Pamplona is named after the province of Spain bearing the same name because most of the Spaniards who first came to this town were natives of that Spanish province.   This was around the fourth quarter of the eighteenth century.   When the Spaniards landed in Pasacao, they established their community in barrio called Quitang and later on spread to the nearby town of Pamplona whose early settlers used to live in the barrio of Patong along the banks of the Bikol River.   Flood and scarcity of food forced these early settlers to transfer to a better site which they called Pinagtorilan.   It is in this place where they, together with the Spaniards, started to build a community which is now the present town and Parish of Pamplona.

     Before Pamplona became an independent parish, the spiritual needs of her people were administered by the Missionaries stationed in Milaor.   In 1885, it was canonically erected as a parish under the patronage of Saint Michael the Archangel by virtue of a decree issued by His Excellency, Most Rev. Casimiro Herrero, OSA., Bishop of Nueva Caceres.

     The original church was burned by fire.   The present church was constructed by Very Rev. Jesus Esplana, erstwhile parish priest of Pamplona.