LA RUTA ILONGGA: JEEPNEY TRIPS SERIES

September 29, 2006

 Tagsa-lugar nga maagyan, may istorya nga makit-an.

May be the shortest jeepney route in Iloilo City but it do pass some historical landmarks that are significant in the national history. Starting from the Parola or the lighthouse of the mouth of Iloilo River and ends up in Iloilo’s Terminal Market or locally called "Supermarket". The jeepneys may not be as attractive as those of the other routes but its serves as a shuttle from the port area towards the city center.

Streets passed by this route:
Muelle Loney-Zamora-Rizal-Iznart-DeLeon and back (all within city proper)

Sa Lugar lang (Landmarks along the route)

Parola y Muelle Loney
Starting from Parola, the place where the Iloilo-Buenavista (Guimaras) ferry terminal is at. The lighthouses are the port guides at the mouth of Iloilo River, both of its banks have witnessed ecstasy and agony in history. The Muelle Loney served as the lifeblood of once Queen City of the South. Opened to international market in 1855 and pumped by sugar economy, it made Iloilo the second most important city in the country by the late 19th century and all the way towards the Commonwealth era before the recession of the sugar economy. The wharf was named after the "father of the modern sugar industry of the Philippines", Nicholas Loney, a British Vice-Consul who introduced modern technology of sugar industry that skyrocketed Iloilo’s economy in the late Spanish era. It has witness the diaspora of Ilonggos and Panaynons to Negros, Mindanao and other places in the 50’s.
Today, remnants of Iloilo’s glorious past is manifested. Old establishments in contrast with modern cars and sleek catamarans. The Aduana watches over the river wharf, and  still is a vital infrastructure to the economy of Iloilo.


Muelle Loney and the Aduana*

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Ang Pagsamo ng Esmeralda

August 28, 2006

Puti at tago. Birhen pa sa mata ng madla. Salat sa komersyalismo at tila napag-iwanan ng panahon. Berde, puti, kulay bato at bughaw ang tanawin. Singtamis ng mangga ang mga mamamayang namumuhay ng masaya’t simple kahit sila’y salat sa buhay. Paraiso: Kalikasan at simpleng buhay. Buhay na waring sa sarap ng mangga at paraisong maituturing. Alaala ng aking buhay sa Guimaras. Ngayon, bahid ng mantsa ng kapabayaan na hindi kasalanan ng mga tagapag-alaga ng Matamis na Esmeralda ng Kabisayaan.

Animo’y isang malayong lugar ang Guimaras sa madla. Kung tutuusin, aakalain nila na malayo ang lugar na ito. Di tulad ng kanyang kapatid na si Boracay na niyurakan ang kagandahan nito’t inalipusta at sobra na sa promosyon, ang tahimik at mala-birheng baybayin nito ang tunay na nakapag-akit sa mga Ilonggo at pati na ng taga-ibang bayo ng Pilipinas ay pumupunta dito. Berdeng berde kung titignan mo sa malayo, tila isang malaking salungat sa kaharap nitong lungsod. Pagtawid mo sa makitid na Kipot Iloilo, ibang mundo ang iyong mararanasan.

Ang Matam-is nga Esmeralda sang Kabisay-an

Ang Isla ng Guimaras ay isa sa pinakabatang lalawigan sa bansa. Humiwalay sa inang lalawigan ng Iloilo noong 1992, ito’y nagsikap na tumayo mula sa kasadlakan nito na napabilang sa 20 pinakamahihirap na lalawigan sa bansa.

Itinaguyod nito ang sektor sa agrikultura, ang taniman ng mangga. Pinaniniwalaang "Home of Philippines’ Sweetest Mangoes", 8,000 ektarya ng isla ay inialay sa pagsasaka ng mangga. Dahil sa kalidad at tamis ng mga mangga, monopolyo ng Guimaras ang pag-luwas ng mangga sa Amerika. Bawat aspeto ng lalawigan ay nakalaan sa agrikultura at pangingisda. 

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Calle Real Ciudad Yloylo

June 30, 2006

 

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J.M. Basa Street (Calle Real) with its American period-era glory over Iloilo.

The Dowager’s Wheel of Fortune

May 25, 2006

I’ve read Iloilo’s glorious past in the books, not to mention that I was shocked that it was her who is the original "Queen City of the South". This article would be rather mixed with some facts, observations and comments so the reader may get bored uhm…informed,hehe! 

Back in the late Spanish colonial days all the way before the Japanese Occupation, the city experienced a "boom" in their economy, thanks to its international port and the ever famous sugar economy, earning up the moniker "Sa Iloilo, ang kwarta gina-piko, ginapala" (Money in Iloilo is hammocked and shoveled), seeing the flow of money from the port to the banks all the way to entertainment bars in the old Mabini street.

Iloilo was so rich at that time that it is the second most important city in the country. Not to mention, the title.

Such Glorious highs suddenly came to a halt when the war broke over the Pacific. Later on, we were "Liberated" from the Japs but the city and the province’s road to calavry didn’t stop yet.

Battle for Muelle Loney

I won’t mention names here for they might sue me for libel but I’m tellin’ ya, these personalities or their names occured in Alfred McCoys’ (an Aussie Professor) "Queen Dies Slowly". It explained te death of the Queen City because of two labor unions that fought over the control of the citie’s vital infrastructure, the port.

Violence erupted after a bomb explosion in a depot in Lapuz, just across the river wharf. Some of the accounts and old people interviewed told that the port was as just scary as Tondo is now: thieves, murders or a tense atmosphere. There are some say that the two warring labor groups were asking for additional "tong". Increasing the investor’s worries over Iloilo.

The port itself is in the state of decline as early as the Commonwealth days since a sub-port was opened at Negros. Sugar, which is being exported through Iloilo, can be now directly shipped from Negros without passing Iloilo, therefore loosing money and importance.

It was just too bad to be true…the Queen was dead.

From the Seas to the Skies: The Battle for "Ports" continue

After dying, even the Ilonggos fled outside of the city, leaving it in a state of decay. Some invested outside of Panay like Manila or her arch-rival, Cebu (by the 60’s, Cebu took the crown). There was again an constrcution boom in the 70’s and the early 90’s after some efforts of the government to uplift the state of the Ilonggo province.

By early 2000, there were malls already in Iloilo and there were plans to construct a "Iloilo Business Park" or "IT Park". The construction of the International Airport is on the way and upgrading the facilities in Iloilo is in the process.

I’m not sure but the old governor said in a TV public service program that "By the time the Airport is complete, were gonna compete with Cebu!

Miaque and the ATO

Before the Tropical Storm Caloy wrecked havoc in central Philippines, there were tense situations that were happening in the old domestic airport of Iloilo. The battle for the concessionaire and the airport authority waged. The former defended that his business is legal and as according to a treaty with the latter. The latter on the other hand wanted his parking business out. And there it goes to the court, so on and so forth.

By late April, the atmosphere in the old airport was tense. Guards and police armed with high-powered firearms were in the airport. Some passengers never minded it but the airline companies were worried.

Not again?! Basi mag-palagyo liwat ang mga manug-puhunan diri! Lihog lang, ayuhan na ina!

The New Iloilo Airport of Political Standards

This airport outside of the city would help foster the growth of the province and the rest of Panay Island. An airport of International standards might accommodate international flights such as Hong Kong or Seoul who are bound for Boracay. They may use this not just for Iloilo’s progress but also for the rest of Panay.

Again, as all big government projects here in the Philippines, it is mired with controversy. The issue of overpricing, the padrino system or the governor’s family controling most of its money and construction was in every local newspaper of TV report in Iloilo.

I’m just praying that this would not lead to another white elephant project or being mothballed like NAIA Terminal 3!

History Repeating Itself?

I’ve heard that Ilonggos are proud of what they are and what they have. Experiencing from heaven to hell, they were sturdy enough to withdstand the tests of time and nature and unlucky twists of fate.

Now, I don’t know if we Filipinos do have the lack of sense of history but as seen in Iloilo, as if history is repeating itself. A vital infrastructure such as ports and airports are the heart and soul of every city wanting to progress.

One thing that made Cebu so progressive was the bullish plan of the local entrepreneurs to make the image of Cebu as a hub for business and tourism. Iloilo has been trying but one thing that is pulling it down or keeping it status quo: Politics.

I’ve seen this rift just in the first district between Guimbal and Miag-ao. In the Capitol, the second district solon and the RAIC town. The airport, the controversies, the money…These and more are factors that are keeping Iloilo down from its full potential.

The AIM named her as one of the most competitive cities in the country. Have one of the highest literacy rates in the country, the second largest rice producer and a dynamic local market, how can Iloilo move if there are simply too much politics. The political will is to profit and I don’t see it only here in Iloilo but the rest of the country.

If they are really serious about taking out the crown out of Cebu’s head, then maybe they have to change for the better. They were voted by the public to serve and to uplift the province from the bondage of the past, not to quarrel or polticize.

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Note: This doesn’t apply only to Iloilo alone.