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[James C]

PRIDE OF PLACE
Layers of Ilonggo reality


By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer
Last updated 00:53am (Mla time) 11/26/2007


MANILA, Philippines - The book, “Iloilo, a rich and Noble Land,” launched last week by the Lopez Group Foundation, uncovers the province’s agricultural, civic and social history that interweave to form the multi-layered Ilonggo reality that gives the province and its people such a strong identity.

Ask any Filipino and he will tell you that Iloilo is unlike any other place in the country. She is one of the few places in the Philippines with an identity and image distinct from that of any other province.

Filipinos know Iloilo as the gentle, genteel land of smiles, imagining Iloilo days as unfolding graciously and moving in measured choreography of the rigodón, the outdated, stylized dance ritual highlighting each glittering baile (ball) in moneyed mansions.

Fiesta mode is what Filipinos imagine Iloilo life to be most of the time: laid-back, peaceful, refined and always celebratory.

Another layer of Ilonggo reality overlaps the celebratory layer. Hard-working Ilonggos are vigorously entrepreneuria l.

In Iloilo, the moneyed and working classes join in business activities that uphold the province as a vital national economic force, a position first attained with the surge of the sugar industry during the later years of the Spanish colonial era.

The Manila Daily Bulletin reported in September 1907 that the City of Iloilo was “the metropolis of the Visayan Islands, [the] second city of importance in the archipelago and the greatest market for sugar in this part of the world.”

Sugar put Iloilo on the map. In the 1850s, Nicholas Loney, a British merchant, settled there and “fostered the opening up of the sugar lands of Panay and Negros.” Loney introduced new technology, improved yield, and improved the quality of Iloilo sugar to world-market standards.

Unrivaled

For many years Iloilo prosperity was unrivaled, reaching a peak when the irritating delay and occasional damage to cargo caused by transshipment of sugar through the Port of Manila was finally bypassed, and from 1865 produce was exported directly to international points from Iloilo.

“The condition of business in Iloilo largely depends on the size of the sugar crop and the price of the staple,” further reported the Manila Daily Bulletin in 1907. When the sugar trade boomed, so did Iloilo. Now known as the Queen City of the South, roads and infrastructure were laid out, hospitals and schools opened.

In 1907, Iloilo was no backwater. “Iloilo has an electric-light plant and the city is well-lighted. There is also an ice factory and cold-storage plant. Among the possibilities of the near future are an up-to-date telephone system and streetcar line connecting all parts of the city.

One institution Iloilo can boast of, that might well be copied in other parts of the archipelago, [is] an up-to-date department store, Hoskyns & Company, a British firm, was established in 1868. In their large store on Calle Real can be found a complete stock of goods at prices, for the most part, far below Manila prices.”

Iloilo prosperity was on the rise and the grand planter lifestyle had to be lived in worthy surroundings. Mansions were witness to the opulent moneyed lifestyle that has now all but died out due to 21st-century economic and social realities.

Mansions built on generous plots of land in quiet pre-World War II outskirts were swallowed up without warning by rapid, unregulated urban growth. Now finding themselves situated on valuable city center properties, mansion owners have been forced to reevaluate their properties and lifestyles.

Some downsized to smaller houses, renting out their mansions to commercial tenants. Others built rental buildings on their front lawns to generate additional income, hiding their mansions behind a layer of nondescript commercial structures built right along the street, changing the streetscape forever.

A few simply abandoned their mansions. The postwar years saw many of the moneyed Ilonggos moving out of their downtown mansions into smaller houses.

Mobility, dignity

Today’s middle- and working-class homes, smaller and more modest, reflect lifestyle conditions of a majority of Iloilo City residents. Instead of projecting stability and gentility as the old mansions once did, the aura of the middle-class neighborhood is mobility, dignity, work and a strong sense of community.

Unlike the genteel streets of the moneyed class where nobody is seen outside of their fenced gardens, streets in middle- and working-class districts fill with everyday life. Residents live their lives on the street.

The local barangay hall spills out into the street, bringing governance to the people level, as it were. The street is where men hang out, drink or play basketball tournaments. The street is a social center, where the overflow of guests at a neighborhood christening, wedding or funeral is seated.

On the other hand, the rural landscape, dotted with bahay-kubo clustered in barrios and agricultural land, tells another story. To Filipinos, the bahay-kubo are generic, and the Ilonggo house is no exception. But the high level of outstanding bamboo craftsmanship sets the humble Ilonggo kubo far above the typical and generic.

For many generations, Ilonggo craftsmen embroider not with needle and thread but with bamboo. Their bamboo work achieves a play of texture by mixing peeled and unpeeled strips or combining dyed and natural-colored strips handwoven into repeating diamond patterns for the “lowly” sawali matting.

Bamboo sections are scored, flattened and framed for wall panels. They are cut into slats for above-the-ground flooring and stripped into ribbons thin enough for weaving. Absolutely amazing are bamboo slat patterns, grilles of most delicately plaited bamboo lacework executed in fine, hand-embroidery quality.

Ilonggo architectural bamboo craftsmanship, totally unknown and unappreciated, is naïf Ilonggo folk art at its finest.

Iloilo bamboo houses, solid but fragile, enclosed but transparent, embody the observation that the Philippine bahay-kubo is in essence a “basket for living.”

Romantic view

There exists a romantic view of downtown Iloilo remaining in a time warp, woven around blocks of superlative, intact 1920s-’40s commercial structures, heritage that gives Iloilo one of the most elegant business areas in the country.

What a graceful, outstanding heritage ensemble, it is probably the best, most extensive remaining collection of heritage commercial buildings in the country.

Buildings of the same height, size and of similar design line streets, a rare but vanishing example of urban unity of architectural scale and style in the Philippines. Building layouts are similar—shophouse-type, two-story rental spaces connected by an arcaded sidewalk.

The style of embellishment indicates the date of construction. Structures from the 1920s are decorated in the feminine, lacy Iloilo wedding-cake style.

The next generation of buildings designed in Art Deco geometry of the 1930s is followed by a post-World War II generation of structures in the robust, no-nonsense 1950s International Style.

Not all downtown buildings in Iloilo are of heritage quality. New shopping destinations coexist with the traditional stores that have always been in the city center, heightening the commercial counterplay between old and new.

An architectural “read” reveals the Iloilo story. A walk through Iloilo today reveals so much more to the city behind the scenes.

Behind a generic-looking commercial building may stand a grand old mansion. Step back (if Iloilo traffic won’t run you over) to discover that a covered sidewalk is part of a sagging heritage commercial building, a redoubtable dowager whose better days can once again be relived after a simple nip-and-tuck operation.

Heritage surprises

To really know Iloilo today, one must look beyond the overlapping layers of decay, congestion, chaotic architecture and pockets of wealth existing almost side by side with pockets of poverty. Peel back the multiple layers of architecture, bad architectural facelifts and urban blight for the surprise of your life.

Layer after forgotten layer of the Iloilo story comes to view. Uncover revealing evidence about the city and what her people were like, culturally, socially and economically during key epochs of Iloilo city’s rich history.

Walk the downtown area to the point of sensory overload. Suddenly come to the old, majestic Customs House by the Iloilo River, a monument to the former Queen City of the South.

Around the corner, step farther back to a vanishing era. Find a Spanish colonial-era warehouse where young women still twine abaca strands by hand into rope as they have done for centuries.

Iloilo is at a cusp. The city has to deal with the ill effects of progress, traffic, congestion, uncontrolled development, urban sprawl from the conversion of neighboring agricultural land into middle-class subdivisions.

The age of super modernization has set in. Iloilo now boasts of a mix of heritage architecture; modern buildings; up-to-date malls; new inner city and suburban land developments; and, at long last, a brand-new state-of-art airport in neighboring Canatuan.

Iloilo is alive. Nothing is dormant about her. History and heritage anchor her. They give her an image so singular and unique that no other place in the country has. Her economy provides income-generating activities for anybody in search of it.

Iloilo’s layered existence embraces everyone, old or young, moneyed or working class, educated or uneducated. She democratically offers something for everyone.

For inquiries on the book, “Iloilo, A Rich and Noble Land,” call 4545192 or 4545195. E-mail the author at pride.place@gmail.com

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/...icle_id=103069

[James C]

Iloilo: the new haven for investments

Message of Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas First Iloilo Investment Forum Sarabia Manor Hotel November 27, 2007 9:00 AM

The conduct today of the first Iloilo Investment Forum should serve as a strong signal to the rest of the world that we are ready to become the new investment haven of Asia.

Over the past few years, we had been strengthening our position as a tourist destination, as an investment oasis and as the best place in the Philippines in which to live, to work, to invest and to grow. We are centrally located, easily accessible by land, air and sea, and we possess the required amenities, skilled manpower and conveniences to become an investment site of choice for the world’s industries.
Everyone’s goal in this room is to establish Iloilo as an investment haven for the world’s industries. In a few minutes, some of our eminent leaders in business and tourism will be sharing with us their findings and current thinking regarding the fulfillment of this goal.

And all of us here today because we care about the future of Iloilo. We care not only about what we have, but what could be. We care not only about what we have achieved, but how much more is possible.

I do not think there is any doubt about what we mean when we say we want Iloilo to be a better place for business and for industry. We all want an Iloilo with greater economic security, healthier citizens and more vibrant communities. We want Iloilo to be the home of choice for enterprising individuals and for successful enterprises. We want to show the rest of the country and the world what even a small place can achieve if its citizens and their leaders are unified in the quest to accomplish objectives big and small.

And I daresay we could accomplish much and become a new investment haven in Asia if we remain united in purpose. Today’s forum must reach to the core of who we are as Ilonggos, and then deal quickly with how best to achieve this monumental goal. We have to talk honestly about our weaknesses as well as our strengths.

For instance, we need to address our weaknesses in the power sector. It would be the height of foolishness aspiring to become an investment haven in Asia if we can’t provide adequate power supply to the industries we’re trying to woo. In addressing both strengths and weaknesses, we don’t have to talk about what policies are most popular, but what strategies are most likely to work.

And then we have to get moving and turn words into action.

Ladies and gentlemen, the last six years have seen us create an environment that is conducive to the attraction of investments to Iloilo. We have partnered with the business community and with agencies and organizations to strengthen this environment, and we have retained our fair share of the best people for the vibrant sectors of our economy.

What we have done is to act purposefully and aggressively to ensure that negative policies or attitudes are not a significant factor and that positive policies and attitudes make Iloilo a compelling place to invest.

Ladies and gentlemen, if we want Iloilo to be an economic leader, we cannot succeed only by following others to where they have been. We have to learn from others but then we have to do better. As a small geographical unit within a competitive country, we are the ones who must try harder, who must anticipate rather than react, who must create change rather than adapt to it.

What I’m saying is that the objective of turning Iloilo into an investment haven for the world’s industries and building on that foundation is one that requires the talent and commitment of all Ilonggos, regardless of socio-economic standing and political affiliations. I am confident that this one-day forum will also enable us to develop the strategies and approaches needed to translate our collective goal into reality.

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that today offers a remarkable and unique opportunity for a free-wheeling and honest discussion of significant matters-matters crucial to catapulting Iloilo as the new haven for investments in Asia.

With all of us working towards this end, there is no reason why we must fail.

[James C]

Unity for a progressive Iloilo


(Message of Iloilo Governor Niel D. Tupas Sr. during the Investment Forum on November 27, 2007 at Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center, Iloilo City)

Mayor Jerry Treñas, Mr. Oscar Lopez, Dr. Alfonso Uy, Mr. Rex Drilon II, Atty. Lilia B. De Lima, distinguished speakers and guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It has been quite a long time where notable and prominent Ilonggos, and businessmen from Manila and Iloilo, local politicians both from the city and province, our friends from local and international institutions, the media, have gathered in this momentous occasions for one important purpose the Iloilo Investment Forum.

I understand that there has been a lot occasions in the past to gather in one forum all responsible and patriotic Ilonggos for the same purpose. Those initiatives were started with the support of the Iloilo City and the Iloilo Provincial government but waned down in the later part of its existence. Each organized group went on with their own way as if things are alright in Iloilo.

For several concerned and patriotic Ilonggos, things are not alright. These are equally the sentiments of the Iloilo City government under the leadership of Mayor Jerry Treñas, and Governor Niel Tupas.

The City Government, Provincial Government, the Department of Trade and Industry with several local business groups started to have local initiatives to push Iloilo back into the map of business and investments. The same parallel efforts were made by our Manila based business friends.

This led to the organization of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation (ILEDF) chaired by a prominent Ilonggo Businessman Alfonso Uy with Mr. Rex Drilon II as President. The City Government is represented by Mayor Jerry Treñas and the Provincial Government by your Governor Niel D. Tupas. The ILED is also composed of the heads of business organizations in Iloilo.

As things are going, I see that Iloilo would be in good hands in the field of investment promotions under ILED and tutelage of Mr. Alfonso Uy and Mr. Rex Drilon.

The Provincial Government is behind all the efforts of ILED and other business groups.

For the Province of Iloilo, let me state clearly our distinct roles and responsibiliti es in this endeavor.

Firstly, the Province would continue to work closely with the business sector, the city government, and other government institutions through ILED. The province firmly stands on the belief that the business sector is the engine of economic growth thus could create more jobs for the

Ilonggos. We have been doing this with ILED and we will continue to do so.

Secondly, the provincial government would provide a better policy environment by enacting an investment ordinance that is responsive to your requirements and in line with the development thrusts and directions of the Iloilo Provincial Government. With this initiative, I would be closely working with the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for this purpose.

Thirdly, as an important element, the provincial government would work very hard to maintain peace and order by closely working with the police, military and the city government so that the businesses would be secured and safe. This has been my priority agenda since I started my incumbency.

Fourthly, as our local budget may provide, continue to put in place infrastructure facilities such as farm to market roads, small irrigation projects and other barangay infrastructure and structures.

On top of this commitment, the provincial government would continue to provide the basic social services and facilities that the province is mandated to deliver.

Enhance food production, provide health services primarily to our poor constituencies, improve nutrition of our marginalized children, improve basic education through provision of the needed school infrastructure and the competencies of our teachers in coordination with the Department of Education, enhance our environment through the protection of our watersheds, provide the much needed welfare services particularly to our marginalized constituents like children, women, out-of school youths, and disabled persons.

All these we commit to deliver for our people in the Province of Iloilo.

As we all gather today in this very important occasion and show our oneness as ILONGGOS, as your GOVERNOR of the Province of Iloilo I see a prosperous, united, and dynamic ILOILO.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH … MADAMU GID NGA SALAMAT KAG MAAYONG AGA!

source: The Guardian ILOILO


Think Iloilo, Make it Iloilo


(Welcome remarks of Dr. Alfonso Uy, chairman, Iloilo Economic Development Foundation, Inc., at the Iloilo Investment Forum, Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center, 27 November 2007. )

The honorable Mayor Jerry Treñas the honorable Governor Niel Tupas, the honorable Senator Franklin Drilon, the Honorable Congressman Raul Gonzales Jr., Chairman Oscar Lopez of the Lopez group of companies, Peza Director General Atty. Lilia De Lima, President John Tan of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry business leaders, members of the Academe, government officials, civil society, non-government organization, distinguished speakers, fellow Ilonggos, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

In behalf of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation, allow me to welcome you to the Iloilo Investment forum. You have shown your love for the city and province of Iloilo and we are indeed inspired by your presence.

The forum is intended to present to you investment potentials and opportunities. Iloilo has many things to offer. We have fertile agricultural areas, the long shorelines and fishing ground, the new airport, the natural harbor and ports, excellent transport and communication infrastructure s, close proximity to other markets, rich cultural heritage and tourist attractions, hospitals and residential developments. We are never lacking in highly educated man power. Our colleges and universities produce thousands and thousands of graduates annually. Our local government leaders are progressive and investor friendly.

We are most happy and encouraged by the request decisions of major investors to invest in Iloilo. Megaworld just bought the site of the old airport. DCMI and Global Business Power Corporation are putting up new power plants. The Chan family invested in a new sugar mill in Passi. The Gokongweis bought Passi Sugar Mills. These investors are here because they see the big potential of Iloilo.

We invite you to join the bandwagon so for your next investment, think Iloilo, make it Iloilo. Thank you.

source: The Guardian ILOILO

[James C]

Iloilo: The best is yet to be.


(Keynote address by Oscar M. Lopez, chairman, Lopez Group of Companies, during the Iloilo Investment Forum 2007 at Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center Iloilo City, 27 November 2007)

Dr. Alfonso A. Uy, Chairman of the ILED Foundation, Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, Governor Niel D. Tupas Sr., Mr. Rex Drilon, President of the ILED Foundation, Professor Winston Padojinog of the University of Asia and the Pacific, Atty. Lilia De Lima, Director General of PEZA, fellow presentors, honored participants and guests, pinalangga ko nga kapwa Ilonggo, ang amon mga ka-partners sa Iloilo Economic Development Foundation:

Maayong aga sa inyo nga tanan.
Several days ago, the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation, jointly with Lopez Group Foundation, Inc. of which I am Chairman, hosted the Manila launch of a new publication, “Iloilo: A Rich And Noble Land”. It is a book that is meant to remind us of our heritage and leading role that Iloilo once occupied in the cultural, commercial and economic emergence of the Filipino nation. Tonight at 6 p.m., we launch that the same book here in Iloilo City at the Nelly Garden and I hope that it inspires you as it has inspired me.

Our conference organizers have a program of speeches and presentations that will describe for you the tremendous potential of Iloilo and that will encourage you to invest in Iloilo. In a few minutes, I will also tell you about what the Lopez Group of Companies is trying to do in Iloilo. But my role today is to try to inspire you, and all of those to whom we will be reaching out, that all that you hear today can be achieved. And if you bear with me for a while, I would like to show you what is possible in our future by reminding you of the richness of what we have done in the past. [Part of our heritage as Ilonggos is that we have always stood up to oppressors.] During the dark days of the martial law, I spent my time researching and writing the history of the Lopez family, and in the process, I familiarized myself with the history of Iloilo. I’d like to share some of it with you.

When I was born, in 1930, Iloilo was the undisputed Queen City of the South. My siblings Geny, Pressy and I were raised in a city at the peak of its grandeur. It was a genteel, gracious city of elegant mansions, and fabulously wealthy sugar barons. There was an atmosphere of great entrepreneuria l energy-for instance, INAEC, the very first Asian airline, predating PAL, JAL and Singapore Airlines, would be launched in our city in 1933 by my father Eugenio Lopez. But also we could feel a lot of culture. Ilonggos prized classical music: a grand-uncle and grand-aunt of ours, Lolo Gil Lopez and Lola Chayong Lopez, even had their own orchestras. Not surprisingly, many of the top Filipino classical musicians are of Ilonggo descent, such as Gilopez and Merceditas Kabayao Mortensen, and Ma. Luisa Koch, all Lopezes by the way.

As children, we could sense that much history had taken place in the same streets we played in or walked to attend Mass at the Jaro Cathedral. From our elders, I would hear stories about how my grandfather and his siblings had fought the Americans in 1899. My grand-uncles, Vicente and Ramon, had fought among the infantry, my grandfather, Benito, was a key figure in the revolutionary government, and my great-aunts, Maria and Rosario Lopez, had smuggled guns across enemy lines. We grew up feeling that we were a part of a rich and noble heritage. We grew up very proud to be Ilonggos – a sentiment we share with all our provincemates.

There is much to be proud of. Since the 1850s, Iloilo has been a national leader in many fields – in nationalism, economics, politics, music, culture, education and food. At that time, the town of Jaro was bigger than Iloilo City and was the premier town of the most populated, most industrious and most prosperous province in the Philippines. Sir John Bowring, a former British governor of Hong Kong, visiting Iloilo in 1858, was so impressed by what he saw, that he wrote in his book, A Visit to the Philippines (1859), the following: The province is not only one of the most numerously peopled, it is perhaps the most productive in agricultural and most active in manufacturing, industry and among the best instructed of the Philippines. It has extensive and cultivated plains and its roads are among the best seen in the archipelago.

Iloilo’s agricultural was one of the most highly developed in terms of rice, sugar cotton, tobacco and indigo, much of which was exported to neighboring islands as well as to Manila. But the pride of the province at the time was native textile industry, whose estimated 50,000 to 60,000 looms of the finest piña, sinamay and abaca cloth, which was exported to all parts of the country and some foreign countries. In 1861, the value of total exports of native textile products form Iloilo and neighboring provinces was estimated one million dollars.

The advanced development of the native weaving industry according to one American scholar resulted in the first substantial urban concentration in Jaro and Molo and the earliest recorded accumulation of capital among the emerging urban elite of those towns. Jaro’s rapid growth into a major urban center began around 1800, as indicated by the increase in its population. While its population in 1797 was only 5,800 by 1868 it reached 44,000, or more than a seven-fold increase in 70 years.

At one time, the municipality of Jaro extended all the way north to the town of Maasin, but as population grew rapidly over the years, new towns were formed and got detached from Jaro, such as Maasin, Santa Barbara, Pavia, Mandurriao and La Paz. Recognition of the importance of Jaro was accorded by the Church when it elevated the town to the status of a separate diocese in 1865.

One of the most important factors in the rapid development of the agricultural and industrial economy of Iloilo was the emergence of the Chinese mestizo class to a dominant economic and social position in the Molo-Jaro area during the past century. The rise of the Chinese mestizo class to economic prominence was mainly the result of the expulsion of the Chinese from the country between 1755 and 1765, which enabled the mestizos to take over most of the economic functions previously performed by the Chinese, especially with regard to the collecting the produce of nearby provinces and shipping it to Manila and Other Provinces as well.

The American scholar Edgar Wickberg made the telling point that the Chinese mestizo class, which represented the most dynamic element in Philippines society throughout the 19th century, was culturally unique. Unlike Baba of Malaysia or the Peranakan of Java, the Chinese mestizo in the Philippines was not a special kind of local Chinese but rather a special kind of Filipino. The majority of them identified themselves with the Spanish Philippines, adopted Spanish prejudices, along with Spanish culture. The greater the Hispanization, the more willing they were to side with the Spaniards and the natives against the Chinese. Their cultural attributes included a love of ostentation and a devotion to Catholicism and to Spanish culture, combined with a financial acumen that they inherited from their Chinese forebearers (sic). Most scholars are agreed that Molo and Jaro were the two main urban centers in the province that had predominantly Chinese mestizo population. As John Omohundro put it, “The neighboring towns of
molo and Jaro were built, ruled and practically filled by mestizos.”

But in Jaro, there was also a greater blending of different racial stocks, which included not only Chinese and native but Spanish as well. Prime examples of these racial mixtures arte the well-known Jaro families of the Ledesmas, Montinolas, Justinianis, Villaloboses and Virtos. This commingling of the different racial stocks within the upper classes was a unique feature of Jaro society during this early period, and it was not lost on some foreign observers at the time. Writing in 1840, a Frenchman named Gabriel Lafond de Lurcy drew this picture of Jaro society in his book Quinze Ans de Voyage Autor de Monde Vol. II, 1840:

Haro is much bigger in size than Iloilo; it is a rich town, of mestizos who own great fortunes… the people of Haro are more civilized than those of the other neighboring towns (Molo and Iloilo). The color of their skin is whiter, consequence of a great mixture of European blood; and Spanish is spoken better there than in any place in the colony, the Capital excepted; the women are very beautiful and I can give assurance of this, having had the pleasure of being amongst them, that they have grace and figure and the features, which would call attention even in Europe. They show taste in their dress, which is rich and elegant and, like all mestizas, they show a lot of spirit.

In the 1850’s, the town of Iloilo was just a small port surrounded by swampy areas and whose population did not exceed 7,000. The town only began to acquire economic importance and to expand in the latter half of the 19th century during the sugar boom, as the sugar from Negros used the deep protected harbor of Iloilo as its transshipment port for the exports to the world. In 1890, Iloilo became a city by Royal of the Queen of Spain. By 1937, during the Commonwealth period, a charter was passed integrating Arevalo, Mandurriao, and La Paz as part of Iloilo City (with Molo already previously attached). In 1940, the charter was amended to include Jaro as part of Iloilo city.

During the first wave of globalization that swept the world between 1815 and 1914, and the resulting rapid growth of the sugar industry in the Visayan region, it was Iloilo province that led the way for the country. By the last decade if the 19th century, Iloilo ranked second only to Manila in volume of both export and import trade. Sugar accounted for the greater part of Iloilo’s exports. A telephone network linking the provincial capital with Jaro, Molo, and Mandurriao was established in 1894. Direct cable between Manila and Iloilo began operation in 1897.

It was but natural that educational development should follow economic prosperity. Thus, by the last few decades of the 19th century, most of the towns in Iloilo had elementary schools for boys and girls. One town in particular, Molo, developed into an important center of private elementary and secondary education in Western Visayas. In those days, Molo was known as the “Athens of Western Visayas,” because there were three private Latinity secondary schools in Molo, ran by Manuel Locsin, Estanislao Yusay, and Francisco Villanueva. For girls, there was the Colegio de Santa Ana ran by the Avanceña sisters.

The census of 1903 gives us some idea of where the educated middle class was located at the end of the Spanish regime. The census defined those persons as possessing superior education. In a table containing Provincial breakdown of this educated group, the top 10 provinces had Iloilo ranked second to Manila, followed by Pangasinan, and Negors Occidental. All the rest were located in Luzon.

Why there should be such a high concentration of educated persons in Iloilo can be explained mainly by the economic prosperity of the region during that period, induced during the early part of the 19th century by the flourishing native textile industry and during the latter part of the 19th century by the sugar boom. Those were indeed Iloilo’s golden years.

It saddens me that Iloilo is, today, not too prominent in the national consciousness. As Iloilo lost its significance as a transshipment port for sugar and as the nation’s sugar industry declined greatly, so much of Iloilo’s economic power also declined. The title of “Queen City of the South” was claimed by another. Many Ilonggo tycoons moved their flags to the national capital and built newer and larger business empires there. One of those men was my father. Though the Lopezes are now based in Metro Manila, however, we have never lost our affection for the city of our childhood. And so we try to take advantage of any opportunity to participate in the development of the province. Most recently, that has taken the form of our 30% investment in Panay Electric in 1996; at the same time we built a US$72-million diesel–fired power plant, called Panay Power, with a rated capacity of 75 megawatts to supply the growing power needs of Iloilo City.

Subsequently, however, in 2003, we had to sell our interest in the power plant to Mirant because provisions in the newly enacted EPIRA Law limited our ability to supply power to affiliated companies such as Panay Electric to 50%. We felt that this would inhibit our ability to grow our generation business in the Visayas. Moreover, the unprecedented rise in world oil prices meant that oil-fired generating plants, such as Panay Power, would become progressively uncompetitive.

The other Lopez investments in Iloilo are in media and telecommunicat ions, namely ABS-CBN, Sky Cable, and Bayantel with its new wireless landline.

The Lopez Group has many corporate Social Responsibility projects in Iloilo. Last July, we launched several social development projects in Iloilo as part of the commemoration of my father’s 105th birth anniversary. We wanted to give back something of ourselves and our companies to our native province, where my father started his business career and where we, his children, spent our happy childhood years.

I guess all of us Ilonggos have to take responsibility for what Iloilo has become and what it should be. Rex Drilon says he is reminded of the old Ilonggo song Ay, ay, Kalisud when he thinks of Iloilo today. It is a plaintive song of despair about a woman who was “binayaan,” or abandoned, by her lover. In more ways than one, Rex observes, the song describes what happened to Iloilo in the last several decades: the Ilonggos abandoned Iloilo. “Kalisud” is Ilonggo for “sad.” Iloilo’s tale of woe isn’t just sad. It is deeply sad.

But today at last, there is a lot of hope in the air even if Iloilo’s troubles are far from over. We realize Iloilo has a lot of catching up to do just to keep apace with the new queen cities of the south such as Cebu, Davao Cagayan de Oro and, yes, even Bacolod. The good news is, things are starting to move. In electricity, for instance, Iloilo’s unreliable electrical service has affected its business competitivenes s. A new coal fired power plant will be soon built to serve the island of Panay and that should respond to Iloilo’s pressing need for power.

Then there is the new airport in Santa Barbara-Cabatuan, one of the most impressive in the country. The building of the P6.5 billion airport of international standards was graft-free and finished essentially on-time, on specs and within budgets. The new airport is something that Ilonggos can now be very proud of. It puts to shame Manila’s decrepit Domestic Airport.

Retail giants–SM, Robinsons and Gaisano–are already here. Ayala is poised to open a high-end residential project. Five call centers have located in the city (ECHO, ePLDT Ventus, GMCI, Callbox) as well as two business process outsource providers (Packet Switch in transcriptions, BrushNetwork in web design and web graphics). The entry of these heavyweight companies is expected to trigger the inflow of even more investments.

The conceptual plan of Megaworld, the winning bidder at P1.2 billion for the 54-hectare old airport includes a new CBD and with convention and related facilities. The new development will supply the business and visitors’ infrastructure that potential investors in the Megaworld project will most likely need to invest almost P300 billion in the next 20 years to fully develop the area.

A new breed of young, enlightened leaders, such as Jerry Treñas, Jed Mabilog and Raul Banias, are training their energies toward citizen-oriented governance. The leaders of the business community and civil society, together with the city mayor and provincial governor Niel Tupas, have united for Iloilo. They have formed the Iloilo Economic development Foundation (IDLEDF) to promote investments and tourism, the very reason we are meeting here today in the First Iloilo Investment Forum. Gradually, the city and the province of Iloilo will be transformed into a new kind of economic powerhouse. We are giving a signal to potential investors that ILOILO IS NOW READY FOR THE WORLD.

I took time to trace Iloilo’s glorious history in the hope that having been made aware what we had been, all Ilonggos today will be inspired to make the future as wonderful as our past. I personally believe Iloilo City can become the Queen of the South once again, able to compete against all comers for economic primacy. I believe that for the city and the province of Iloilo, the best is yet to be.

Madamo gid nga salamat sa inyo nga tanan!

source: The Guardian ILOILO

^^I'm glad to see that the Lopezes are coming back home and investing in Iloilo.

join us at:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=549542&page=9

[philfighter]

Iloilo will soon reclaim her title

[isko_bido]

Here's an article I found regarding that "Queen City of the South" monicker...
=====

Queen City of the South
by: Cornelio P. Panes
(A reaction to Tessa Mauricio's "The Queen Mother of the South")

The title of Iloilo as Queen City of the South before Cebu grabbed it is a misnomer. It was not intended to mean the premiere or leading city outside Metro Manila. This was how it all began.

At the outbreak of the Philippine revolution, the Ayuntamiento (municipal council) of Jaro was the first to condemn, by way of a resolution, the revolution as "an unpatriotic act." The Ilonggo alta sociedad also responded to the news of revolution with protestation and outrage and evoked pro-Spanish loyalty. The Ayuntamiento of Iloilo followed suit and organized the Iloilo Volunteer Battalion.

The voluntarios, as members were called, were recruited from among the private population of Jaro and Iloilo and the adjoining prosperous towns of Molo, Arevalo, Oton and Sta. Barbara, and the more distant northern and eastern pueblos. They fought against the army of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in Cavite and Pampanga. Illustrious personalities like Martin Delgado, Quintin Salas, Pedro Monteclaro and Adriano Hernandez were among the officers of the battalion. The biggest financial contributors to the Ilongo contingent were industrialist Don Eugenio Lopez and shipping magnate Don Felix dela Rama.

In the battlefield of Cavite, the voluntarios helped the Spanish forces in the initial defeat of Aguinaldo's forces in 1897. It was the most well-equipped and well-trained contingent on the side of Spain. They helped in the fall of Silang and Imus which led to the collapse of the revolutionarie s' defenses in Cavite after a fierce battle for Zapote bridge. The Spanish Crown was elated with that Spanish and the voluntarios' victory. Queen Regent Maria Cristina issued a royal decree awarding the city of Iloilo the perpetual title LA MUY LEAL Y NOBLE CIUDAD DE ILOILO or the Most Loyal and Noble City of Iloilo "for its exemplary conduct and all its laudable action during the present insurrection, in organizing and equipping an Ilongo Volunteer Battalion..."

Since then, Iloilo was known as "THE QUEEN'S CITY," a moniker for the longer title, which, to our present-day term, is the Queen's pet city. This is because Manila was first granted an almost similar title by the Queen. The title was decreed to be incorporated in the official seal of the city.

Legally speaking, Iloilo has the perpetual right to the title Queen City by virtue of the said decree. But no Ilongo now is bothered if Cebu snatched that title away. It is a title that would perpetually shame us.

In the 1990's the City Government of Iloilo unofficially removed the title from the city seal as can be shown in its printed letterheads. To make the removal official, the city council of Iloilo should pass a resolution removing the title from the city's seal.

[mx5]

Here's an article I found regarding that "Queen City of the South" monicker...
=====

Queen City of the South
by: Cornelio P. Panes
(A reaction to Tessa Mauricio's "The Queen Mother of the South")

The title of Iloilo as Queen City of the South before Cebu grabbed it is a misnomer. It was not intended to mean the premiere or leading city outside Metro Manila. This was how it all began.

At the outbreak of the Philippine revolution, the Ayuntamiento (municipal council) of Jaro was the first to condemn, by way of a resolution, the revolution as "an unpatriotic act." The Ilonggo alta sociedad also responded to the news of revolution with protestation and outrage and evoked pro-Spanish loyalty. The Ayuntamiento of Iloilo followed suit and organized the Iloilo Volunteer Battalion.

The voluntarios, as members were called, were recruited from among the private population of Jaro and Iloilo and the adjoining prosperous towns of Molo, Arevalo, Oton and Sta. Barbara, and the more distant northern and eastern pueblos. They fought against the army of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in Cavite and Pampanga. Illustrious personalities like Martin Delgado, Quintin Salas, Pedro Monteclaro and Adriano Hernandez were among the officers of the battalion. The biggest financial contributors to the Ilongo contingent were industrialist Don Eugenio Lopez and shipping magnate Don Felix dela Rama.

In the battlefield of Cavite, the voluntarios helped the Spanish forces in the initial defeat of Aguinaldo's forces in 1897. It was the most well-equipped and well-trained contingent on the side of Spain. They helped in the fall of Silang and Imus which led to the collapse of the revolutionarie s' defenses in Cavite after a fierce battle for Zapote bridge. The Spanish Crown was elated with that Spanish and the voluntarios' victory. Queen Regent Maria Cristina issued a royal decree awarding the city of Iloilo the perpetual title LA MUY LEAL Y NOBLE CIUDAD DE ILOILO or the Most Loyal and Noble City of Iloilo "for its exemplary conduct and all its laudable action during the present insurrection, in organizing and equipping an Ilongo Volunteer Battalion..."

Since then, Iloilo was known as "THE QUEEN'S CITY," a moniker for the longer title, which, to our present-day term, is the Queen's pet city. This is because Manila was first granted an almost similar title by the Queen. The title was decreed to be incorporated in the official seal of the city.

Legally speaking, Iloilo has the perpetual right to the title Queen City by virtue of the said decree. But no Ilongo now is bothered if Cebu snatched that title away. It is a title that would perpetually shame us.

In the 1990's the City Government of Iloilo unofficially removed the title from the city seal as can be shown in its printed letterheads. To make the removal official, the city council of Iloilo should pass a resolution removing the title from the city's seal.

Very enlightening. Thanks for posting!