A watchtower in Malabuyoc.

A series of watchtowers were built along the southeastern coast of Cebu between the 18th and 19th-centuries to serve as lookouts for impending Moro slave raids. Of all these watchtowers, around two dozen were built by the Augustinian priest Father Julian Bermejo according to the Jesuit historian Father Rene Javellana.

A number of these watchtowers still exist, most of which are rundown and badly in needing of restoration.

A watchtower at the back of Nueva Caceres Church.

Boljoon’s Baluarte sa Fuente, located near the mouth of a river.

An 18th-century watchtower across Dalaguete church (left) and another watchtower at Obong, Dalaguete (center). Santander’s watchtower (right) at the back of the church stands on a promontory that provides a breathtaking view of Siquijor and Negros.

A bulwark (left) at the fortress-church complex of Boljoon and a watchtower (right) at the top of Ili in Boljoon.

Watchtowers in Oslob (left, center). Just two kilometers south of the poblacion is a walled settlement that features watchtowers and bulwarks (right).