cross, the people celebrated a feast in honor of the Image.
Years passed and the Moros again and again attacked the town. In one
of their raids, they mercilessly burned the houses including the
church and convent and held the inhabitants as captive. They took
down the Holy Image of Christ Crucified and carried it to the
church’s patio and piled dry leaves and branches over it, then set
out their daring profanity by burning the image. In the meantime,
the inhabitants fled to the mountain. After some days, when the
Moros had deserted the town, a certain Señora Recamadora went to the
church site and saw among the ashes the Holy Image of Christ
Crucified intact without the least scratch and sign of being
charred. She started spreading the news and committed to the people
that it is a great miracle. In the course of its history, the town
was often visited not only by Moro attacks but even calamities and
disasters - they have the eruption of Mt. Banahaw, the earthquake of
1753, the pestilence and epidemic both for people and their working
animals and the number of fire incidence that hit the place, the
people once again decided to move northward carrying with them
miraculous image, believing that the image is delivering them from
the different pestilence and calamities. Words of the great
ancestors has a tale that on the inhabitants’ way to find another
settlement, they rested under a tree and laid down the Image of
Christ as they were already tired. Much to their astonishment, when
they were already lifting the image, they could no longer do so as
it is already very heavy.
They finally decided to erect a
church on the same spot where they laid down the image believing
that it is God’s Will. This spot is the present location of the
existing Catholic church and being very religious people, the
inhabitants finally made their settlements near the church in the
present place of the poblacion. The town was originally named “SADYAYA”,
was later pronounced “SARYAYA” and now spelled “SARIAYA” (in foreign
language). Legends have it that it was named after an illiterate
woman named “Saria”, who inquired by the first Spanish conquerors as
to the name of the place, not understanding the question, the woman
gave her name instead. From that time on, the word “YA” was affixed
to her name calling the place Sariaya.
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