Constructed in 1799, it is "home" to the predominantly Catholic Lapogueños.  This is where scores of Lapogueños were held hostage by the Japanese forces during WW II.  The Japanese soldiers, led by their commanding officer Capt. Ishi, positioned a machine gun at the main door.  They threatened to kill all prisoners if nobody would volunteer and tell where one of their comrades, Tomoyuki San, believed to have been killed by guerillas, was buried. CONSTANTE VARILLA CASTRO, who was only 18 years old, bravely stood up and accompanied the enemy soldiers to the shallow grave.  Hundreds of Lapogueños were spared from the massacre threat.  The irony of it, valiant Castro was executed by a guerilla in Corrooy, Sabangan according to one living witness.  For attempting to intercede and prevent the detention of the Lapogueños, parish priest Fr. Cipriano Sipin was insulted and mauled by collaborator Taclay. 

More info:
The Catholic Church's contribution to San Juan

The Catholic Rectory (Convento)

The convent was constructed together with the church in 1799.  It was ravaged by bombings during WW II and later reconstructed by Rev. Fr. Cosme Fang in 1954.  In the same year, Fr. Fang allowed the 27th BCT to use the ground floor.  It was a refuge for Lapogueños during the Rafanan scare.  Fr. Fang established a kindergarten in the ground floor in 1952-1953 with Ms. Josefa Peneyra as teacher.  It housed the Sunday school called "asistencia" in the mid '50s.  It was refurbished in the late 1990s and it is now home to the K of C Learning Center (a preschool run by the Knights of Columbus) and the Museo de San Juan Bautista. 

Lapog Bay

Lapog Bay is the stretch of sea that extends from San Isidro to Dardarat, San Juan, Ilocos Sur. Saoang, being a part of Lapog Bay had its share of the 34 Japanese warships that anchored at the Bay.  The late Msgr. Dionisio Valdez who was a guerilla chaplain during the war said his unit called US Navy bombers on October 16-17 but they didn't come.  Most of the warships left the Bay on October 17.  Bombers came morning of October 18, 1944 and bombed the four remaining warships - off   Saoang, off Sabangan, off Camindoroan and the Japanese landing barges at Solotsolot beach.  Warships near the Saoang proper was a big armed transport, too big it even had a Japanese Navy Band on board, according to the late Barangay Secretary Daniel Viloria.  The bombing sorties took hours and virtually set ablaze the whole Bay; the burning ships and the burning oil floating on the bay made it a veritable inferno which burned overnight, according to eye witness Ignacia Viloria who was celebrating her birthday on the day the bombs rained from the sky.   The next few days, corpses of fallen Japanese navy and army men floated and were washed ashore by  waves.  Dr. Ernesto A. Villa said, "I was one of those who volunteered to bury those Japanese casualties." 

More info:
Japanese Occupation, 1942-1944
War Memoirs
The ordeal of a boloman

South Central School

The oldest school in San Juan ("Gabaldon"), it was built during the early part of the American colonial administration in RP.  Both the South Central and North Central schools were used by Japanese soldiers in World War II as garrisons. 

Belfry

The belfry (pagkampanaan), which was constructed together with the church, houses the bells that announced the birth, wedding and death of most Lapogueños. "At its (smallpox epidemic, 1918-1919) height", survivors recall "the bells tolled mournfully almost daily" announcing the death of victims.  Because of its good view of Lapog Bay, the old belfry served as a watchtower for approaching enemy ships. Worn out after withstanding earthquakes and typhoons for almost two centuries, the belfry crashed down sometime in 1994.  It was reconstructed in 1998 and the Jubilee Cross was installed on top sometime in 2000.