During this New Year of 2023, I had the chance to visit the San Sebastian Church in Pasig. Its story dates back to January 20, 1572, when the Augustinian friars led by Fr. Alonzo de Alvarado, together with encomendero Juan de la Isla, arrived through the riverside to an ancient barrio that would later become the foundation of Pasig. On the very day of their arrival, they celebrated the first Mass in honor of San Sebastian, adopting him as the town’s patron saint. From then on, the place came to be known as “San Sebastian de Pasig”.

However, after about a year, Fr. de Alvarado and the Augustinians realized that the original settlement along the river was prone to flooding, especially during the rainy season. This led them to move the town center to Malinao, which eventually became the site of the present-day Immaculate Conception Cathedral. The old site, meanwhile, began to be known as Pinagbuhatan—a name that aptly means “the place of origin” or “where it all began.” The chapel left behind in Pinagbuhatan remained as one of the visitas or mission stations of the main parish, preserving the spiritual memory of where Pasig’s faith first took root.

From that humble riverside chapel, a larger and more permanent church would eventually rise in Pinagbuhatan. Centuries later, this renewed house of worship was inaugurated on May 6, 1990, by Jaime Cardinal Sin, then Archbishop of Manila. Soon after, on May 31, 1990, a decree officially created San Sebastian Church as a parish under the Diocese of Pasig.