In 1610, Tanauan on the eastern coast of Leyte was founded by the Jesuits. In 1687, according to Putong, the Jesuits suggested that a church be built in the place. A Chinese migrant from Luzon, Juanillo Siengco who had arrived in Tanauan in 1661, built a church of wood and stone.

In 1704, the present Tanauan church was completed. When the Franciscans took charge of the place they found a solidly built church with a defensive wall surrounding it and a bulwark at every corner.

In 1768, Tanauan was ceded to the Augustinians then in 1843, it was transferred to the Franciscans.

In 1846, The Franciscan Fray Salustiano Bus began to minister, though intermittently, in the place.

In 1847, only now did the Franciscan Fray Francisco de Paula Marquez take permanent charge of the place. Marquez lengthened the church nave, so that the church measured 228 ft. in length and 22 ft. in width. To disguise the ungainly proportions of the church he added a chapel at the gospel side, 42 by 42 ft. in dimension. In 1850, he repaired the convento and its roof.

In 1860, The church may have been further repaired by the addition of a transept. A memorial marker is found on the transept wall with this date.

In 1884, Huerta asserts that the walls were already in disrepair.

Heritage sites: The church fabric as repaired by Marquez has been greatly altered by 20th-century renovations. The convento is now a school. Some fortification walls still stand behind the church. But the church has a new façade and bell tower. The interior has been repainted and the old retablos replaced by new ones. The Stations of the Cross and the image of Our Lady of the Assumption, the patroness, may be old; the statue probably 18th century.