Standing on a cliff overlooking the Mactan channel is a watchtower or Bantayan sa Hari built during the Spanish era.

A most valuable link to Liloan’s history, this structure in Barangay Calero has been, interestingly, mistakenly identified as an old lighthouse.

It stands next to Liloan’s famous landmark, the over a century-old lighthouse built by the Americans.

The Liloan watchtower may be a part of the string of watchtowers built on Cebu’s northeastern coasts in the 19th century, when Moro raiders concentrated their attacks on Cebu’s north. The Moro raiders turned their attention to the north after the southern Cebu towns’ effective defense of their territories. The raiders not only divested local residents of goods, people were also snatched for slavery.

Historical records show that sometime in 1825, Mandaue residents sighted Moro pirates on the coasts of Liloan. In the early part of the 17th century, Moros pillaged Liloan, sending residents fleeing for safety to Danao.

Each town was asked to build the fortification as a first line of defense from the Moro pirates. The watchtowers then dotted the northeastern coast in the past--- from what is now Mandaue City all the way to Daanbantayan.

Made of local stone, the watchtower was essential in guarding the local communities.

Located just a few meters from the popular and proud lighthouse and with bushes growing tall around it, the old watchtower may today be looking like a forlorn foreground to a backdrop of blue sea and skies.

But the local administration is racing with time to protect this precious legacy of the past and reawaken this generation to the role this relic had played in protecting the inhabitants of Liloan.