After every bountiful harvest, the people gathered around the “Banayoyo” tree and offered their thanksgiving in a festivity called “Kaniaw”, the rituals lasting for three days.During World War II, Banayoyo was once the seat of ongoing local Philippine Commonwealth Military and Ilocano Guerilla Resistance Outfit, under the command of Army Major Walter M. Cushing, a fearless American fighter.The closeness of the residents to the Guerilla Outfit by way of provisions and financial assistance irked the Japanese Imperial Army, who were then garrisoned at an old Sugar Central in nearby Bucong, a barrio of Candon.Barangay Elefante, which was the bivouac area of the elements of the “M” Company, 121st Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP NL, suffered the worst atrocities.Municipalities abutting the town area are: on the east by Lidlidda; on the south by Candon; on the west by Santiago; and on the north by Burgos.But with the coming of the Westerners who brought with them modern technologies, the farmers of Banayoyo have already adopted semi-mechanized methods of farming like the use of tractors, threshers, commercial fertilizers, etc.