title: Caravel

text: The exploration done with caravels made the of the Portuguese and the Spanish possible. However, for the trade itself, the caravel was later replaced by the larger carrack ("nau"), which was more profitable for trading. The caravel was one of the pinnacle ships in Iberian ship development from 1400–1600.


title: Caravel

text: Early caravels generally carried two or three masts with lateen sails, while later types had four masts. Early caravels such as the "caravela tilhlda" of the 15th century had an average length of between , an average capacity of 50 to 60 tons, a high length-to-beam ratio of around 3.5 to 1, and narrow ellipsoidal frame (unlike the circular frame of the "nau"), making them very fast and maneuverable but with somewhat low capacity. It was in such ships that Christopher Columbus set out on his expedition in 1492; "Santa María" was a "nau" of about 100 tons which served as the flagship and the "Pinta" and "Niña" were smaller caravels of around 15–20 m with a beam of 6 m and displacing around 60–75 tons.


title: Caravel

text: Towards the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese developed a larger version of the caravel, bearing a forecastle and sterncastle – though not as high as those of a carrack, which would have made it unweatherly – but most distinguishable for its square-rigged foremast, and three other masts bearing lateen rig. In this form it was referred to in Portuguese as a "round caravel" ("caravela redonda") as in Iberian tradition, a bulging square sail is said to be round.


title: Caravel

text: It was employed in coast-guard fleets near the Strait of Gibraltar and as an armed escort for merchant ships between Portugal and Brazil and in the Cape Route. Some consider this a forerunner of the fighting galleon and it remained in use until the 17th century.


title: Hari (director)

text: Hari Gopalakrishnan is an Indian film director best known for his action and masala films in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with "Thamizh" (2002). He later directed films such as "Saamy" (2003), "Kovil" (2004), "Ayya" (2005), "Thaamirabharani" (2007), "Vel" (2007) and the "Singam film series" (2010-2017). He mostly directed Coimbatore, Dindigul, Tenkasi and Thoothukudi-Tirunelveli district based movies.


title: Hari (director)

text: Hari was born in the Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu, India. His father, Gopalakrishnan, runs a grocery store. Later, his family moved to Chennai, where Hari graduated with a degree in Commerce.


title: Hari (director)

text: Hari first joined as an assistant, gaining experience by working with various directors; Senthilnathan, Jeevabalan, Ameerjan, K. Natraj in " Valli", Alex Pandian, Nassar in "Avatharam". Later, he assisted K. Balachander in his film "Kalki" and worked as an associate director with Saran in the films "Amarkalam", "Parthen Rasithen" and "Alli Arjuna".


title: Hari (director)

text: His first film, in 2002, was "Thamizh", with Prashanth and Simran. Film critic Balaji commented that it was "one of the few movies in recent times where a lot of importance seems to have been attached to the script. In spite of the flimsy story and routine screenplay where a youth grows to be a "dada", the dialogs elevate the quality of the movie and make it very enjoyable". His second film "Saamy", under the Kavithaalaya banner, starred Vikram. It was named the year's biggest hit, grossing 160 million. Its success led to remakes; in Telugu ("Lakshmi Narasimha"), Kannada ("Ayya") and Hindi languages ("Policegiri"). His next two films "Kovil", with Silambarasan and "Arul" also starred Vikram. In 2005, he made "Ayya", starring Sarathkumar, which introduced Nayantara to Tamil cinema. His next film was "Aaru", with Suriya in 2005. In 2007, he directed two films, "Thaamirabharani" with Vishal and "Vel", with Suriya. In 2008, he directed "Seval", with Bharath. Ayyappa Prasad from Nowrunning.com stated that Hari "panders to the taste of his rural audience all the way, but the movie is bound to disappoint city-dwellers, since neither the story nor its treatment appeal to anyone with high IQ."


title: Hari (director)

text: In 2010 Hari directed his tenth film "Singam", with Suriya, marking their third collaboration. The film was one of the top box office films of the year, although reviewers identified it as a standard masala entertainer. Following its success, the film was remade in Hindi (as "Singham"), in Kannada (as "Kempe Gowda") and Bengali ("Shotru"). After directing "Venghai", a film with Dhanush and Tamannaah Bhatia in the lead, he made a sequel to "Singam", with Suriya reprising his role as Duraisingam. It was named one of the biggest box office hits of 2013, with Sify stating that it was "the biggest theatrical earner" of the year. He worked for the second time with Vishal, in a film titled "Poojai", which had Shruti Haasan as the female lead. Hari joined with Suriya for the fifth time for ("Singam 3"). He is shooting "Saamy Square", the sequel of "Saamy" starring Vikram in the lead role. This film marks the third collaboration between Hari and Vikram. The film has met with mixed response. After "Saamy Square", Hari will most likely team up with Suriya yet again. Earlier, director Hari revealed that his next project with Suriya would not be "Singam 4", but a fresh script. In an interview with an entertainment portal, Hari has disclosed details about this untitled film. In February 2020, Studio Green officially announced that Hari's next movie with Surya would be titled "Aruvaa", and would be released in Diwali 2020, but now Suriya has proceeded with his other projects and it is uncertain whether Aruvaa will happen or not. In June 2021, He started working with actor and also his brother-in-law, Arun Vijay, in their first collaboration, which also stars Priya Bhavani Shankar, Raadhika Sarathkumar and Yogi Babu, with music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar titled "Yaanai".


title: Hari (director)

text: Hari is married to former actress Preetha Vijayakumar, the daughter of Vijayakumar and "Manjula", sister of actor Arun Vijay, and has three sons.


title: Hari (director)

text: Hari's films are primarily in the action and masala genres. Due to his penchant for such films, he has been nicknamed "the "aruva" director", the "aruva" (sickle) being present in most of his films. Recurring elements in his films include "ferocious" heroes, comic subplots and item numbers. The heroes in his films are usually close to either their father or mother, and are surrounded by a large family. Hari's films are also known for being "racy".


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of the province of Iloilo, where it is geographically situated and grouped under the Philippine Statistics Authority, but remains politically independent in terms of government and administration. In addition, it is the center of the Iloilo–Guimaras Metropolitan Area, as well as the regional center and primate city of the Western Visayas region. According to the 2020 census, Iloilo City has a population of 457,626 people. For the metropolitan area, the total population is 1,007,945 people.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo City is a conglomeration of former towns, which are now the geographical or administrative districts consisting of: Villa de Arevalo, Iloilo City Proper, Jaro (an independent city before), La Paz, Mandurriao, and Molo. The district of Lapuz, a former part of La Paz, was declared a separate district in 2008.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo was the second Spanish colonial center after Cebu in the Philippine Islands. It was founded in 1566 when the Spanish established a colony area between the towns of "Ogtong" (present-day Oton) and "La Villa Rica de Arevalo" (present-day city district). It was one of the royal Spanish cities in the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies. The honorific royal title, ""La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad"" which translates to "The Most Loyal and Noble City", was given by the Queen Regent of Spain, Maria Christina, for the city's loyalty to the Spanish crown during the Philippine Revolution, the second city to have such a byname in the country after the City of Manila. At the turn of the 20th century, Iloilo was second next to Manila in terms of economic importance in the country. Before the Treaty of Paris ceded the Philippines to the United States in 1898, Iloilo served as the Spanish Empire's last capital in Asia and the Pacific. Iloilo was also the capital of the Federal State of the Visayas, a short-lived state in the central Philippines patterned after the United States federalism and the Swiss confederacy. In modern times, the city remains one of the Philippines' most influential cities in terms of its history, culture, and economy.


title: Iloilo City

text: The city is the regional hub of education, culinary, religion, healthcare, tourism, culture, industry and economy in Western Visayas. A thriving academic center, Iloilo City is a melting pot which draws foreign and local students from various parts of the country and abroad. Central Philippine University (CPU), a university founded by American Protestants through a grant of John D. Rockefeller as the first Baptist and second American institution of higher learning in Asia, attracts 15,000 enrollees from different parts of the Philippines and twenty-seven foreign countries annually, the largest for a single campus university in the Western Visayan region.


title: Iloilo City

text: The city's excellent urban planning and the continuing increase in real estate, financing, and business process outsourcing (BPO) demand have been attributed to its being one of the most livable cities in the country with an economic boom. In March 2022, Colliers Philippines named Iloilo among the top locations for the expansion of outsourcing activity outside Metro Manila. According to CBRE Group, by 2025, it is projected to become the third largest hub for the IT-BPO industry in the country.


title: Iloilo City

text: The name "Iloilo" is derived from the older name "Ilong-ilong" (Philippine Spanish: "Ilong̃-ílong̃") meaning "nose-like", referring to the promontory between two rivers (Iloilo and Batiano) where the Fort San Pedro and the 17th-century Spanish port were located.


title: Iloilo City

text: Nothing is known historically about the region prior to the arrival of the Spanish. In "Historia natural del sitio, fertilidad y calidad de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas" (1668), the Jesuit missionary Francisco Ignacio Alcina (1668) identifies the origin of the Hiligaynon people of "Oton" (Panay) as the island of Leyte, which correlates with the linguistic subgrouping of the Hiligaynon language.


title: Iloilo City

text: Numerous legends and fabrications, however, exist on the origins of the Hiligaynon people. Among them is the epic "Maragtas" by Pedro Monteclaro (first published in 1907), which describes how ten "datu" and their families, led by Datu Puti, left the "kingdom of Borneo" to escape the cruel reign of Sultan Makatunaw. They arrived in the island of Panay and negotiated a sale of the lowlands with King Marikudo of the Ati people. The price is said to be a golden salakot for Marikudo and a long golden necklace for his queen, Maniwan-tiwan. A pact of friendship was then forged between the two peoples, and the Atis performed their native songs and dances, which is then said to be the origin of the Ati-Atihan Festival. According to Augustinian Friar Rev. Fr. Santaren recording in the Spanish era of this Pre-Spanish legendary history, that Datu Macatunao or Rajah Makatunao who was the "sultan of the Moros," and a relative of Datu Puti who seized the properties and riches of the ten datus was eventually killed by the warriors named Labaodungon and Paybare, after learning of this injustice from their father-in-law Paiburong (Datu of Iloilo), sailed to Odtojan in Borneo where Makatunaw ruled. The warriors sacked the city, killed Makatunaw and his family, retrieved the stolen properties of the 10 datus, enslaved the remaining population of Odtojan, and sailed back to Panay. Labaw Donggon and his wife, Ojaytanayon, later settled in a place called Moroboro. The "Maragtas" also goes on to describe other settlements by "Malay "datu"" in other areas in the Visayas and Luzon.


title: Iloilo City

text: While once widely accepted and included in school textbooks, "Maragtas" (as well as the Code of Kalantiaw) is now regarded by modern scholars to be an early 20th century hoax. The historicity of the epic was first challenged by the historian William Henry Scott in 1968. Scott successfully defended his criticism before a panel of experts in Filipino history (including Gregorio Zaide, Teodoro Agoncillo, etc.), some of whom had once promoted the inclusion of "Maragtas" in books on Philippine history.


title: Iloilo City

text: A more recent 2019 thesis, ""Mga Maragtas ng Panay: Comparative Analysis of Documents about the Bornean Settlement Tradition"" (Talaguit, 2019) has uncovered a slightly earlier account of the Bornean migration myth by the Augustinian Friar, Rev. Fr. Tomas Santaren. His account, "Bisayan Accounts of Early Bornean Settlements", was first published in 1902 as an appendix to the book "Igorrotes: estudio geográfico y etnográfico sobre algunos distritos del norte de Luzon" by Fr. Angel Perez. Santaren's account is allegedly a direct Spanish translation from two manuscripts acquired from locals in Iloilo sometime after 1858 when he was stationed there. The details on Santaren's account corroborate most of Monteclaro's. However, the manuscripts that Santaren translated from were presumably only written during the colonial era in romanized Hiligaynon, since pre-colonial Visayans transmitted history via oral tradition, not in writing. Thus it is still unlikely that they are of pre-colonial origin. It is, however, accurate to regard the "Maragtas" (or at least elements of it) as being derived from local folk history, rather than authentic history or simply fabrications by Monteclaro.


title: Iloilo City

text: There was a mention of Iloilo's current town of Oton in Yuan Dynasty records in the 1300s when Oton was called in Hokkien .


title: Iloilo City

text: In Panay, according to Friar Gaspar de San Agustín, O.S.A., "...in the ancient times, there was a trading center and a court of the most illustrious nobility in the whole island."


title: Iloilo City

text: In 1519, King Charles I of Spain already acquired and inherited Catholic kingdoms. He is the King of all Spain, King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Burgundy and Luxembourg, Count of Holland, Count of Barcelona, Count of Flanders, Prince of Asturias, Archduke of Austria, King of Aragon, King of Jerusalem, Catalonia, Valencia, Naples, two Sicilies, Corsica and Sardinia. King of the Western and Eastern Indies, of the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea. King of Italy, King of Bohemia and Hungary. He commissioned Ferdinand Magellan to circumnavigate the globe especially to establish International Trade in Spice Island. The dangerous and uncertain voyage as 5 ships with 270 men departs from Seville and by 1520, the expedition have traversed for months calm Ocean they called Pacifico or Peaceful. The mountains of Samar and Leyte was visible as they drew closed which the crew called " Las Velas " or the Sails. They disembark in unpopulated Homonhon Island for a week from a long journey for food and water and call the place "Buenas Senas" or good sign. They navigated through the Strait of Siargapo and at landed Limasawa Island and were received peacefully by locals. Delighted, the Spaniards planted a cross on a hill and the first mass was celebrated. It was the first Spanish settlement and the birthplace of Christianity in the Philippines. The locals were introduced to visit another kinsman chieftain along the Butuan River. The King of Butuan received the Spaniards on April 8, 1521. Returning to Limasawa, The Prince of Limasawa also told them about 3 powerful Kedatuan – in Sugbu, Yrong-yrong and Tondo. On March 17, 1521, Magellan named the newly discovered Island as " Las islas de San Lázaro". By April 7, Magellan arrived in Sugbu. Datu Zula of Mactan sent Magellan 2 goats.


title: Iloilo City

text: Humabon tricked Magellan to kill Lapu Lapu, the Datu or chieftain of nearby Mactan Island. The men of Humabon who accompanied Magellan did not engage in battle with Lapu-Lapu. Magellan was hit by a poisoned arrow he turned toward his men who were returning to the ships and fell down. The next day, Rajah Humabon of Sugbu offered a Banquet for Spaniards. Twenty-seven Spanish sailors died due to poisoning by Cebuanos. Rajah Humabon restored friendly relations with Lapu-Lapu, as he is married to Hara Humamay, Lapu-lapu niece.


title: Iloilo City

text: Under Philip II, in 1565, the Spaniards in Mexico returned to Cebu to avenge Magellan's death against the treachery of Cebuanos. Miguel López de Legazpi pillaged and burned houses in Cebu for days. Cebuanos retreated, fearing the heavily armored Spaniards now with formidable reformed-infantry called Tercios composed of alabardero, alférez with a sword and Arcabucero with gunpowder. Miguel López de Legazpi directed Felipe de Salcedo along with Spanish Friar Martín de Rada and other Augustinian missionaries to look for food. They disembarked in Iloilo and established a temporary settlement in Araut somewhere in Dumangas. In 1566, they founded a settlement in the areas between Ogtong (Oton) and the present-day La Villa Rica de Arevalo district of Iloilo City. Though founded in 1566, Oton, which forms a big part of the area in the said settlement with Arevalo, was established formally in 1572 as the second official Spanish colonial outpost after Cebu City. The city was founded by 80 pure Spaniards from Europe and reinforced by 169 Mexican soldiers from Latin America.


title: Iloilo City

text: Unlike the Indianized Cebuanos who were neutral to the Spaniards or the partially Islamized Tagalogs of Manila who were more hostile, the people of Madja-as welcomed the Iberians as allies since at that time period, Madja-as was locked in a war against the invading Muslims, especially with the Sultanate of Brunei and its vassal states, the Sultanate of Sulu and the Kingdom of Maynila which, according to Spanish Governor-General Francisco de Sande, are their blood-cousins. The people then fervently accepted Christianity as they supplied the bulk of the mercenaries used in the conquest of partially Islamized Manila, whose rulers were related to the Sultan of Brunei.


title: Iloilo City

text: When the Spaniards came to the Visayas, they noted that the pirates among them were more terrifying than the Mohammedans of Jolo and Mindanao. All year long, after the harvest, they would sail toward faraway places to hunt slaves and make surprise attacks on settlements. Those who did not live along the rivers, would make their raids in the months of February, March, April, October and November, going deeper into the interior parts of the islands, sacking the villages. These raiding expeditions are called "panggubat" (noun) or "manggubat" (gerund verb form).


title: Iloilo City

text: However, upon Christianization and Hispanization, the fiercest slave-raiders among the Philippine islands, the people Panay and the other Christianized peoples of the archipelago were converted and reformed and they abandoned the practice of slaving, piracy and raiding and contented themselves to be simple soldiers or farmers.


title: Iloilo City

text: In 1581, Ronquillo moved the colonial center from Ogtong to approximately eastward due to recurrent raids by Moro pirates and Dutch and English privateers. He renamed this new colonial seat "La Villa Rica de Arévalo" in honor of his hometown in Ávila, Spain. Ronquillo also settled groups of Spanish and Mexican soldiers to become the first colonists of Arevalo as he built his mansion in the area. The Chinese traders supplying the colonists then established themselves in Iloilo's "parian" Molo. Meanwhile, Jaro was soon filled up with various kinds of mestizos (Mixed raced people) and Mandurriao hosted the growing Indian community near the Nanak Darbar Indian Sikh Temple.


title: Iloilo City

text: In the early days of the Spanish period; the first Manila Galleons were originally constructed at the port of Oton to the west of Iloilo. Since there was no precedent in Spain for the immensity of a Manila-Galleon, it could be argued that the proto-type Manila galleons were of Visayan design since the Visayans were already constructing huge multi-masted 4 to 5 decked caracoas in their wars against the other kingdoms and thus, the technical know-how to construct the first Manila galleons was an amelioration of Visayan shipbuilding with Spanish shipbuilding. Oton built the first Manila galleons before operations were eventually transferred to the Bicol and Cavite shipyards.


title: Iloilo City

text: In the year 1600, a large Muslim attack on Iloilo City was launched, with a force of 70 ships and 4,000 warriors, raiding and attacking several Visayan islands in order to abduct slaves. However, the attack was repulsed by a force of 1,000 Visayan warriors and 70 Mexican arquebusiers under the command of the Don Juan Garcia de Sierra (the Spanish "alcalde mayor"), who died in battle. With the increase in Moro incursions toward the end of the sixteenth century, Spanish defenses in the Visayas were strengthened by the construction of a fort at Iloilo staffed by two companies of (Mexican) soldiers.


title: Iloilo City

text: In 1635, in an effort to check the Islamic slave-raiding into the Visayas islands, the Christian Visayans from Iloilo together with Spanish officers and their Latino soldiers from Peru soon founded Zamboanga City and settled in it, using it as a fortress to prevent Moro attacks in the Visayas, and as a staging ground for Christian campaigns into Muslim Mindanao.


title: Iloilo City

text: In 1700, due to ever-increasing attacks especially from the Dutch and the Moros, the Spaniards again moved their seat of power some eastward to the village of Irong-Irong, which had natural and strategic defense against raids. At the mouth of the river that snakes through Panay, the Spaniards built the "Fortificación de Nuestra Señora del Rosario en el Puerto de Yloylo, Provincia de Oton" (now called "Fort San Pedro") to better guard against the raids which were now the only threat to their hold on the islands. Irong-Irong or Ilong-Ilong was shortened to Iloilo. Later, the natural port area quickly became the capital of the province.


title: Iloilo City

text: Spanish colonial local government in Iloilo allowed Chinese migrants which worked among the city's industries (the Locsin, Lopez, Jalandoni, Lim and Sy families) and Latin Americans from across the Pacific (Viceroyalty of New Spain) to man its military fortifications (the Araneta, De Rama and Arroyo families). 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.


title: Iloilo City

text: Sometimes referred to as the "Textile Capital of the Philippines", the products were exported to Manila and other foreign places. Sinamay, piña, and jusi are examples of the products produced by the looms of Iloilo. Because of the rise of the textile industry, there was also a rise of the upper middle class. However, with the introduction of cheap textile from the UK and the emergence of the sugar economy, the industry waned in the mid-19th century.


title: Iloilo City

text: The waning textile industry was replaced, however, by the opening of Iloilo's port to the world market in 1855. Because of this, Iloilo's industry and agriculture was put on direct access to foreign markets. But what triggered the economic boom of Iloilo in the 19th century was the development of the sugar industry in Iloilo and its neighboring island of Negros. Sugar during the 19th century was of high demand. Nicholas Loney, the British vice-consul in Iloilo, developed the industry by giving loans, constructing warehouses in the port, and introducing new technologies in sugar farming. The rich families of Iloilo developed large areas of Negros, which were later called haciendas, because of sugar's high demand in the world market. Because of the increase in commercial activity, infrastructures, recreational facilities, educational institutions, banks, foreign consulates, commercial firms and much more sprouted in Iloilo.


title: Iloilo City

text: On October 5, 1889, due to the economic development that was happening in Iloilo, making it the most important port in the Philippine Islands next to Manila, Iloilo was raised from the status of a town to a city through a Royal Decree, and on 7 January 1890, the city government was established thru an inauguration headed by then Spanish Governor-General Valeriano Weyler, and Iloilo became the second Royal City in the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies, after Manila. In 1893, the royal Spanish decree was ratified through a 2nd (legal) declaration by the virtue of "Bacura/Becerra Law". Iloilo City was the second-most important city in the archipelago at the end of the Spanish Regime.


title: Iloilo City

text: The immediate reaction of Ilonggo elite to the outbreak of the 1896 rebellion in Manila was that of surprise. They immediately responded with protestations of outrage and affirmed their loyalty to Spain. The Ilonggos themselves were united in their support of Spain during the first two years of the revolutionary period.


title: Iloilo City

text: Shortly after the "Cry of Balintawak", the Jaro Ayuntamiento (another colonial city adjacent to Iloilo City), composed of native Ilonggos, convened a special session on September 1, 1896, where the Manila uprising was condemned as an unpatriotic act "that finds no echo in the noble hearts of Jareños, who do not forget the immense gratitude they owe Spain who, from nothing, raised us to a life of civilization and progress."


title: Iloilo City

text: The Ayuntamiento of Iloilo also affirmed its allegiance and loyalty to Spain and made a similar protestation. Condemning the uprising, the city's letter to the Governor General says:


title: Iloilo City

text: ""Those dark betrayals, the mere notion of which embarrasses good and loyal Filipinos, have produced a unanimous sentiment of protest and indignation among the Ilongo people, who engrave its most honorable blazon in the sacred and inextinguishable love that it professes to the glorious Spanish nationality that it legitimately feels proud of. The Ilongos are Spaniards, Your Excellency, and Spaniards will they be until death, because they do not want to live and die in another way than under the shadow of the august Castillan standard, to which they owe being dignified and free men now.""


title: Iloilo City

text: The foreign community in the city also asked its representatives to visit local authorities and to elevate their protests against the revolt. And so did the Filipino parish priests of Jaro, Molo, Mandurriao, and Arévalo. Towns in Iloilo province also condemned the Manila uprising, and those of the neighboring provinces of Cápiz and Antique, as well as the island of Negros, followed suit. This emboldened the Ilonggo elite to initiate the organization of volunteers to be sent to quell what was seen as a mostly-Tagalog rebellion. The move was backed by the Spanish and foreign communities of Iloilo. A battalion of five hundred native volunteers was raised, which was divided into two companies, and placed under the cadre of mostly Spanish officers. They arrived in Manila on January 16, 1897. They were one of the largest native contingent to serve the government forces against Katipunan troops led by Emilio Aguinaldo, in the battlegrounds of Cavite province.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Ilonggo volunteers established for themselves a distinguished combat record in Cavite. Once the Pact of Biak-na-Bato was signed, they returned to Iloilo. In April 1898 their homecoming, just like their departure, was met with much fanfare. This galvanized the Ilonggos into more public outpourings and manifestations of loyalty to Spain.


title: Iloilo City

text: Due to the loyalty of the Ilonggos, the city of Iloilo was honored with the perpetual title of "Muy Noble" (Most Noble). The Royal Decree granting this title was signed on March 1, 1898, by Queen Regent Maria Cristina. Over time, this title earned for Iloilo City the reputation of it being the "Queen's Favored City in the South" or simply "Queen's City in the South", being the second Spanish port of importance next to Manila, and being located south of the archipelago's Capital. On a side note, at the beginning of the American period until the Second World War, Cebu became the second port of importance (Iloilo having been partly ravaged by bombardment, fire, and riots during the American occupation of Iloilo City).


title: Iloilo City

text: Yet, it was also during this period of Philippine history that Iloilo was more popularly known as the "Queen City of the South". This points to the fact that the moniker was associated with the Queen Regent's favor and with the honorary title granted to Iloilo City as "La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad" (The Most Loyal and Noble City), due to the loyalty of its citizens to the Spanish Crown. Besides, the Ilonggos, who were among the first allies of the Spanish Crown in the archipelago, contributed in the Spanish conquest of Luzon. It was in Arevalo (later, a district of Iloilo City), Panay that the conquest of Luzon was planned and launched, on May 8, 1570, with the help of seafaring inhabitants of the Island.


title: Iloilo City

text: After the defeat of the Spanish forces at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, the Capital of the Spanish East Indies was transferred to Iloilo, with General Diego de los Rios as the new Governor General residing in the city. A truce was declared between the American and the Spanish forces pending the negotiations of the joint commission of both warring Countries in Paris, France for the terms of peace. Meanwhile, General Aguinaldo sent several small vessels to Panay with Tagalog revolutionaries in order to stir up rebellion in the Visayas. He was anxious to secure all territories he could before the conditions for peace should be settled in Paris. At stake was the hope that actual possession of territories would influence the final decision.


title: Iloilo City

text: By October 1898, fresh Tagalog expeditions were sent to Panay and coerced or persuaded its people to rise in greater force than ever, until finally, General de los Rios had to fall back to Iloilo. By the middle of November, after having secured the support of the inhabitants of the towns outside Iloilo through the leadership of General Martín Delgado, practically the whole island of Panay, except for Iloilo (the City Proper), Jaro, La Paz, and Molo, was under the revolutionary dominion. By December, de los Rios held only the city and port of Iloilo.


title: Iloilo City

text: On December 25, 1898 (fifteen days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10), the Spanish government surrendered to the Ilonggo revolutionaries at Plaza Alfonso XII (Plaza Libertad today), making Iloilo the last capital of the Spanish Empire in Asia and the Pacific. Military Provincial Governor Ricardo Monet, who was representing Governor General de los Rios, together with Lt. Col. Agustín Solís, formally handed over Plaza Alfonso XII to Delgado, who represented Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the newly established Philippine Republic, in Iloilo. Delgado was named provincial governor afterwards.


title: Iloilo City

text: The newly found freedom of the Ilonggos would be short-lived. The American forces arrived in Iloilo on December 27, 1898, under the command of General Marcus P. Miller, and were afterwards reinforced up to a total strength of about 3,000 troops and two ships, to take possession of the territory in accordance with the Treaty of Paris.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Federal State of the Visayas was established on December 2, 1898, to promote the ideal of federation for an independent Philippine nation. It was composed of the Cantonal governments of Bohol and Negros, as well as the Provisional Government in the Visayas, which exercised powers over Panay and Romblon. The government of the federal state was patterned after the United States federalism and the Swiss confederacy. The government was reportedly created following consultations with Emilio Aguinaldo. Roque Lopez, who was the president of the provisional government in Panay, became the federal state's president and Iloilo City was designated as the Visayas capital.


title: Iloilo City

text: After the Spanish forces left the city, the revolutionary forces made a formal entry amidst music and banners. A government was constituted. On January 17, 1899, an election placed Raymundo Melliza, of a notable family from Molo that was respected by both the natives and foreigners, to office as Mayor. However, the influence of the new regime established by the government of Aguinaldo did not have effective extent far beyond a day's march from the Capital. At the threshold of the City and Province of Iloilo, the Americans were waiting for a signal from Manila. Two more ships supplemented the U.S. forces, even though no clashes with the revolutionaries took place after the Spaniards abandoned the city. Miller expressed demands for the surrender of Iloilo but no gun was fired. The Americans were waiting for the right moment, for it was not until February 6, 1899, that the American Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris.


title: Iloilo City

text: On February 4, hostilities broke out between Aguinaldo's forces and the Americans in Luzon. Emissaries brought Aguinaldo's message to the Ilonggos to hold the City against the enemies. The demand for surrender was renewed by Miller, on February 7, upon receipt of orders from Manila, with the threat to bombard Iloilo by the 12th day of the month if no surrender would take place.


title: Iloilo City

text: As the Americans were preparing to attack the city, the 1,650 native troops under General Martin Delgado became uncontrollable and insolent to their officers. They were promised a monthly remuneration of Php4 and food, but only received Php1. Threats of mutiny, sacking and burning of the city, forced the Generals to collect money from the towns of Panay in order to appease the Visayan contingents. The same thing happened to the Tagalog component of the troops. The danger of riots in the city and the attitude of native soldiers fomented fear among the inhabitants. Chinese merchants closed their stores leaving only a small hole for transacting business. Many prominent families, who were in constant fear for their safety, went over to Negros Island in small schooners that flew the Philippine flag, without having any trouble with the American ships on standby in the waters between the two islands.


title: Iloilo City

text: On February 10, an Extraordinary Session at the City Hall discussed plans for the impending bombardment of the city. There was a proposal to burn Iloilo, but the Mayor protested to this barbarous plan. A majority in the meeting was in favor of burning, which was seen as an invitation to despoil, lay waste and slay. The instigators who had no property interests in Iloilo, but who were so jealous of those who have, found a ready response of the Tagalog mercenaries, who had no local attachment to the city.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Americans fired the first shell on February 11, 1899. Foreign eyewitnesses observed that the bombardment damaged quite a few buildings. In the meantime, from early morning, the withdrawing native soldiers, followed by a riffraff mob, were observed to have rushed hither and thither, throwing firebrands on to petroleum-washed houses. The Chinese had to barricade themselves to no use since fire burned their bazaars. Europeans and the Spanish half-castes had to defend themselves with every means possible, including bribing the rioters with a few pesos. Two British warships in the roadstead sent boats ashore and landed a party of marines, who made a gallant effort to save foreign properties, as the United Kingdom had a strong business interest in Iloilo and a Consulate.


title: Iloilo City

text: By 1 o'clock of the same day, the Americans made a landing and restored order. Sentinels were stationed to protect what still remained of the townspeople's goods. In due course, indemnity claims were forwarded to the American military authorities, but were all rejected.


title: Iloilo City

text: Ten years later, an article published in the local paper "Nuevo Heraldo" summarized the downfall of the Queen City in these words:


title: Iloilo City

text: "The fire left behind only the name Iloilo, as the main part of the city was reduced to ashes by the retreating Ilongo troops. That event was the cause of the ruin of such a beautiful city, second only to Manila, where, if there was not a surplus of money, neither the people's welfare was wanting, and life was prosperous and peaceful. If the brain who planted such an unqualified act had measured the consequences... maybe he would never have dared doing it..."


title: Iloilo City

text: By February 1899, the Americans had started mobilizing to colonize anew the City and Province. They continued to meet resistance from the Ilonggos, which lasted up to 1901. In which case, Iloilo was also among the last cities to fall to Americans. Many leaders surrendered to the new regime and were reintegrated to the Ilonggo society without conditions. Among them was General Martin Delgado, who accepted the position of Governor of the Province of Iloilo from 1901 to 1904, under the American flag. He was, at that time, the highest-paid Governor in the whole Archipelago, receiving $3,000 gold annually.


title: Iloilo City

text: Local government was established in some towns of Iloilo by April 11, 1901. Jose Maria Gay was appointed Alcalde, Matias Hibiernas was teniente alcalde of Iloilo;Jose Yusay was President of Molo; Pablo Borromeo was President of Arevalo; Ruperto Montinola was the lone representative of Jaro, but was not its president; Madurriao's president was Emigdio Mesa. Emilio Magbanua was appointed its police delegate. It was observed by Juan de Leon, judge of the Court of First Instance that there existed a rivalry between the pueblos of Iloilo, Jaro and Molo, which are adjacent to and are only half an hour travel by carriage from each other. Besides, Molo and Jaro are residential pueblos, and Iloilo was the business town for both. It was also recommended that Arevalo be joined to Molo, and La Paz to Jaro. The aggregate population of these territories was at 100,000 in 1901. Presidents and other representatives were also appointed for the towns of Alimodian, Miag-ao, Janiuay, Mina, Oton, Passi, Guimbal, Pototan, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, San Miguel, Pavia, Sara, Nagaba (currently known as Nueva Valencia), San Enrique, Lambunao, Cordoba (a barangay of Tigbauan today), Cabatuan, Leganes, Tigbauan, Banate, Buena Vista, Navalas, Tubungan, Duenas, Mandurriao, Maasin, Lucena, and Leon. Other formerly existing ones, like Anilao and Barotac Viejo, were fused with other towns.


title: Iloilo City

text: As the aftermath of the revolution and the Filipino–American War, it was clear to all the most sober-minded and best-educated Ilonggos that Aguinaldo's government was a failure in Panay at least. Visayans of position, with property interests at stake, were convinced that absolute independence without any control or protection from some established political power was premature and doomed to disaster. The Visayan grudge against the Tagalog predominance was also a factor that contributed to the failure of Aguinaldo's government. But the aggravating factor was the dictatorial air and brutal conduct of the Tagalog troops, which destroyed the theory of fraternal unity. Ananias Diocno, the Tagalog contingents' leader known for severity in his Capiz and Iloilo campaigns, left a lasting non-commendable remembrance in the history of Panay.


title: Iloilo City

text: In 1900, no Americans reverted the city's status into a township. By virtue of Act No. 719 of 1903, the municipalities of Jaro, La Paz, Mandurriao, and Molo, were incorporated into the municipality of Iloilo. Pavia was also incorporated into Iloilo from Santa Barbara by virtue of Act No. 1333 19 April 1905. Later, Executive Order No. 64 24 December 1907 separated Pavia and Jaro from Iloilo and constituted them as the municipality of Jaro with effect on February 15, 1908. La Paz was re-established as a separate municipality in 1920 by virtue of Executive Order No. 70 signed on October 11, 1919.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Americans initiated the construction of the Baluarte and Arroyo streets, the extension of Delgado Street to Valeria and from Fuentes and Jalandoni streets up to the present-day U.P. in the Visayas. Quezon and Mabini streets were asphalted while their sidewalks were also constructed. More significant was the installation of streetlights all throughout the city in 1921. In 1926, the widening of important streets, like General Luna, J.M. Basa and Ledesma, was started. In 1927, an improved street, Valeria-Ledesma (formerly known as Weyler), was inaugurated (David 1937).


title: Iloilo City

text: During the American colonial regime that time in the Philippine islands, the Americans brought with them their Protestant faith. A comity agreement was made in 1898 that the Philippine islands would be divided into different Protestant denominations for missionary works to avoid future conflicts; Iloilo is one of the first favored places in the country where the early Protestant sects came because of the city's economic prominence and importance next to Manila during such time. Western Visayas and Negros, in accordance with the comity agreement, was given to the religious jurisdictions of the Baptists, although other Protestant sects were allowed to do missions in the same area.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Protestant missionaries initiated large-scale enterprises in the predominantly Catholic province. The Presbyterians established the first Protestant and American hospital in the country, the Iloilo Mission Hospital. Supposedly it came also that Iloilo is the original location for foundation of Silliman University, the first Protestant and American university in the country and in Asia. However, due to the Catholic opposition where the school will stand, the founder, David Hibbard, prospected some new locations. He went to Cebu and later had a side trip in Dumaguete City, where he had a decision to establish and where Silliman University is presently located.


title: Iloilo City

text: Baptists on the other hand, established institutions like Central Philippine University in 1905, as the first Baptist-founded and second American university in Asia; the Jaro Evangelical Church, the first Baptist church in the Philippines; and the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, the oldest Baptist organizational body in the Philippines. Later, the Seventh-day Adventists established the Jaro Adventist Center, the first organized Seventh-day Adventist church outside Manila.


title: Iloilo City

text: Central Philippine University was established through a grant given by the then richest American industrialist and oil magnate John D. Rockefeller. Central Philippine University pioneered the work-study program in the country which was later patterned and followed by other institutions and has also established the first and oldest student governing body in South East Asia modeled on the American civil government, the Central Philippine University Republic in 1906 after the Jaro Industrial School, CPU's forerunner, was established.


title: Iloilo City

text: Under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1901, the Sabine Haines Memorial Union Mission Hospital (Union Mission Hospital) was established by American missionary doctor Joseph Andrew Hall and his wife Jane Russell Hall. The hospital is also the first hospital for soldiers and the constabulary (predecessor of the Philippine National Police) during the American colonial regime in the country. The hospital pioneered the nursing education in the country through the establishment of the Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses, the first nursing school in the Philippines. Later, the hospital was handed over to the Protestant Baptists. In 1931, the Union Mission Hospital moved to its present site in a property bought by the Baptists, thus a year later in 1932, the hospital changed its name to Iloilo Mission Hospital along with its nursing school. The school was later transferred and became and organic academic unit of the Central Philippine University (the present-day Central Philippine University College of Nursing. Iloilo Mission Hospital has over the years associated with Central Philippine University as its university hospital (CPU-Iloilo Mission Hospital).


title: Iloilo City

text: Up to the present, the various evangelical Protestant denominations (composing around 2.8% of the Filipinos) and their educational institutions also serve Catholic students in Iloilo, who make up 83% of the population.


title: Iloilo City

text: Seizure of friar lands and parishes and the above-mentioned Protestant activities gave the American and Filipino public an impression of an anti-Catholic stance of the U.S. occupation of the Islands during the first years of the American rule. The Taft Commission, the sole legislative body of the American government for the Philippines (then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States) while still under the Philippine–American War, were attacked by Catholic press in New York for anti-Catholic bigotry. Soon, pressures from influential Catholics in the United States, and also in Ireland caused President Theodore Roosevelt to appoint a Catholic in the commission to defend Catholic interest in the Philippines. Influential Catholics in Manila followed suit. Worries about Catholic vote in national elections moved the civil government to send the commission to the Vatican to negotiate exploring workable to solutions to the Catholic question in the newly acquired territory. Before coming to Rome, the head of the Commission personally visited the Cardinal Archbishop of Baltimore. Pace by pace, acceptable solutions were employed. In 1902, the President of the United States of America commissioned two American Augustian friars to pioneer a movement to send American priests out to the Philippines to replace the Spanish friars, who diminished in number (1,013 in 1898 to 246 in 1903) due to normal loss of personnel due to death or retirement, death caused by native hostilities, or voluntary return to Spain.


title: Iloilo City

text: In Iloilo, American Catholics countered the Protestant American missions and the American Catholic bishops, like Frederick Rooker, Dennis Joseph Dougherty, and James McCloskey, were named for the Roman Catholic See of Jaro in Iloilo City. These bishops sustained the educational achievements of the Spanish friars by bringing in American and European Catholic missionaries, among whom were the Sisters of Charity of St. Paul, and Augustinian missionary priests. The Augustinians, who were the first to bring the Christian faith in the Philippines as well as in Panay island, and who built the centuries-old heritage churches in this island, established the Collegio de San Agustín in 1904, which eventually became the only university of the Augustinian Order in Asia. During the American regime, their confreres from the United States developed evermore this institution, which later became the first university in Iloilo. The American Catholic Bishops also maintained and upgraded the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary (established in 1869 as the Collegio-Seminario de San Vicente Ferrer), which was the first institution of higher learning in Western Visayas. Despite the Augustinians being Catholics and Baptists being Protestants, they mutually enriched each other through dialogue mainly because Augustinian ideals were the foundations of Protestantism since the first Protestant was Martin Luther and he was a former Augustinian priest himself and the Protestant zeal for reformation from corruption even started some reform in the church itself. Saint Ezekiel Moreno who was ordained in the Minor Orders in Jaro, Iloilo had walked the fine line between reform, obedience and leadership since he ministered and walked hand in hand with condemned rebels and criminals in the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, he was also obedient to his superiors in the Order of Augustinian Recollects, a reform or "Recollection" movement in the Augustinian Order, which took elements from the Protestant Reformation. Saint Ezekiel Moreno also became the leader of a political movement when he became a Bishop of Pasto, Colombia.


title: Iloilo City

text: The visitation of Saint Ezekiel Moreno is a harmonized incarnation of the ancient Convivència in Spain when different religions and kingdoms; Pagan, Christian, Jewish and Muslim lived side by side and struggled to maintain their perspective purity, contested with each other and yet also mutually enriched each other without turning into a mongrelized melting pot of a mixed up and confused morass. Coincidentally, Saint Ezekiel Moreno was ordained in the Minor Orders in the then church of Jaro which housed a Virgin Mary statue under the Title of "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Jaro". An image with complex Convivència alluding properties due to the confluence of many symbols from various cultures simultaneously present in the image but it is likely not earthly of nature and is a pure grace direct from heaven or an image "Not carved by human hands" due to its miraculous nature which was found floating in a river, shifting in weight and growing in size.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Paulinian Sisters took charge of St. Paul Hospital, originally owned by the Catholic Diocese of Jaro. Bishop Dennis Joseph Dougherty, who later became Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia, gave the medical facilities to the Sisters. To commemorate the bishop's generosity, the hospital named a more recent section of the facilities after him: the CADMA (Cardinal Dougherty Medical Annex). To meet the growing need to provide nurses for their hospital, the Paulinians also opened a nursing school. Today, this institution has also become a university (St. Paul University Iloilo), and has ever since supplied high-quality healthcare professionals known worldwide for their skills and dedication to work.


title: Iloilo City

text: During the American colonial occupation, one of the platforms by the colonial government was first to establish and implement a public education system in the islands and the Thomasites were deployed and commissioned by the American government to teach in the public schools that will be established. The Thomasites tolerated religious freedom, which is one of the foundations of the United States constitution and legacy to the Philippines, while commissioned and under their tutelage to teach in public schools during the colonial period. Public schools that were established when the Thomasites came to Iloilo are Iloilo Normal School, the present-day West Visayas State University (formally established in 1924 but dates back its founding in 1902 as part of the Philippine Normal School System in the Philippines); the Iloilo National High School, the first public provincial high school in the islands; and Baluarte Elementary School, the first public elementary school in the islands.


title: Iloilo City

text: Commonwealth Act No. 57 was passed in 1936 granting city status to Iloilo; this charter was immediately amended by Commonwealth Act No. 158 some days later to incorporate the municipalities of La Paz and Arevalo as part of the new city's territory. Iloilo regained cityhood status on July 16, 1937, through Commonwealth Act 158. Incorporated as part of Iloilo City were the towns of La Paz and Arévalo and inaugurated on August 25, 1937. The municipality of Jaro, on the other hand, was incorporated into Iloilo City some years later by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 604 22 August 1940, which amended the city charter of Iloilo to include, into Iloilo City, the municipality of Jaro "on the date that the President of the Philippines may set by proclamation". To that effect, President Manuel L. Quezon issued Proclamation No. 663 on January 7, 1941, giving January 16 as the date of Jaro's incorporation into Iloilo City. Sugar's demand was declining, labor unrests in the port area scared the investors away, and the opening of the sub-port of Pulupandan in Negros Occidental moved the sugar importation closer to the sugar farms.


title: Iloilo City

text: By 1942, the Japanese invaded Panay and the economy moved into a standstill. During World War II, Iloilo was controlled by several Japanese battalions. Japan's ultimate goal was to entrench itself deeply into the Philippines so that at the close of the war they could occupy it just as the Spanish and the Americans had years before.


title: Iloilo City

text: When Iloilo was liberated by Filipino and American forces from Japanese military occupation on March 25, 1945, the remnants of these battalions were held in Jaro Plaza as a makeshift detention facility.


title: Iloilo City

text: The war heavily damaged the infrastructure in Iloilo. However, the continuing conflict between the labor unions in the port area, declining sugar economy, and the deteriorating peace and order situation in the countryside, the exodus of Ilonggos to other cities, provinces/regions and islands that offered better opportunities and business. People were moving to other cities such as Bacolod, Cebu, and Manila that led to Iloilo's decline in economic importance in central Philippines. Rural agricultural areas continued to help the local economy. For years, because of this exodus of investors, Iloilo's economy progressed in a moderate pace.


title: Iloilo City

text: Change slowly came. First came the construction of the fishing port and a new international seaport. One by one, commercial business firms invested in Iloilo, spurring on the city to its eventual recovery.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo became a highly urbanized city on December 22, 1979, by the virtue of Batas Pambansa Blg. 51. Corollary to this new status, its residents effectively lost their eligibility to vote for provincial officials.


title: Iloilo City

text: After the opening of the new commercial and business center in Mandurriao district and with the construction of a national highway that traverses this area, big businesses like the SM Supermalls, SM Prime Holdings, Megaworld Corporation, Gaisano Capital, Robinsons Land, Ayala Corporation, and Filinvest poured in huge investments in the city, giving impetus and catalyst toward future progress.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo City is located in the southern shores of Panay Island. The city faces Iloilo Strait and Guimaras Island across it, making it a natural harbor and a safe anchorage for ships. It is bordered by the towns of Oton in the west, Pavia in the north and Leganes in the northeast. Just across the Iloilo Strait in its eastern and southern coastlines, are the towns of Buenavista and Jordan in the island-province of Guimaras


title: Iloilo City

text: The city lies on a flat alluvial plain, reclaimed mostly from the swampy areas due to urbanization and industrialization in the late 19th century until the present. Traversing the city are the rivers of Iloilo, Batiano, Jaro and Dungon Creek. Iloilo River is an estuary that separates the districts of City Proper, Molo and Villa Arevalo from the rest of the city. On the other hand, Jaro River is fed by its tributary rivers, Aganan and Tigum. Lately, a new escape channel for floodwaters coming from these two rivers to Iloilo Straight was developed, the Jaro Floodway. Iloilo City is from Manila, from Roxas City, from Kalibo, and from San Jose de Buenavista. The city has a total land area of .


title: Iloilo City

text: The city is divided into seven geographical districts. All of the districts were once individual towns, excluding Lapuz, which was a sub-district of La Paz until 2008. All districts have their own town centers complete with a plaza, a Roman Catholic church, a fire station, a police station and a public market. City Proper is a commercial area and the political center of the city and the Province of Iloilo and the Regional Government Center of Western Visayas.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo City is the center of the only officially recognized Metropolitan Area in Western Visayas. The metropolitan area is composed of the City of Iloilo, the municipalities of Leganes, Pavia, Santa Barbara, Cabatuan, San Miguel, Oton, the Island Province of Guimaras and its five municipalities, namely – Sibunag, San Lorenzo, Nueva Valencia, Buenavista and Jordan.


title: Iloilo City

text: The city of Iloilo has one legislative district and is further divided into seven administrative districts, which are also subdivided into barangays (barrios), with a total of 180 city barangays.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo City has a tropical wet and dry climate as according to the Köppen climate classification system, with pronounced wet season from June throughout November; then dry season from December to May.


title: Iloilo City

text: Hiligaynon is the dominant language of Iloilo City. English is used as the language of business and education. In addition, other local languages such as Karay-a (also known as Kinaray-a or obsolete Haraya) is also spoken by the minority. Spanish, once widely spoken during the colonial era up to the 1980s, is dying out, though a broken Spanish creole is spoken by a few of some Spanish-blood families and elderly sugar barons.


title: Iloilo City

text: Hiligaynon is spoken in Panay, Guimaras and Negros islands, and is part of the Visayan language family of the Malayo-Polynesian languages. Because Iloilo was a former Spanish colony for 300 years, Hiligaynon is heavily influenced by the Spanish language with a plethora of loaned words "(Guerra, Puerta, Golpe, Aguanta, Puerto, Calle, and Edificio, among others)". Hiligaynon is mainly concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras and Negros Occidental. The language is referred to as "Ilonggo" () in Iloilo and Negros Occidental. More precisely, "Ilonggo" is the ethno-linguistic group referring to the inhabitants of Iloilo and the culture associated with native Hiligaynon speakers. The distinction between the terms, Ilonggo and Hiligaynon, is unclear however, as many townspeople state that Hiligaynon is the language being spoken and Ilonggo is a term used to refer a person living in Iloilo or its associated culture and ethnicity.


title: Iloilo City

text: Based on the 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH), Iloilo City, a highly urbanized city in the province of Iloilo, posted a total population of 424,619 persons as of May 1, 2010. This is larger by 58,228 persons compared to its total population of 366,391 persons counted in the 2000 CPH. The increase in the population count from 2000 to 2010 translated to an average annual population growth rate (PGR) of 1.49 percent. This is lower than the 1.70 percent annual PGR of the city between the census years 1990 and 2000.


title: Iloilo City

text: If the average annual PGR recorded at 1.49 percent during the period 2000 to 2010 continues, the population of Iloilo City would double in 47 years.


title: Iloilo City

text: Forty years ago, the population of Iloilo City was only 209,738 persons. This population size is one-half of the population of the city in the 2010 CPH.


title: Iloilo City

text: Among the 180 barangays comprising Iloilo City, barangay Calumpang was the most populous. Its population size was 2.6 percent of the total population of the city. San Juan came in second in terms of population size, with 2.3 percent share. This was followed by Balabago and Tabuc Suba (Jaro) with 2.0 percent each, Calaparan and So-oc with 1.9 percent each, Molo Boulevard with 1.8 percent, Santo Niño Sur with 1.7 percent, Cubay and Obrero-Lapuz with 1.6 percent each, and Bolilao with 1.5 percent. The rest of the barangays contributed less than 1.5 percent each.


title: Iloilo City

text: The least populated barangay was Roxas Village with less than 0.1 percent share to the total population of the city. It was also the least populated barangay in 2000.


title: Iloilo City

text: As the second National Shrine in the Visayas and Mindanao (first in Western Visayas and second Marian dedicated church to do so in Visayas and Mindanao), Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral is widely known as the seat of Roman Catholicism in Western Visayas.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo City is one of the notable centers of faith in the Philippines. Due to the heavy religions missions during the 300 years of Spanish colonialization, the city's population is predominant Catholic with over 90% belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. Other religious minorities such as Protestants (5%), Iglesia ni Cristo (2%) and Aglipayans (1%) (also a form of Episcopal Protestantism) have a significant presence at the city.


title: Iloilo City

text: The former city of Jaro (one of the present districts (boroughs) of Iloilo City) is the seat of bishopric and pioneer Christian institutions not only in Western Visayas but in the whole Philippines established through the Spanish colonization. The Spaniards which brought the Catholic faith established the Roman Catholic metropolitan see of the Archdiocese of Jaro with its diocesan cathedral while the Americans which brought the Protestantism established the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (the first and oldest Baptist churches organization in the Philippines), the Jaro Evangelical Church (the first Baptist church in the Philippine islands), and Jaro Adventist Center (first organized Adventist church in the Philippines).


title: Iloilo City

text: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese is one of the oldest and largest bishopric sees in the country. It was established as a parish in 1587 initially covering Catmon, Cabatuan and Maasin. It was created a diocese by virtue of a papal bull of Pope Pius IX on May 27, 1865. It has jurisdiction over sufragan bishops of Mindoro, Palawan, Zamboanga, the province of Iloilo, Negros Oriental, Guimaras, San Jose de Buenavista, Capiz, Bacolod, San Carlos and Kabankalan in Negros Occidental.


title: Iloilo City

text: It lost some of its territory to establish the Diocese of Zamboanga and Apostolic Prefecture of Palawan. Much later, three other ecclesiastical jurisdictions were established from parts of its territory: Diocese of Bacolod (July 15, 1932), Apostolic Prefecture of Mindoro (July 2, 1936), and Diocese of Capiz (January 27, 1951). The diocese was elevated into a Metropolitan Archdiocese by Pope Pius XII. Later, on March 24, 1962, it lost further some of its territory that resulted to the establishment the Territorial Prelature of San Jose de Antique (but still a part of it at present).


title: Iloilo City

text: The Jaro Cathedral (National Shrine of the Our Lady of Candles) is the seat of the Archdiocese of Jaro. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and the Our Lady of Candles is the official Catholic patronesses of the Archdiocese. The Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria or Our Lady of the Candles is the official patron of the whole Western Visayas and Romblon.


title: Iloilo City

text: Being designated as a National Shrine, Jaro Cathedral is likewise widely known as the seat of Roman Catholicism in Western Visayas. The said designation (National Shrine) by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines is the first of its kind in the region, the second in the Visayas (after Cebu), and the first Marian-dedicated church outside of Luzon.


title: Iloilo City

text: Protestantism formed as the second-largest faith in the City of Iloilo. Protestant sects were brought by the Americans when the Philippines was ceded to American rule by Spain through the 1898 Treaty of Paris.


title: Iloilo City

text: The said faith brought by the United States in the heavily Roman Catholic Iloilo has gained adherents and still continues to grow at present. Iloilo which is one of the pioneering places in the country where Protestants set foot strongly contributed due to its economic importance on the international scene in the early 1900s. The American colonial government tolerated religious freedom that even to this day Iloilo is still predominantly Catholic.


title: Iloilo City

text: Presbyterians and Baptists are among the first Protestant sects that arrived in Iloilo. The arrival of the American Protestant denominations resulted in the establishment of notable pioneering institutions in Iloilo. The Presbyterians established the Iloilo Mission Hospital in 1901 (the first American and Protestant hospital in the Philippines) while Baptists established the American John D. Rockefeller-funded Central Philippine University in 1905 (the first Baptist and second American university in the Philippines and in Asia), Jaro Evangelical Church in 1900 (the first Baptist church in the Philippines and also the first Protestant church outside Manila (2nd in the Philippines after the Central United Methodist Church in Manila), and the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (the first and oldest Baptist churches organized in the Philippines).


title: Iloilo City

text: The Seventh-day Adventists did not join the comity agreement with the early Protestant sects for jurisdictional division on the Philippine islands for missionary works, because they wanted to go to any parts of the country. They arrived years later following the advent of Protestant missions in the Philippines in the early 1900s in Iloilo. Their arrival resulted in the founding of "Jaro Adventist Center", the first organized Seventh-day Adventist church outside Manila.


title: Iloilo City

text: There are other Christian sects such as Iglesia ni Cristo and Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints or Mormon and communities of non-Christian sects like Islam which brought by Muslim-Filipinos from the south, Sikhism by the Indian immigrants, and Taoism and Buddhism which brought by Chinese immigrants.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo City is a hub for trade, commerce, finance, technology, medical tourism, hospitality, real estate, tourism, education, and industry in the Western Visayas region. Major industries in the city include management of port facilities, telecommunications infrastructure and utilities, banking and finance, retail trading, real estate, tourism and business process outsourcing. The local government has provided incentives to businesses in certain investment areas, such as income tax holidays and free issuance of permits and licenses. It is the home of Mang Inasal, headquartered in Iloilo.


title: Iloilo City

text: During the Spanish colonial period, sugar was the main export product of Iloilo. The said industry brought immense wealth to the city alongside when its port was opened to the international trade. As a result, known and old-rich families' wealth was propelled by sugarcane plantations. It yielded affluent clans that are known in the region and the country up to today, which originated in Iloilo—"Lacson", "Locsin", "Ledesma", "Montinola", "Lopez", to name a few. After World War II, the sugar industry in Iloilo waned, and the importance of the city as the second most important economic center next to Manila diminished.


title: Iloilo City

text: It was in the 21st century that economic activity in Iloilo flourished after years that it slept in the corner. The opening of the Iloilo International Airport in 2007, which replaced the old Iloilo Airport in Mandurriao, paved the way for the city to prosper. The acquisition of the old airport after it was decommissioned and the construction of a business park on its site by the real estate giant Megaworld Corporation, became a catalyst for some land developers to invest in Iloilo.


title: Iloilo City

text: As a thriving economic hub in the Western Visayas region, an adequate and growing number of banks establishing branches leads the metropolis as the city with the most bank savings deposits and accounts in the Western Visayas region (third in the Philippines); the modernly built Iloilo International Airport is the fifth busiest airport in the country; the Port of Iloilo, which is one of the historical ports in the Philippine islands, is now one of the busiest ports and natural harbors in the country by terms of passenger movement and cargo handling; and with the on-going building construction boom, especially in the real estate and retail sectors. Iloilo City has the lowest crime rate in the Philippines, the lowest level of corruption, the highest life expectancy in Visayas and Mindanao, a large concentration of middle class, ranks first in the happiness index, and the most business-friendly city.


title: Iloilo City

text: There were 8,407 business establishments as of December 2003 in Iloilo City, of which 1,182 are new. Total capital investments for new business establishments is P365,506,020.92. However, both new and renewed capital investments for the year 2003 amounted to ₱13.02 billion. Of the employed person by type of industry from primary occupation 82% belongs to service sector, 14% belongs industry sector and only 4% are in agriculture (as of April 2003 FIES, NSO). Average annual family income (at current prices) is P 283,604 or a percentage increase of 32.3 between 1994 and 1997 while Average Annual Family Expenditures is P 226,887 or a 25.6% increase (2000 FIES).


title: Iloilo City

text: Average per Capita Income is P 65,136 and Average Per Capita Expenditures is P 51,557 (FIES 2000). Average Inflation Rate is 3.2, the Average Purchasing Power of the Peso is 0.62 and the Average Consumer Price Index (CPI) is 162.6 in 2003. (Source: NSO, Prices Section).


title: Iloilo City

text: The banking industry in Iloilo dates back during the Spanish times. The establishment of banks during such time is hinge to Iloilo's importance as an international gateway when its port was open for foreign ships to dock in, and the sugar-boom. The first Banco Español-Filipino (now Bank of the Philippines), opened its first branch outside of Manila in Iloilo. The first Philippine National Bank branch outside Manila also opened in the city. With that, there are also international banks implying the city's importance in banking history in the Philippines, that opened in Iloilo during Spanish-American times that ceased their operations in the city: the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), first HSBC branch outside Manila; and Standard Chartered (first Standard Chartered Bank branch outside Manila).


title: Iloilo City

text: At present, Iloilo ranks 3rd in the country as the city with most deposits or savings account, fueled by OFW remittances, IT-BPO industry, and the local industries. The surge of microfinancial and other lending institutions in the city has also sprouted. It is the headquarters of LifeBank MFI, the Iloilo's largest homegrown microfinancial institution (3rd largest microfinancial institution in the country) with ~500 branches across the Philippines.


title: Iloilo City

text: Queen City Development Bank (QueenBank) which is owned by the Florete Group, is one of the founding member of Megalink (the first bank outside of Manila to become a member of it) has its headquarters and 1st branch in Iloilo City.


title: Iloilo City

text: As a gateway to the Western Visayan region, tourism plays a major part as a catalyst in contributing to Iloilo City's economy. The metropolis hosts notable festivals which entice thousands of tourists annually especially during the Dinagyang, Paraw Regatta (Asia's oldest sailing event), and Fiesta de Candelaria festivals seasons. Iloilo City's bannered monickers like ""City of Love"" and ""City of Mansions"" and intensified local government's programs such as beautification of major thoroughfares in the city and building of parks, has played a role in attracting local and foreign visitors also. There are myriad of selections of attractions in the city that tourists can visit – heritage landmarks, museums, art galleries, parks, and restaurants, to name a few. Nightlife in the metro with Smallville Complex as the mecca for party-goers is flocked by revellers every night especially on Friday and weekends.


title: Iloilo City

text: A well known Philippine heritage city built during the Spanish era, heritage tourism adds also to the city's charm which magnets visitors. Centuries old churches, old edifices and mansions of well known Ilonggo families, magnets sightseers from different places who wants to discover Iloilo City's rich and glorious past. Iloilo City is also respected gastronomic capital with famous dishes originated in the area that gained popularity throughout the country – La Paz Batchoy, Pancit Molo, Kansi, Laswa, and KBL (Kadyos, Baboy kag Langka).


title: Iloilo City

text: In 2018 alone, the widespread promotions of Iloilo City paid off as it attracted the highest tourist arrivals in Western Visayas, posting 1,242,087 total arrivals including 1,154,550 domestic visitors; 70,787 foreign guests, and 16,750 overseas workers. Following in 2019, it garnered an 11.59% increase in the previous year's data. In 2020, the city again achieved its target with 1.4 million arrivals.


title: Iloilo City

text: The IT-BPO and KPO industry has spurred employment in the metropolis. IT-BPO and KPO locators are attracted to Iloilo because of the literacy rate and the number of graduates per year. With continuous influx of business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) industry, Iloilo has fast becoming a "Silicon Valley" backed by its political leaders. BPO investors are attracted to Iloilo due to stable energy source, availability of building spaces, high number of graduates and English Proficiency.


title: Iloilo City

text: Megaworld's Iloilo Business Park – One Global Center, Two Global Center, and Three Techno Place are Iloilo operation sites of Transcom Asia, StarTek, WNS Global and Convergent powered by Nearsol, respectively. While Richmonde Tower is where Reed Elsevier is operates. Other IT-BPO and KPO locators are Callbox (the largest homegrown IT-BPO company in Iloilo), "(Rethink Staffing)" (an American IT & BPM/BPO Company), Telus International, Legato Health Technologies, Asurion, Conectys, TeleTech Holdings, Inc., Crawford & Company, Savant Technologies (A non-voice KPO and BPO company), Eversun Philippines (a non voice KPO and BPO), Reed Elsevier, SPI-Global (Now Inspiro), WorldSource Inc., Vista Health Solutions, Xilium Professional Services, WNS, Hinduja Global Solutions, iXL Solution, RS2, Prosync (Process Synergy), Trusttel Customer Care, OneVirtual Global Business Solutions, Bluu Qatar Philippines, POWRD Solutions, iQor Iloilo, Accentline, Voiceless Technologies (Now Leadgen), XtendOps (Extend BPO), and Yazaki-Philippine EDS Techno Service.


title: Iloilo City

text: Inspiro (formerly SPI Global and PLDT E-Ventus) and Callbox are the two pioneering IT-BPO companies that first set their foot in Iloilo City.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) and Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) has named Iloilo City one of the next wave cities.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo City is a "City of Excellence" as it rivals the cities of Manila and Cebu in terms of economic progress. It has also a number of IT/BPO and KPO centers except for the ones in Iloilo Business Park, and among them is the Ayala Techno Hub Iloilo, Amigo Plaza Mall, SM City Iloilo, and Plazuela de Iloilo.


title: Iloilo City

text: Some of the known IT/BPO centers in Iloilo Business Park, both by Megaworld Corporation while the Iloilo City Center by the Gaisano Group has business process outsourcing (BPO) office buildings undergoing construction for future IT-BPO and KPO locators occupancy.


title: Iloilo City

text: As the shopping hub of Western Visayas, retail industry has a big relevant presence in Iloilo City since Spanish and American colonial times. Proliferated after Philippines gained Independence from United States of America.


title: Iloilo City

text: In 1877, the first department store in the Philippines was Hoskyn Department Store started at "Calle Real" (or Royal Street) which stretches from Plaza Libertad to Plazoleta Gay. It was first to employ the "fixed pricing" for its commodities in merchandising. Since it was "the store that sold everything from needle to anchor", people of Iloilo and even Bacolod flocked buying from its goods such as English wool imported from England. It offered groceries, hardware, stationery, toys, watches, jewelry, machinery, buttons, threads, etc. It was described as "a great store" and "the best in the islands", Dauncey recounted how she bought "pieces of furniture, some groceries, china, glass, and so forth" from Hoskyn's "at low prices, as they have such an immense business, even being able to compete with the shops in Manila..." by Enid Rolanda Dauncey, wife of Iloilo-based British businessman Campbell Dauncey, in her 1906 memoirs "An Englishwoman in the Philippines". "It has long been a commercial landmark in the Bisayas, people call on it for everything and always get what they want," incorporated in 1925. After the World War II, Que Family acquired Hoskyns and renaimed it to " Washington Commercial " as their second store. They have "Washington Grocery" in Iznart Street. Subsequently, it was renamed "Washington Supermart".


title: Iloilo City

text: Marymart Shopping Center opened in 1972 in called Weyler ( renamed later as Valeria (Ledesma), owner of the land) by Jamora Brothers. Henry Sy purchased land an adjacent lot in Valeria and founded the SM Iloilo now called SM Delgado, is the "first SM outside Manila", which started operating in 1979 while Cebu only opened 14 years after in 1993 and Bacolod in 2007. In 1993, Jimenez family sold their property and Atrium Shopping Center was opened beside Caza Plaza Hotel. It was first shopping center to have a combination of hotel, restobar, Saloon, Supermarket and Restaurants in the whole Philippines.


title: Iloilo City

text: With the growing demand of consumerism and real estate, Philippine companies such as – SM Prime Holdings, Robinsons Land Corporation, Megaworld Corporation, and Ayala has fueled the popularity of mall culture in Iloilo.


title: Iloilo City

text: SM City Iloilo by SM Prime Holdings, the largest SM Supermall in Western Visayas (one of the largest in the Philippines); Robinsons Place Iloilo and Robinsons Place Jaro – both by Robinsons Land Corporation; & by Megaworld Corporation's – Festive Walk Iloilo, "the first (full-scale) Megaworld Lifestyle Mall outside Luzon" and Festive Walk Parade, "the longest dining strip in the Philippines".


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo City is the regional capital of Western Visayas region and the provincial capital of Iloilo province. It is one of the important economic centers in the Philippines and regional and provincial offices of national government agencies has offices in the city. It is classified as a first income class and highly urbanized city (HUC). Due to such status and classification, it is independent from the province of Iloilo, thus its citizens does not have the power to elect for political provincial officials.


title: Iloilo City

text: The city dates back its founding in 1566 through a settlement established by the Spaniards in the areas of Oton and Villa de Arevalo and received its cityhood status thrice – first on October 5, 1889 (effectivity in 1890) through a Spanish royal decree issued by the Queen Regent of Spain, Maria Christina, secondly in 1893 through a legal declaration by the virtue of "Bacura/Becerra Law" ratifying the first royal decree and establishing the city government of Iloilo, and the third through a virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 158 on July 16, 1937, formally inaugurated on August 25, 1937, as a chartered city, by consolidating the existing City of Iloilo with the towns of Arevalo, Mandurriao, Molo, and La Paz, while the City of Jaro was officially annexed on January 7, 1941, through the virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 604 of August 22, 1940, issued by President Manuel L. Quezon. By such decrees, the City of Iloilo is the first legal city in the Philippines because no law ratifies and established by the government that creates and enacts an edict declaring or elevating a town into a status of a city during Spanish and early American colonial periods.


title: Iloilo City

text: The city acquired its royal title ""La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad"" (The Most Loyal and Noble City) on March 1, 1898, given by Queen Regent Maria Christina of Spain due to the loyalty stand by the Ilonggos to the Spanish crown during the Philippine war of independence. It is likewise one of the few "Spanish Royal Cities in the Philippines" during the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Mayor of Iloilo City "(Alcalde)" is the chief executive and is assisted by the vice mayor "(vice-alcalde)" which governs the city. The city is also represented by a congressman in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. The Iloilo City Council (Filipino: "Sangguniang Panglungsod ng Iloilo" and Spanish: "Consejo de Ciudad de Iloilo") is the local legislative assembly. Its 15-member council is elected concurrently with general elections, held at the same time with the national elections including for the city and vice mayors. The Council convenes every month at the Iloilo City Hall "(Ayuntamiento de Iloílo)", and the meetings are open to the public. The matters on which the councillors decide have generally already been drafted and discussed by various boards and committees.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo city is sub-divided into 180 barangays or ""barrios"" each govern by a Barangay Captain or Chairman held through a national barangay election.


title: Iloilo City

text: In 1955, through the efforts for a liberal appointing of a new city mayor, Rodolfo Ganzon became the first mayor that won through a popular election process. Ganzon is widely remembered by his constituents for having authored and sponsored the "Iloilo City Freedom Law" which restored to the people of Jaro, La Paz, Molo, Arevalo, Manduriao and Iloilo City proper their constitutional right to elect their own mayor, vice mayor and 10 councilors.


title: Iloilo City

text: Cultures and traditions has a crucial role that shaped Iloilo's cultural and heritage sphere apart from the being the Regional Center of the Western Visayas region. Cultural and heritage consciousness is held in much broad public attention and fervor among the various stakeholders with the help of the government. Iloilo holds many cultural institutions especially national ones and heritage houses and mansions that contributed to Iloilo's long held monikers as ""Museum City of the Philippines"" and the ""City of Mansions.""


title: Iloilo City

text: The city has a number of museums ranging from fields of ancient and contemporary art, cultural and economic history to science. Museums and art galleries are the repositories of Iloilo's rich and glorious history and culture. Various notable Philippine artists trace their roots from Iloilo. Unearthed artifacts like potteries, porcelain, gold and plates had been excavated in many parts of Iloilo predating Spanish Era are now showcased in various museums in Iloilo.


title: Iloilo City

text: Collaborative efforts of the city government with various stakeholders to uplift the cultural cognizance of the Ilonggo people led to the establishment of the Western Visayas Regional Museum of the National Museum of the Philippines in the restored and adoptive reuse of old Iloilo Provincial Jail and their regional headquarters in the restored old Municipio de Jaro (Jaro Municipal Hall). There are other museums that showcase memorabilias of notable person and families, artworks and artifacts.


title: Iloilo City

text: The other notable museums and art galleries in the city in which some are under some academic institutions which include the "Museo Iloilo" (the first government built museum outside Manila); "Museum of Philippine Economic History"; "Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art" (housed at the "Casa de Emperador" at Iloilo Business Park); The Henry Luce III (Museum and Library) of Central Philippine University, "University of San Agustin Museum", "UPV Art Gallery", "John B. Lacson Foundation Museum of Maritime Culture and Craft", "Rosendo Mejica Museum", among others.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art (ILOMOCA), the first museum project of the property giant Megaworld Corporation, is the first museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art in Visayas and Mindanao. The museum of 3,000 square meters of space is housed at the "Casa de Emperador" which includes five exhibit rooms and souvenir and merchandise shop. The ground floor is "The Hulot Exhibit" which showcase exhibits of local and international artists. Works by notable and renowned international artists like Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, and Joan Miró are exhibit in some of its art collections.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Museum of Philippine Economic History, the first economic history museum in the Philippines, has a wide array of exhibits and collections showcasing the economic history of the Philippine throughout the different colonial eras. The structure, restored by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and where the museum is housed is formerly owned by one of the country's biggest trading firms, the Ynchausti y Compania, of the Familia Ynchausti. The firm's name was synonymous with its products like Yco Floor Wax, Tanduay and Yco Paints. The museum has 13 galleries throughout the 2 storey structure.


title: Iloilo City

text: The location of the Museum of Philippine Economic History in Iloilo City is due to the city and province being called the "Queen City of the South" during the Spanish and early American colonial era because of its economic importance next to Manila.


title: Iloilo City

text: Other than the hundred decades-old artifacts and items on display at the Philippine Museum of Economic History, visitors can find in the museum looms from the oldest weavers of Miag-ao in Iloilo, which was known then as the Textile Capital of the Philippines, and also showcases artifacts coming from other regions such as T'nalak from Mindanao and decades-old gold, necklace and other accessories from Pampanga; old photographs and maps, and other interesting remnants of the past.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Henry Luce III (Library and Museum) on Central Philippine University's main campus which was built through a benevolent grant given by the Henry Luce Foundation though Henry Luce III, the eldest son of the founder of Time Inc. Henry Luce. It holds an array of special museum collections categorized into various sections and types of collections – Meyer Asian Collection, the Elizabeth Knox Sacred Music Collection, rare collections of Second World War documents, Asian archaeological artifacts and historical exhibits, and artworks from known artists. A Henry Luce III (the main library of CPU Library system) sole book holding implies it as the largest library in the Western Visayas region.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Ilonggos cultural identity is deeply rooted and influenced by the Hispanic culture. Iloilo is known as "Festival(s) Capital of the Philippines" with various renowned festivals in the country celebrated in the city showcasing the city's rich cultural and historical past. Iloilo is highlighted with various festivals in which big three is Dinagyang Festival – held every fourth Sunday of January in honor of the Holy Child Jesus (Santo Niño de Jesus) in a venerated image of Santo Niño de Cebu.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Jaro Fiesta (Fiesta de Jaro) or "Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" (Fiesta de Candelaria) which is held every February 2 in honor of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Virgin of Candelaria) the patron of Western Visayas and Romblon, is the largest marian dedicated festival outside Luzon.


title: Iloilo City

text: Jaro Fiesta is famous for its pomp and pageantry. The fiesta chooses its annual "Reyna del Fiesta de Jaro" or Jaro Carnival Queen from among the maiden member of prominent and notable old-rich Spanish-Filipino or wealthy families of the town. The annual fiesta includes a cockfighting held during the fiesta day (largest cockfighting competition in the Philippines) at the Iloilo Coliseum and an agro-industrial and charity fair in Plaza Jaro which starts from September and a week after the fiesta day.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo with its number of mainland Chinese expatriates who came for trading and settled in the city hundreds of years ago, celebrates the annual Iloilo Chinese Lunar New Year. It is considered as the largest Chinese New Year celebration outside Binondo, Manila, the oldest Chinatown in the world.


title: Iloilo City

text: In contrast with the city's celebration of the annual Chinese New Year, Iloilo with the advent of Chinese settlers before or during the Spanish Colonial period, settled in what is now the Molo District or "Parian", a town established for Sangleyes or Chinese Ilonggos by the Spanish colonial government. Though only a town where Chinese people were organized to settle, Molo is considered as second-oldest Chinatown after Binondo, Manila.


title: Iloilo City

text: During the holiday season after the all saints (Dia de Todos Los Santos) and all souls days (Dia de los Muertos), various landmarks such as schools are adorned with yuletide lights spectacles. Flocked during its opening night in the first week of December by thousands of spectators, the annual Festival of Lights and Music at Central on the campus of Central Philippine University is the longest running university based Christmas festival of lights in the Western Visayas region since 1991. Trees, major edifices, and places of interests like the CPU Church on the university's 24 hectare main campus in Jaro, Iloilo City are festooned with holiday lights and displays of Christmas icons like Santa Claus, Nativity Scene, and Pasko sa Nayon. It is opened to the public until every January 6 of the next year. Carnival rides, a Christmas Bazaar and food stalls are also found catering to the tourists visiting the campus of the university in the said event.


title: Iloilo City

text: Paraw Regatta, which is also one of the main festivals of Iloilo and held every February, is the sailing event in Asia (oldest traditional boat sailing event in Asia). The festivities during the said festival includes Samba de Regatta, Miss Paraw Regatta pageant, Lighted Paraw and the annual Paraw Regatta sailing competition held in La Villa Rica de Arevalo (Villa de Arevalo)


title: Iloilo City

text: In thrive for the city's endeavor as the "Art Capital of the Philippines", the Iloilo Summer Arts Festival was launched in 2020 which runs from April to May. The latest addition to such venture is the Iloilo Arts Festival which opened in December 2021. It is a nearly a month long event showcasing the best of Ilonggo artistry in visual arts exhibited in notable city museums and performing arts in theaters across the metropolis.


title: Iloilo City

text: The local government has initiated efforts to promote the city as the ""Art Capital of the Philippines"". It has established several programs through the help of local artists like turning the blank and public spaces in the metropolis as canvasses for murals and paintings depicting the city's rich history and culture.


title: Iloilo City

text: A fine example of this is the 3D Mural depicting the Dinagyang warriors dancing in the street in Iloilo River Esplanade 1. Real estate developers also play a role in supporting such programs by rolling out plans to elevate the cultural consciousness of the Ilonggos through public art displays and mural paintings.


title: Iloilo City

text: The colonial influence of Spanish and American culture has created an imprint in the entertainment, performing arts, and film sectors and scenes in Iloilo. The city and province has produced a notable people in the field of cinema and entertainment. The arts and entertainment sectors in Iloilo flourished during the time when Iloilo was opened to international trade when the "Puerto de Iloilo" (Port of Iloilo) was opened to foreign ships to dock from different countries. The annual Iloilo Film Festival, which is held during the Dinagyang Festival, has a plethora of films being screened during the festival's event.


title: Iloilo City

text: The Iloilo Convention Center is a state-of-the-art convention center located in the Iloilo Business Park by Megaworld Corporation in Mandurriao. Its construction was completed in September 2015 in time for the APEC 2015. It is a two-story structure with a total floor area of 11,832 square meters. The main hall on the ground floor has a 3,700-seat capacity and 500-seat function rooms on the second floor. A rooftop of 1,500 sqm is available for outdoor functions.


title: Iloilo City

text: The convention center was designed by Ilonggo architect William Coscolluela. The design was inspired by Iloilo's Dinagyang and Paraw Regatta festivals.


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo has various facilities also for international and local musical, band, and solo performances or concerts. Rose Memorial Auditorium or "Rose" on Central Philippine University's main campus is the largest and notable auditorium or theater Western Visayas region. It hosted concerts held by famous Filipino and international singers, bands and cultural groups and is also the venue of the annual national Bombo Music Festival that draws homegrown music artists from all over the Philippines.


title: Iloilo City

text: The auditorium is a 2-storey structure and can occupy or has a maximum capacity of 4,000+ spectators. Rose Memorial along with Central Philippine University has been and is the only theater/auditorium and university in the Western Visayas region that has been designated (one of the first batch of nine) Cultural Center of the Philippines Regional Art Centers (or Kaisa sa Sining Regional Art Centers) in 2014 in the whole Philippines.<ref name="Kaisa sa Sining: The CCP Regional Art Centers & University/College Art Associates">Kaisa sa Sining: The CCP Regional Art Centers & University/College Art Associates . Retrieved January 5, 2015.</ref>


title: Iloilo City

text: There had been old cinema theaters in the old central business district of "Calle Real", but they do not now operate because of the development of modern shopping malls with cinemas in the metropolis which replaced their once and glorious days in the heritage zone of "Calle Real" in the city center. Modern day cinemas in the metropolis screens with a wide array of present-day films both national and from foreign countries. The arts and entertainment initiatives with the Film Development Council of the Philippines under the office of the Philippine President city has established its presence in the city as the regional cultural and arts center of Western Visayas through the establishment of "Cinematheque" theater which showcases various screened films.


title: Iloilo City

text: Cultural representations in the perspective of performing and visual arts holds numerous concerts throughout the year with some showcased by universities cultural groups and organizations in the city.


title: Iloilo City

text: University's in Iloilo on the other hand, has a vital role with various established cultural and art groups that gain foothold that held and performed in various cultural performances nationally and internationally in which some are sponsored National Cultural government agencies. The University of San Agustin has established the USA Troubadours while Central Philippine University the CPU Bahandi Singers, CPU Handbell Choir (the first 8 octave handbell choir in the Philippines) and the CPU Sari-Saot Dance Troupe.


title: Iloilo City

text: With Iloilo being hailed as the "Food Haven of the Philippines", its local cuisines are well-loved and recognized by many Filipinos across the country, including from different parts of the world. Food in Iloilo is a blend of east-and-west due to the contact of locals with the foreign cultures because of Iloilo's central most location and one of the most important port cities in the Philippines. The three hundred years of Spanish influence in the Iloilo's culture left a heavy imprint in the Ilonggo cuisine that resulted to the cuisines that are the same with other Hispanic influenced countries like "Menudo", "Afritada", "Lechon", "Adobo", "Estofado", among others. Because of Ilonggos roots as Asians, rice is a staple diet food, and is usually served plain with other dishes.


title: Iloilo City

text: The city has a variety of restaurants specialized in serving foreign cuisines (Italian, American, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, German, and Thai cuisines). The rise of international and luxury hotels brought high-end buffet and exclusive dining experience to tourists and locals.


title: Iloilo City

text: Chinese influenced played also a vital role in influencing the Ilonggo cuisine and because of it, famous dishes like the La Paz Batchoy and Pancit Molo born-out because of such influence which became well known throughout the Philippines that originated from Iloilo. Notable Chinese restaurants in the city include "Roberto's" and "Kong Kee".


title: Iloilo City

text: Iloilo has also been the founding location of the first branch of "Mang Inasal" fast-food chain of restaurants in the country. It was founded by Edgar Sia, a Japanese-Chinese-Filipino businessman in 2003 and has expanded with its opening of branches throughout the Philippines.


title: Iloilo City

text: La Paz Batchoy is one of Iloilo's signature dishes, a delicacy served in restaurants all over Iloilo City. The said noodle soup is made with miki, (round noodles), pork organs (liver, spleen, kidneys and heart), chicken stock, beef loin, shrimp stock, and garnished with chicharon (pork cracklings). It is best eaten at the batchoyan (batchoy stalls) in La Paz Market where it originated. The most famous places to eat batchoy are Ted's, Deco's, Netong's, and Inggo's. The "original" creator of the dish is not certain, but you may judge for yourself which among them serves the tastiest. When served with a bowl of batchoy, most Ilonggos would finish the kaldo (broth) first. It is customary to request additional refills of kaldo before finishing the meal.