Just across from the grand Immaculate Conception Cathedral, sits Plaza Cuartel, which used to be a military fort back in the Spanish days. Later, it was used by American and Filipino soldiers, until the Japanese took over during World War II.

In December 1944, something tragic happened in Plaza Cuartel. More than a hundred American prisoners of war were locked in an underground tunnel inside the fort. The Japanese soldiers poured gasoline into the area and set it on fire. Only eleven men managed to escape by jumping into the sea and swimming all the way to Iwahig.