When the Cimarrones of Mount Isarog approached Caceres Bishop Gonzales to ask for a chapel suited to their spiritual needs, far from their thoughts was the idea that someday their tribal devotion would become regional.

The Cimarrones had accepted the doctrine of Christianity – but not the government the conquistadores brought with them. The Cimarrones would not have any of the tax system and the titling of lands by the Castila. With better weapons and military training, the Spaniards had their way in almost everything, in pushing their weight around but not extensively enough, else they would be spreading their strength so thinly they would be very vulnerable to any attack at any point along their spread. The farther away they are from their municipio, the weaker is their defense.

The Cimarrones had taken notice of this. Thus, the petition of the Cimarrones for a chapel was so calculated that they suggested the site from where they could easily take a refuge, if pursued, to the forest of Isarog, but not so near the municipio where the guardias had a concentration of forces. The most suitable site for the chapel would be somewhere near the banks of the Naga River, some two kilometers away from the ciudad de Caceres. [1][2][3][4][5]