A glimpse into Iloilo City’s colorful past

By: Herber Vego

ILOILO City braces for the celebration of its 74th Charter Day on Thursday, August 25,

2011. The date has historical undertone. It was on that date in 1937 when Iloilo was inaugurated as a charter city through Commonwealth Act 158. By then, it was already popular as the “Queen City of the South.”

 

 

The City of Iloilo, the capital of Iloilo province and the regional center of Western Visayas, has evolved out of a colonial past, dating back to the Spanish colonial period when it was a small and incoherent grouping of fishermen’s hamlets along the Iloilo River in the 1800s.

Sometime in the second half of that century when the city had become the second most important port of call in the colony, it was given the honorific title of “La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad” (The Most Loyal and Noble City) by the Queen Regent of Spain.

Iloilo City earned the nickname Queen City of the South at the turn of the 20th century, having become second to the primate city of Manila. Calle Real (now known as J. M. Basa Street) was the economic hub selling luxury products from all over the world.

According to local historian Rex Salvilla, even before the Spanish colonizers came, Iloilo had a flourishing economy. There were already three Malay ports catering to visiting Chinese merchants in Ogtong (Oton), Tabucan (Molo) and Salog (Jaro).

The surviving porcelain jars, plates and jars brought by those Chinese merchants are among the exhibits still viewable at Museo Iloilo today.

Lore has it that in the 13th century, ten Bornean datus came to the island of Panay and gave a gold salakot, golden batya, and a long golden necklace as peace offerings to the Ati natives. One of the datus, Paiburong, was given the territory of Irong-Irong – original name of Iloilo, referring to both city and province.

While the Spanish conquest of the Philippines was underway in the 16th century, Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi personally came to Iloilo to personally establish a settlement in Ogtong (now the neighboring town of Oton).

Because of the economic boom, Moro pirates, Dutch and English invaders made raids which prompted Spanish authorities to set up defense fortresses. One of them is Fort San Pedro at the mouth of Iloilo River, ruins of which are still visible today.

It was because of Fort San Pedro – with 50 guns and three mortars blazing – that the Spanish government in Iloilo initially repelled the invading Americans in 1899. Eventually, however, a reinforcement of American marines proved too much for the Spanish soldiers.

In the late 18th century, the development of large-scale weaving industry started the movement of Iloilo’s surge in trade and economy in the Visayas. Sinamay, piña and jusi were among the products exported to Manila and other foreign places.

The opening of Iloilo City’s Muelle Loney port in 1855 triggered the boom of the sugar export industry with the active participation of Nicholas Loney, then British vice-consul in Iloilo who constructed warehouses in the port and introduced new technologies in sugar farming.

It was the resulting economic success of Iloilo that prompted the Queen Regent of Spain to honor it with the title “La muy leal y noble ciudad de Iloilo” in 1890, thus formally establishing the city government.

The short visit of Dr. Jose Rizal to Iloilo in 1894 inspired patriotic Ilonggos to fight for Philippine independence. Following the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in Manila, they resisted the move of the Spanish colonial government to move their seat of power to Iloilo in 1898.

On Christmas Day, December 25, 1898, the Spanish government surrendered to the Ilonggo revolutionaries in Plaza Alfonso XII (Plaza Libertad today). The celebration was short-lived, however, because of the arrival of the American forces in Iloilo in the same week. Resistance was the reaction of Ilonggos to the invasion.

The American occupation led to the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth, with Manuel Luis Quezon as President.

Commonwealth Act 158 incorporated the towns of Molo, Arevalo, Jaro, Mandurriao and Lapaz into Iloilo City. The said towns and the Iloilo City Proper now comprise the city’s geographical districts, together with Lapuz. (Formerly part of La Paz, Lapuz was declared a separate district only in 2008. The city today has a total land area of 70.3 square kilometers and is divided into 180 barangays with combined population of half a million people.)

During World War II in 1942, the Japanese invaded Panay and the economy moved into a standstill.

By the end of the war, Iloilo’s economy, life and infrastructure were damaged. The continuing conflict between the labor unions in the port area, declining sugar economy, deteriorating peace and order situation in the countryside and the exodus of Ilonggos to other cities and islands that offered better opportunities led to Iloilo’s demise in economic importance.

Having bumped off Iloilo as the commercial center of Visayas, Cebu City snatched the title “Queen City of the South.”

Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog begs to disagree, however, with Cebu’s claim, since the title is of historical significance to Iloilo City alone.

 

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