Philippine Towns and Cities: Reflections of the Past, Lessons for the Future

Join us at "Philippine Towns and Cities: Reflections of the Past, Lessons for the Future" on November 9, 2007 at the Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center, 101 General Luna Street, Iloilo City.The main objective of this seminar series is to enhance civic engagement with local governments units so the Heritage Conservation Society (HCS) can inform and guide them on the proper care and utilization of a valuable asset — built heritage resources. The first seminar was held last 8 November 2006, at the Development Academy of the Philippines, Pasig City.In our towns and cities, wanton real estate speculation and over-construction are often mistaken for modernization when in fact these exert devastating pressure on the historic and cultural core of many of our human settlements. As a result, a valuable economic resource – built heritage — is left to deteriorate or is thoughtlessly demolished in the name of progress.

The Churches of Pavia, Sta. Barbara and Cabatuan

Santa Monica Church,

PAVIA

Finished in 1899, of red bricks and coral stone furnishing,the beautiful three nave church of Pavia was built through the advocation of Santa Monica. The overall design is purely of byzantine architecture. It is architecturally distinct since most churches in Iloilo are of Baroque or Neoclassic styles.
There is a copperative symmetrical movement on the facade brought by the complimenting effects of the rose windows and the arch entrances. The semi circular apse of the church completes its overall Romanesque design.

In World War II, like any other churches, Pavia Church served as a fortress protecting the people from the Japanese Army. before its restoration, bullet marks were still visible on its walls.

Santa Barbara Church and Convent,

SANTA BARBARA

Formerly called Catmon, Santa Barbara was made an independent parish in 1760 under the advocation of Santa Barbara Virgin y Martir. The present religious structure was built in 1855 and was finished in 1878.

Iloilo, Heritage Champion

By Augusto Villalon


ILOILO EVOKES MANY PLEASANT images, each one as soothing as its melodious language whose lilt perfectly sums up the local lifestyle and culture: laid-back Southern gentility graciously lived in a city on the banks of a river whose languorous flow sets the peaceful tone of the residents' pulse.


There is no other city in the Philippines with an image as distinct as Iloilo.


Once the center of the Visayan sugar industry, the city retains vestiges of that era. Muelle Loney, the city dock, commemorates Nicholas Loney, the Englishman who industrialized the sugar industry in the 19th century, exported sugar globally from Iloilo, and brought prosperity to the province.


There was another side to the entrepreneurial Loney who flooded the Iloilo market with cheap, machine-woven textiles imported from England, a move killing the flourishing Ilonggo hand-loom industry which was the source of the best hand-woven fabric in the Philippines.

Plaza Libertad [Iloilo City]

During the Spanish colonial era, the most basic feature of a town was the square or plaza as the center of activities, may it be civilian or religious in nature. This is one of the Spaniard's policies in order to organize, evangelize and subjugate the natives under their authority. Called reduccion, it is the systematic resettlement of once scattered natives to town centers.

Plaza Libertad is the plaza for La Punta de Iloilo. Formerly known as Plaza Alfonso XII, it is surrounded by the Iglesia de San Jose de Placer (Church of Saint Joseph), the ancestral house of the Lacsons and the ruins of their botica (pharmacy), the city hall, Hotel Iloilo (now Landbank) and the Masonic Temple Building (which is at exact opposite of the church).

What made this historical was it was here that Ilonggos witnessed the surrender of the Spanish colonial troops, led by Governor General del Rios, to the Ilonggo revolutionaries on Christmas Day 1898. Iloilo was made the last capital of Spain in the Philippines after their defeat in Manila in August 1898.

The Fall of Muelle Loney

Forgive my poetic license and for being so overly-romantic with history, I was the one who made that phrase but very comparable to this scenario in the 50's:

According to Alfred McCoy's work "The Queen Dies Slowly"*, it refers to the period when Iloilo's River Wharf (back then Iloilo's port only refers to the river wharf known as Muelle Loney) was under the conflict of two labour unions (more likely stevedores or arrastres: the Consolidated Union of the Philippines (CLUP) and the Federacion Obreros de Filipinas (FOF)) in order to seize control of the port.

After the opening of the port to international trade in 1855 onwards before World War II, Iloilo's wharf was really raking money, thus the famous slogan: "Ang Kwarta, ginapiko kag ginapala." ushered. Many people would want to control this lucrative infrastructure back then because the flow of money from sugar was immense. All sugar products from the vast planations in Negros Occidental are exported internationally through Iloilo City before World War II. The wharf was renamed "Muelle Loney" in remembrance of the British Vice-Consul who ushered in the era of sugar boom by introducing modern farming techniques and enocuraging sugar trade in Negros and Panay. Egro, he is known as "The Father of Philippine Sugar Industry"

After the Japanese Occupation, Iloilo's prominence in the Visayas and Mindanao was already waning because of the opening of a direct access of sugar factories to ports in Negros Occidental in Pulupandan and Bacolod. Also, since the sugar economy was already declining after World War II, many workers complained about their minimal wages, lay-offs and mismanagement.

The conflict between the two labor unions reached to the point where the Caltex Depot was bombed by mid-50's. Iloilo port's infamy reached the shores of Manila and Cebu and it discouraged the entrepreneurs and invstors to open up business in Iloilo. Passengers who are coming from different parts of the country feared of the port since not only these arrastres are rumored to do extortion to shipping companies and businessmen, but also pickpockets. The merchants fled the dying city. Thus, the "Death of the Queen" was inevitable.

That is how important an infrastructure is to a city. Partly what brought life to the city also brought death upon it.

The wharf has witnessed the the abandonment of her sons and daughters for better opportunities outside Iloilo back then. This was one of the reason of Iloilo's demise. A victim of monocrop agricultural industry and as what Ambeth Ocampo said "Prosperity without progress".

A bitter medicine that is hard to swallow and a lesson learned the hard way. But nevertheless, hope was never lost in every Ilonggo spirit. And now, they are moving forward, despite the recent adversities that hit the Ilonggo heartland.

*Alfred McCoy, A Queen Dies Slowly: The Rise and Fall of Iloilo City. The Philippine Social History (7). Asian Studies Association of Australia: South East Publicaion Series, pp.297-358.

Calle Real de Iloilo

Time stood still amidst the hustle and bustle of downtown traffic of modernity. Decades old establishments still stand against the test of time, reflecting the glorious days of commerce and trade of what was then, the Queen City of the South.

From its humble beginnings as a fishing community along the swampy riverside, Iloilo grew up to be one of Philippine's premier cities when in 1855, the Spanish colonial government opened the sea port of Iloilo to international trade, and with the introduction of modern sugar farming by the British Vice-Consul Nicolas Loney. Calle Real is the manifestation of Iloilo's glorious past. The street itself is a museum of old edifices that survived the onslaught of war, elements and time.

Old establishments still stand up to this very moment, still vibrant with commercial and vehicular traffic. JM Basa Street (and also Iznart St.), or known popularly as Calle Real is referred as the "Escolta" of Iloilo City. Named "Calle Real" or "Royal Street", it spans from Plaza Alfonso XII (now known as Plaza Libertad) all the way to Plazoleta Gay and the location of commercial establishments, the Casa Real (Iloilo Provincial Capitol) as well as the residences of the Ilonggo elite.

Reclaimed from the swamps, the street became the central business district since the opening of the city to international trade, it has experienced construction boom while riding along with the economic reaping of harvest from the sugar trade. Most of the commercial and residential establishments are of one or two-story buildings which display European and American of the late 19th and early 20th century influence such as art-nouveau, art-deco, baroque, Venetian-inspired or platoresque. The first levels are used as shops or stores and the second level are used as either offices but mostly as residential spaces.

Most of the heritage buildings were constructed during the late Spanish colonial era all the way to the 1930’s, which made this street the shopping district and a center for commerce and entertainment of the region. The first department store in the region is also located here which was owned by an Englishman Henry Hoskyn, nephew of Nicholas Loney.


The Elizalde and Company building, which is now the City Hall Annex, used to sell foodstuffs and benefited from the sugar trade, manifested its plateresque architecture with the usual balay-nga-bato feature of stone walls in the first level and wood in the second level of the establishment. Cine Palace (1928) and Cine Eagle, which are, located just a few meters away from Plaza Libertad, were once the witnesses to bodabil, theatrical plays and movies, one of the most modern cinemas outside Manila during the early 20th century.

The Masonic Temple on the other hand was once Iloilo Lodge No. 11 was finished in 1928 that faced the Catholic Church of San Jose de Placer across Plaza Libertad and it was made a headquarters of the Japanese Imperial forces for Iloilo.

On the southern end of Calle Real lies Plaza Libertad, formerly known as Plaza Alfonso XII. Surrounded by the old buildings such as the Masonic Temple, Lacson Ancestral House, the ruins of Botica Lacson and Iglesia de San Jose de Placer, it has been the witness of the dusk of the Spanish power in Asia as the last Spanish Governor General Diego de los Rios surrendered to the Ilonggo revolutionaries led by General Martin Delgado in Christmas Day 1898. Iloilo was the last Spanish colonial capital in the Philippines after they have surrendered Manila to the Americans in August 1898.

On the northern end of the street are the Casa Real (Royal House) or the Iloilo Provincial Capitol and Arroyo Fountain. The former was built from wood and stone in 1840, which features Greek columns dominate the facade. The once flagpole in front of the Casa Real was torn down in 1927 to give way to Arroyo Fountain, with its caryatids carrying a basin with fish gargoyles that sprout water. The fountain was dedicated to Senator Jose Maria Arroyo who created the Iloilo Metropolitan Water Works.

Commonwealth-era establishments lined up not just the main street of Calle Real, but also its branches of Aldeguer, Iznart and Guanco Streets. The Public Market of Iloilo for example displays predominantly of art deco in design. But damages from wear and tear of the time, World War II, the great earthquake of 1948 and the the big conflagration in the downtown area has left the old buildings to be neglected, mismanaged and left to decay. In April 2000, the Local Cultural Conservation Ordinance was enacted by the City Government of Iloilo to prevent further destruction of heritage sites in the city, preservation of the establishments and to be reused again for commercial, tourism, educational or institutional functions.

The ICCHCC or Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council is the overseer of the heritage conservation efforts in the Calle Real area. Today, educating the citizens and efforts from the building owners themselves for preserving or restoration the cultural heritage structures of the establishments has been gradually being implemented. As these old edifices of art and labor stands mute against time and the noise of the city, the edifices of Calle Real has shared its experiences with the Ilonggo people, from the glories to tragedies. The legacies that the old Iloilo left, reminded every Ilonggos of its regal past and its contribution to history of the Filipino people.
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Acknowledgement to Center for West Visayan Studies (UP Visayas), Prof. Henry Funtecha and Prof. Melanie Padilla, Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council, Mr. Butch Peñalosa, Mr. Scott Sarria and Museo Iloilo.

This article was originaly published at Cebu Daily News in May 2007.