The San Juan Bautista Parish Church (Spanish:
Iglesia Parroquial de San Juan Bautista), commonly
referred to as Jimenez Church, is a late-19th century,
Baroque church located at Brgy. Poblacion, Jimenez,
Misamis Occidental, Philippines. The parish church,
under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist, is
under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Ozamiz. The church was declared a
National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines in 2001.
The town of Jimenez was originally established by the
Augustinian Recollects in 1829 and with Our Lady of
the Most Holy Rosary as its patron saint. Due to
constant flooding, the old town and the church were
abandoned and a new pueblo was erected. The present
church, built mostly from hewn coral stone, was
erected in the 19th century on a site previously settled
by the Subanons, a local tribe. The erection of the
church structure is attributed to Father Roque Azcona
The Cotta of Ozamiz
The Cotta Fort was built by Father Jose Ducos in 1756
to serve as a Spanish outpost in the land. It was
renovated and restored to its original design in 2002
under the leadership of Mayor Reynaldo O. Parojinog,
Sr. and Vice Mayor Carlos Patricio C. Bernad. This is
one of the many reasons why tourists go to Ozamiz,
Philippines. It is the first to attract passengers from
incoming vessels to the Ozamiz City Port as it is
already visible miles away. The first thing one will
notice is the lighthouse protruded above the walls of
the Cotta Fort.
Known as the “El Fuerte de la Concepcion y Del between the years 1862 to 1863. The church was
Triunfo” in Spanish, the Cotta Fort is a stone fort built believed to have been completed in the late 1880s.
along the shores of Panguil Bay which is now the Port
of Ozamiz. The Cotta Fort has been used as a The church is predominantly Baroque in architecture
constabulary house ever since it was built. It was with features
strategically situated near the Panguil Bay which was reminiscent of the
named as the “never ending source of Muslim pirates”. Renaissance style. The
This enables the constabulary to avoid sudden church façade, contrary
onslaught and attack the Moro pirates from the to other Roman
barracks. The Cotta Fort also serves as the shelter for Catholic churches of
the ships of the Spanish Fleet during that time. the same era, is devoid
of a pediment. It
The Cotta Fort stands as one of the oldest structures features a portico with
in the City. It is the witness of the many events that three semicircular
happened to Ozamiz. The two most noted occasions arched entrances lined
where it has seen combat was during the Spanish era on top with a parapet.
fighting against the Muslim pirates and during the last The rectangular mass of
day of the Japanese occupation in 1945. the portico is crowned
by three pedimented
saints’ niches. Behind
the façade is the nave
wall with its simple,
gabled roof and
windows. To the left of
the church stands the rectangular, three-tiered bell
tower topped with finials, a domed roof and a lantern.
The clock mechanism are still intact.

The interiors of the church is reportedly one of the best

preserved interior of a Roman Catholic church in
Mindanao. It features a painting done in 1898 and
portions made of tabique pampango, a local version of
a dry wall using panels of interwoven slats or branches
and covered with lime.