Iloilo, I Love You~

[chymera00]

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[img width=665 height=300]http://www.pilmap.com.ph/pilmap%20(holiday%20issue)/images/iloilo-1.jpg[/img]
The Nelly Gardens – symbol of Iloilo’s grandiose past

A visit to Iloilo gives a visitor a feeling of a place with a rich and glorious past. Standing side by side on a busy street is an Internet café and an Antillean mansion. For such is the charm of Iloilo, the cradle of old world genteel aristocracy that has morphed with new age technology like an eclectic tapestry.

When the Spaniards came to Iloilo in the 16th century, they discovered a people with two outstanding characteristics: industry and flair. The women had a penchant for beautiful clothes and jewelry and the men were driven to trade and industry. As early as the 19th century when most of the Philippines was still in siesta, Iloilo’s international harbor was thriving with direct shipping lines to Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, England, Europe and America. Aside from the staples of agriculture and fishing, her textile weaving industry has been on a large commercial scale and because of an abundance in timber, her shipyards were flourishing. So remarkable was the growth of commerce and trade that Spain’s Queen Regent, Maria Cristina elevated the status of Iloilo to that of a city in 1899. Inscribed in her coat of arms are the words, “La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad de Iloilo.”

Thus Iloilo’s golden age had begun… her port was opened to international trade which gave way to the sugar rush during the Commonwealth period. This served as a backbone of Iloilo’s unprecedented growth. The fertile plains of Panay and the rich volcanic soil of Negros were ideal for sugarcane. Exports boomed and sugar farming became a world-class industry. A new breed of wealth emerged – the sugar barons. A number of sugar centrals mushroomed and more work opportunities were available; warehouses lined Muelle Loney, filled to the hilt with sugar to be transloaded to international vessels. Iloilo then became the undisputed leader among the provinces. Sugar money built majestic tree-lined ancestral mansions around the city, afforded family travels to Europe and to the world, opened new business establishments, bought carriages, automobiles and a fleet of servants for the privileged. Because of the expansion of trade and the rapid growth of business and economic activities, a number of foreign and local firms built offices and outlets – banks, stock exchange offices, machine shops, warehouses, retail shops, printing presses, educational institutions, medical facilities, commercial firms and social clubs.

[img width=300 height=209]http://www.pilmap.com.ph/pilmap%20(holiday%20issue)/images/iloilo-3.jpg[/img][img width=300 height=209]http://www.pilmap.com.ph/pilmap%20(holiday%20issue)/images/iloilo-8.jpg[/img]
Muelle Loney – once a major international port

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opened its only branch in the country in Iloilo; its main office was in Manila. The Standard & Chartered Bank, another British bank, opened its only provincial branch also in Iloilo. The first government owned bank; the Philippine National Bank opened its first branch in Iloilo through the efforts of Senator Jose Maria Arroyo. When President Manuel Quezon asked him “Why Iloilo?,” he merely replied, “because it’s where the money is.” Other British, Scottish, Spanish and American firms followed, Ker and Company, Stracchan and MacMurray, Elizalde and Co., Alhambra Cigar Factory, Wolf and Sons, Standard Oil Co., to name a few. Entrepreneurs included Danish, Catalan, Basque, Portuguese, Swiss and Americans. The first Anglo-Chinese commercial enclave emerged in Calle Real (now JM Basa Street) with the building of the first department store in the country, Hoskyn and Co. In 1947 the Panay Railways was constructed by JG White and Co. to link Panay, Capiz and Antique, the first railways built outside of Manila. Brothers Eugenio and Fernando Lopez installed the Iloilo Negros Air Express Co (INAEC), the boldest bid ever made in the Philippines for regular commercial aviation. “Deiers” rolled out its first car assembly plant in Iloilo while the country’s first double-decked buses plied its already concrete roads. By this time there was no limit to Iloilo’s progress, the first city outside of Manila to have modern conveniences like electricity, telephones, telegraph facilities, a railways system, concrete roads, an ice plant, a cinema, an air transport service, a car assembly plant, etc… It was during this golden age that she was dubbed the “Queen City of the South…”

Being a hub of activities, Iloilo became a playground of the rich, the famous and the powerful. Its illustrious sons include Don Ruperto Montinola, Ramon Avanceña, Victorino Mapa, Oscar Ledesma, Julio Ledesma, Vicente Lopez, Gregorio Araneta, Jose Maria Arroyo; and so many more. While Ilonggos knew how to work and run businesses, they also knew how to have fun with flair…

Tales of the affluent lifestyle of this period are legendary. It is said that trays of diamonds were given as gifts to friends and performing artists and one family kept an orchestra in-residence to play during their meals and lull them to sleep.

Casino Español was an exclusive club built by the Spaniards for the activities of Iloilo’s elite. Club Selecta’s annual summer ball held at this imposingly elegant architecture of roman columns was a big event in the good old days, when champagne and wine flowed to the tune of two live bands.

[img width=300 height=209]http://www.pilmap.com.ph/pilmap%20(holiday%20issue)/images/iloilo-7.jpg[/img][img width=300 height=209]http://www.pilmap.com.ph/pilmap%20(holiday%20issue)/images/iloilo-2.jpg[/img]

A Pas de Quatre and Rigodon de Honor were the order of the night. Participants included the crème de la crème of Ilonggo cosmopolitan society, ballgowns made by Manila couturiers and Iloilo’s own Ben Natividad were graced by the indays with their sedate beauties and social graces. Secret service men had to be deployed to watch over the society matrons, their debutantes and their jewelry said to cost from P100, 000.00 to P500, 000.00 at that time. The gentlemen’s predilection to vanity required them to wear tuxedos. Visitors included expatriates, senators, mayors, foreign dignitaries and businessmen from Manila, Negros and Iloilo.

One of the playgrounds for the Ilonggos then was the Polo Golf Club. Designed by a Scot and built in the 1900s by the Americans and British who worked for Panay Railways, it is now more popularly known as the Santa Barbara Golf and Country Club. It is the first golf course in the country and the oldest in Southeast Asia. Many a “fore” was heard here long before it became a popular sport.

The Jaro fiesta on February 2nd in honor of La Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria was (and still is) a showcase of opulence and grandeur. Children of well-to-do and respected Iloilo families were made to join the Rigodon de Honor and most prestigious queen reigns for a year after a grandiose coronation ball held at midnight in the Jaro Plaza amidst fireworks and band music. Foreign diplomats, politicians and dignitaries were invited to crown the queen and participate in the country’s most lavish ball.

Ilonggos travelled in style and Don Esteban dela Rama launched the country’s first luxury liner, the S/S Don Esteban. In contrast to the usual Manila bound ships, it had deluxe cabins with private baths, a spacious lounge, open decks and a dining room that was a replica of those found in first class European ocean liners.

[img width=300 height=209]http://www.pilmap.com.ph/pilmap%20(holiday%20issue)/images/iloilo-4.jpg[/img][img width=300 height=209]http://www.pilmap.com.ph/pilmap%20(holiday%20issue)/images/iloilo-5.jpg[/img]

Yes, in the good old days Ilonggos knew how to live in style. It was during this time when their culture was a study in extremes – a handful elite landowners and hacienderos lived an extravagant lifestyle throwing lavish parties in their ostentatious palaces with frescoed ceilings and humongous dining rooms with a servant in every nook and cranny while the ordinary man tilled the soil for him. Young girls studied in convent schools run by nuns where they were taught French and English. Dinner cruises were a weekend fare and whatever was fashionable in Europe was fashionable in Iloilo. Patriarchs did not only purchase huge tracts of land but entire islands as well, where they built more mansions and entertained more people. Tales of the affluent lifestyle of this period are legendary. It is said that trays of diamonds were given as gifts to friends and performing artists and one family kept an orchestra in-residence to play during their meals and lull them to sleep. “Mayabang” or snobbishness is a character trait inherited from their Hispanic ancestors and yet they were also very generous, as tales run about a señor who on his birthday would call his obreros and tear up their whole year’s vale (cash advances) in front of them. Ilonggos are also clannish; reputations were considered sacred; and the family name, a precious inheritance.

A queen dies slowly…

[img width=665 height=250]http://www.pilmap.com.ph/pilmap%20(holiday%20issue)/images/iloilo-9.jpg[/img]

After World War II, Iloilo’s crown was tarnished with the impending decline in business and the rebuilding of a war-ravaged city. The city has not quite regained its stature as the Queen City of the South, a title she lost to Cebu some years later. The old moneyed families left for Manila, to more lucrative opportunities. They sent their children abroad to study and they never came back. The tree-lined antique laden structures and the Antillean mansions are now empty save for an encargado and his family who take charge of maintaining them, if and when funds trickle in. Casino Español stands as a ravaged skeleton, a silent reminder of its past glory. The Plaza Alfonso XII (now Plaza Libertad) is bare and empty, only its chipped marbled park benches remain a mute witness to the good old days, where a band used to play in its magnificent band-stand on the Alameda.

The glorious days are over but in its place, a new breed of Ilonggos with the same passion for flair and industry as their forebears have risen. These are the intellectual elite; the tai pan capitalists, the new entrepreneurs and contract workers. Migrant money. Nouveau riche. A new middle class of hardworking entrepreneurs closed the gap between the rich and the poor. For when Iloilo’s power as an economic force waned, its people were compelled to adjust their lifestyle accordingly.

Today, the city continues its march towards progress and its children have learned to live in simple peace and harmony. The province’s heritage is the Ilonggo’s solitary pride, in every sense, she is still “muy leal y noble,” the knowledge that somewhere in time, there truly was a golden age in this land. There is just too much evidence all around the province today and to the modern Ilonggo, it still is, the best of times.

[chymera00]

ILOILO
Dinagyang country is the place to be
By John Paul Cadiz

Irong-irong is the nose-shaped patch of land by the south side of the Iloilo River. This patch of land was the site of an important settlement that gave its name to the province of Iloilo. According to legend, the ten Bornean Datus landed near the Siwaragan River in San Joaquin and negotiated the sale of the lowlands of Panay Island from the Negrito Chief Marikudo. Datu Paiburong occupied the territory where Iloilo is today.

The navel of the Philippine archipelago, Iloilo is the gateway to the flourishing region with two cities and 43 municipalities. It covers 4,647 square kilometers of land and is the cultural, educational, religious, economic, and administrative capital of the region. Iloilo is home to the Hiligaynon-speaking Ilonggos – Hiligaynon is known for its lethargic and seductive rhythm; the other half of the population speaks Kinaray-a which is also spoken in Antique.

Iloilo is one of the cradles of the Philippines’ rich cultural heritage. The old churches, ancestral homes, handicrafts, and colorful festivals reflect the bounty with which the Almighty has blessed this province.

In Jaro district, one cannot but be stupefied at the majestic yet still regal colonial houses built by the sugar barons of the bygone era. The province also boasts of the traditional loom weaving and hand embroidery of piña and jusi fabrics. These intricately and delicately designed fabrics have found their way into the national scene as used in barong tagalogs, shirts, shawls, tablecloths, and place mats.

As one of the earliest seats of Catholicism, the province takes pride in the magnificent centuries-old churches. One of the most notable churches in the province is the San Joaquin Church. It is famous for its unusual façade which depicts the Battle of Tetuan. The Miag-ao Fortress Church, an example of a mediaeval bastion, is also a sight to behold. It has been declared a national shrine through P.D. No.260 in 1973. On December 1993, it was included in the World Heritage List by the UNESCO.

The Ilonggos’ deeply-rooted sense of religiosity is evident in the feasts and festivals in honor of the Blessed Mother and her Most Holy Infant. The feast of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, the patroness of the region, is observed every February 2nd. Those who pledge the “panata” religiously find time to fly home this time of the year. Dinagyang, the local mardi gras, is a major tourist drawer. During this time, Iloilo City’s streets are filled with merrymakers and warriors whose bodies are painted coal-black. This is a weeklong celebration which culminates with the ati-atihan competition.

In order to make one’s impression of Iloilo more concrete, one need not only to enjoy the intangible sights and sounds of the province, but more so, embrace the province through the different flavors it offers. For starters, La Paz Batchoy is the food to try. This is a broth of pork liver, cracklings, and fresh noodles served with steamy soup. Next, one must try the equally-delicious Pancit Molo, wanton noodles in chicken soup spiced with garlic. Both are mouth-watering sensations. Thanks to the secret recipe behind them. Among Iloilo’s pastries and confectioneries, the barquillos, hojaldres, pinasugbo, biscocho, and the squid rings are most famous among tourists and balikbayans.

Iloilo is the is considered the Food Basket and Rice Granary of the Philippines because it is a leading producer of palay and legumes, root crops, and fruits like mangoes, pineapple, and citrus. Its fishing grounds are abundant with grouper, sea bass, tuna, blue marlin, prawn, milkfish, and shrimps. This is enough reason for two research institutes to establish their bases in the province. In Tigbauan lies the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center and the University of the Philippines in the Visayas in Miag-ao.
Aside from these, the province is rich in metallic and non-metallic minerals.

If there is one place in the Philippines where one can find the mixture of rich and glorious past and the thriving developments of the future, Iloilo is the place to be.
(from The Files Magazine - Panay News online)

[chymera00]

[img width=574 height=431]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/chymera00/iloilocitypics/Dinagyang2006.jpg[/img]
I invite all of you to join the Dinagyang 2006 this January 28-29 - Iloilo's biggest party!

Dinagyang

ILOILO
A celebration called Dinagyang
THAT is all you can hear on every 4th weekend of January in Iloilo. A very popular tagline used by Ilonggos to express their warm participation during the "Dinagyang" celebration. A commemoration in honor of Señor Sto. Niño whom Ilonggos believe was very miraculous in times of famine and drought.

"Dinagyang" came from the root word "Dagyang" which means to make merry. A religious and cultural activity, it is a celebration of Ilonggos whose bodies are painted with black in effect to imitate the black, small and slender Negritos who are the aborigines of Panay. The warriors are dressed in fashionable and colorful Aeta costumes and dance artistically and rhythmically with complicated formations along with the loud thumping and sound of drums.

On Jan. 24 and 25, the streets of Iloilo City will once again come alive as the Ilonggos commemorate the annual festivity. This year's celebration is themed, "Devotion in Motion."

Before, Dinagyang was called Ati-atihan like that of the Kalibo festivity. History tells that it started when a replica of the image of Señor Sto. Niño was brought to the San Jose Parish Church in Iloilo from Cebu. The people of Iloilo honored the coming of the image and then became devotees. Until they made the day of the Image's arrival as his feast day which falls on the 4th Sunday of January. Since 1968, it was already considered a yearly celebration, culminated by a nine-day Novena, an Ati-ati contest and a fluvial procession on the last day.

It was only in 1977 that Ilonggo writer and broadcaster Pacifico Sudario named the riotous celebration "Dinagyang" to make it unique from other Ati-atihan celebrations.

As years went by, the celebration continued to be highlighted by a mass at San Jose Parish at the break of the dawn; by a "Kasadyahan" which is the opening event of the celebration, also a merrymaking but is a dramatized dance presentation about the Aeta's existence, the landing of the 10 Bornean Datus in Panay and the colonization; and by dances and more merry making which have become a tourist attraction.

As more and more tribes from the barangays, schools and nearby towns and provinces participate, the contest became more competitive in terms of costumes, choreography and sounds. The tribes compete for the following Special Awards: Best in Discipline, Best in Costume, Best in Performance, Best in Music and Best in Choreography.

These are aside from the major awards for the champion, first runner-up, second runner-up, third runner-up and fourth runner-up.

Participating tribes learn to design artistically and with ingenuity in making use of Ilonggo native materials like dried anahaw leaves, buri or coconut palm leaves and husks and other barks of Philippine trees. Choreography was studied and practices were kept secret. Sounds were seen as an authentic medium that keeps the tribes going in uniform.

They also include a brief dramatization of how Christianity was brought to Panay and the arrival of the 10 Bornean Datus telling about the exchange of the Aetas of their land for the Borneans' Golden Salakot (native hat) and a long pearl necklace which is also parallel with the Kasadyahan celebration.

During the celebration, people participate with the Kasadyahan. Some dressed in Aeta costumes, some paint their faces with black paint, some put on colored artificial tattoos and wear other Aeta ornaments. At night, there are public dancing on designated areas.

Dinagyang is an annual event, when the whole town rejoices, shouting their pride of being an Ilonggo and telling their culture. It is a joyful looking back to the past. It is not just a celebration, it is a religious evangelization. Going back to Iloilo is more like a past fulfilled and a looking forward for future celebrations. It is our culture. The Aeta culture. That's why it is painting the town black.
[img width=367 height=262]http://www.sunstar.com.ph/specials/dinagyang%202004/images/atub-atub.jpg[/img][img width=640 height=480]http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/23953/dinagyang_05_0063.jpg[/img] [img width=400 height=323]http://www.wowphilippines.com.ph/images/Explore/Gallery/Big/ILOILO/dinagyang.jpg[/img] [img width=400 height=323]http://www.wowphilippines.com.ph/images/Explore/Gallery/Big/ILOILO/Dinagyang-Festival-pic8.jpg[/img] [img width=400 height=323]http://www.wowphilippines.com.ph/images/Explore/Gallery/Big/ILOILO/Dinagyang-Festival-pic4.jpg[/img]

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How to Get There
Travel to Iloilo in style. By plane, it takes 55 minutes from Manila, about 25 minutes from Cebu from where one can connect to other destinations in the country.

By boat, it takes 20 hours at most from Iloilo to Manila. From Zamboanga, 16 hours; Cagayan de Oro, 14 hours; Cebu, 12 hours. Bacolod City is a one-hour trip many times daily. To Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, it takes 38 hours, three times a month.

Iloilo is also accessible by land transportation to and from Aklan, Capiz, and Antique. It takes 20 min. by pumpboat or 30 min. by ferry ride or RO-RO to the island province of Guimaras.

Fastcrafts operated by the Phil. Fast Ferry Corp., Weesam Express, Bullet Express, and Royal Ferry Services serve the connection between Iloilo and Bacolod City on a daily basis.

Iloilo can now be reached through President Arroyo’s Strong Republic Nautical Highway in around 19 hours from Manila.

[img width=709 height=79]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/chymera00/iloilocitypics/feelthedrumsbeating.jpg[/img]

official site:
http://www.dinagyangfoundation.com/

[chymera00]

Iloilo City Pictures!

Plazoletagay
Plazoleta Gay or simply Plazoleta was named in honor of a family ancestor. A white obelisk-like structure with a dove perched on top was erected in the center of the intersection. Aside from being a historical symbol it, today, it has become a symbol for freedom of speech as rallies, protests, and other political and social demonstrations occupy it frequently. Most notably, it was where freedom-loving llonggos congregated at the height of People Power Revolution in February 1986 to denounce the Marcos dictatorship and demand its ouster (which eventually catapulted Corazon Aquino to the presidency, after the Marcoses fled to Hawaii in 25 February 1986).
[img width=450 height=338]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid169/p0eabca2a6f17b2668a181cb703b24b69/f40fba3e.jpg[/img]
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Iznart St.
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Iloilo Provincial Capitol
The imposing 6-storey building, located along Bonifacio Drive, is just behind the old Capitol building and adjacent to the Museo Iloilo. P385-million structure, which officials and guests described as either like a "shopping mall" or a "five-star hotel.", finished construction on late 2003.
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[img width=450 height=338]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid169/p90dbf16c52fbedbcd47951a391b1202f/f40086b0.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://chymera.freespaces.com/mylokality/photos/provincialcapitol2.jpg[/img]
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Museo Iloilo
Museo Iloilo was designed by Ilongo architect Sergio Penasales, the same architect who did Antique’s Barbaza Catcholic Church the church that was said to have the “most modern architectural style in the whole province of Antique.” Museo Iloilo’s permanent exhibit covers the cultural history of Western Visayas from prehistory to contemporary history. Inside is the carbon-q4 dated fossils, the swords and spears of the Mondo tribe of Panay, and the permanent exhibit showing an Ati family. What could surprise any visitor is the santo entiero or the dead Christ with a white hanky around its head. It looks so much like a preserved body of a dead person especially with the shriveled skin at its shoulders.
Other artifacts are statues, reliefs (one of a female saint holding her lopped-off breast), crosses, weapons of the Mondos (descendants of pre-Malay Indonesians), burial urns, blue and white ceramics, prehistoric tools, a tableau of the Last Supper and other things of interest that have made this museum stake a claim on being the best outside Metro Manila.
[img width=450 height=338]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid181/p8d39172c7b2aeb956c1b1012609f10a8/f2dbd50c.jpg[/img]
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Muelle Loney (River Wharf)
Iloilo City's waterfront named after Nicholas Loney, an English philantropist who was instrumental in modernizing the sugar industry in the region he is sometimes considered as the father of the Phil. Sugar Industry; opened to foreign trade in 1855. Once a major international port, it is now used by domestic cargo ships and ferry boats plying the Iloilo City-Bacolod City and Iloilo-Guimaras routes.
[img width=480 height=640]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/chymera00/iloilocitypics/DSCI0058.jpg[/img]
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J.M. Basa St.
J.M.Basa St. is the premier st of Iloilo City. Before the establishment of major malls like SM, Gaisano, and Robinson's Place, it was shopping districtof the city. But even now it is still just as charming and busy when it was known as Calle Real, where the big establishments like Elizalade and Co. set up office. J.M. Basa St. boasts of buildings that date back during the Spanish and American colonial periods. In 1896, Dr. Jose Rizal on his way to Manila from his exile in Dapitan bought a hat in J.M. Basa St.
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[chymera00]

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[martiano]

you are virtually everywhere chy.. great job for intensively promoting ilo-ilo.. :mrgreen: do you know of any other forums chy aside from PEX, SSC and Istorya.. i really want to join more forums so i could also showcase cebu to the world..

martaino aka sugbuanon aka marvin

SALAMAT and MABUHAY

[chymera00]

you are virtually everywhere chy.. great job for intensively promoting ilo-ilo.. :mrgreen: do you know of any other forums chy aside from PEX, SSC and Istorya.. i really want to join more forums so i could also showcase cebu to the world..

martaino aka sugbuanon aka marvin

SALAMAT and MABUHAY

hello again ... so far that's the only forumesr that I'm joining, aside from Dinagyang.com (an Ilonggo Community)

[martiano]

thanx chy.. keep it up bai :mrgreen:

[arnoldsa]

I hope the government can develop and promote Ilo-Ilo as a heritage city -- an open air museum city pretty much like Paris or Rome..

It has so many Mansions, old churches, etc.. etc..

[arnoldsa]

To fasttrack the development of the Visayas, government officials have been mulling to connect Ilo-ilo-Bacolod-Dumaguete-Cebu

How would they do this?:

1.) Bridge from Guimaras to Ilo-ilo
2.) Roro from Guimaras to Bacolod
3.) Highway from Bacolod to Dumaguete
4.) Bridge from Dumaguete to Cebu, and a highway to Metro Cebu