Our Lady of the Pillar  The Blessed Mother, in her title,
Nuestra Señora del Pilar, is the patroness of Cagutongan, Pilar,
now San Isidro, Abra. The statue of Apo Pilar was brought by the
Augustinian Missionaries assigned in Villavieja. It is uncertain
as to when and where it came from but it is presumed that it was
brought here from Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur around 1885 because it
was in 1885 when the municipality of Pilar was founded, situated
across the Sinalang River at the western side of Lumaba. It was
named Pilar in honor of the patroness. Sometimes, people called
it “Naguilian.” (The present municipality of Pilar was formerly
called Villavieja. In 1903, the two municipalities -  Villavieja
and Pilar - were converged and called Villa-Pilar. As years
passed by, it came to be called Pilar.) In the middle of 1889,
when the American soldiers arrived in the municipality of Pilar
(Naguilian), they made the church as their quarters. They
removed the statue of  “Apo Pilar” from the sanctuary and tied
it unto a ho