Panay and Iloilo:
The Allure of a Dowager

The roughly triangular island of Panay, comprising 11, 515 square kilometers, is divided by two cordilleras. One running north-south separates the Antique province from the rest of the island. Its highest peak Mount Madja-as is 2117 meters tall. North of Antique's capital San Jose de Buenavista, another range runs northeast ending in the uplands separating Capiz and Aklan in the north from Iloilo in the south. This cordillera's highest peak is Mount Agudo at 834 meters.

The Hiligaynon language is spoken in the coastal areas, with dialect variations called Capiznon, Antiqueño and Ilongo. A more ancient form of Hiligaynon called Karay-a or Kinaray-a is spoken in the interior, especially in Panay uplands. Aklan has its own language, Akeanon or Aklanon. Two important minority groups occupy the mountainous areas at Tapaz and Passi: these are the dark-skinned Ati (related to the Luzon Ayta) and the Panayanon Bukidnon. Another group called Mundo (corrupted from the Spanish "vagamundos" vagabonds) are probably descendants of coastal peoples who fled to the uplands to escape Spanish colonization.

The beginnings of Panay are shrouded in legend. It is said that ten Bornean datus, under Datu Puti, fled to Panay in search of freedom. There they entered a pact with the Ati chief, Datu Marikudo, to give to the new arrivals the coastal areas in exchange for a golden salakot (a type of hat) and a batya (wash basin). Datu Marikudo's wife, Maniwantiwan, acting shrewdly refused to accede unless the necklace of Datu Puti's wife, Pinangpangan, be given. The Atis agreed to vacate the coastal areas and moved to the mountains. The datus divided the land into Hamtik (Antique), Aklan (Capiz) and Irong-irong (Iloilo) to which Datu Paiburong is named leader. Panay it is said was ruled by two legal codes, the Maragtas, promulgated by Datu Sumakwel ca. 1225 and the Kalantiaw codified in Aklan in 1433.

Historians seriously doubt the veracity of these stories, although a historical marker placed in Batan, Aklan in 1956 by the Philippine Historical Committee accepts the Kalantiaw code as historical fact (See fuller discussion in Islas de los Pintados).

These stories not withstanding, archaeological evidence points to flourishing settlements built on farming, fishing, gathering and trading prior to Spanish colonization. Evidence of Chinese, Arab, Persian and Indian manufacture have been unearthed in numerous burial sites. These include beads, porcelain, etc. Excellent artisans in gold forged jewelry and death masks, an outstanding example, which covered the eyes nose and orifices of the dead, was discovered at Oton. The original is now in the National Museum and considered a national treasure; a replica is displayed in the Museo de Iloilo.

Spaniards first settled in the north at a place called Pan-ay in 1569. Etiological legend says that the name came about when colonizers under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in search of adequate food supply found abundant rice supplies, they exclaimed: "Hay pan!" from which came the name "Pan-ay." The settlement gave the name to the whole island. Another etiological legend claims that name Iloilo comes from the nose-shaped delta where the Iloilo port was built: irong-irong (like a nose).

Pan-ay as the capital of the Philippines was short lived. In 1571, the Legazpi decided to transfer the capital to Manila where there was a better harbor and an active trading post. In 1581, Villa de Arévalo was established as a Spanish settlement, under Oton, by Gov. Gen. Ronquillo de Peñalosa and the following year became the capital of Panay Island. Here, the Spanish established an administrative center and dockyard. (In the early years of colonization, Oton was the name given both to the town and the southern coast and what we know today as Iloilo City was simply called Punta). The British under the buccaneer Thomas Cavendish attacked Arévalo in 1588; and after a series of attacks by the Dutch in 1609, 1614 and 1616, the capital was transferred to Punta where the wide mouth of the Iloilo River, shielded by Guimaras Island provided a safe shelter for ships and a defensible position.

In 1595, Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa during his campaign to subjugate Mindanao established a supply station in Iloilo. A temporary palisade was built near the river mouth, and in 1616 in response to Dutch threats this was rebuilt as a stone fort, later named Fuerza de San Pedro. The foundations and part of the wall of the fort still stand.

Panay, with the capital at Iloilo remained one political entity until the provinces of Capiz and Antique were established, in 1716 and 1798 (or 96) respectively. Aklan was separated from Capiz as an independent province on 25 April 1956.

The Augustinians were the evangelizers of Panay, having established their first mission in Oton in 1572, the third Augustinian house in the Philippines after Cebu and Manila. The Jesuits arrived as chaplains of the military, established a chapel around 1607 near the fortification at the river mouth. The Jesuits established a college near the fort, later acquired an hacienda between Molo and Arévalo and at Suaraga (San Joaquin). The Jesuit chronicler Pedro Chirino established a boarding school at Tigbauan in 1592. Although a historical marker of the National Historical Institute placed there in 1975, identifies Tigbauan with the town of the same name, there is no record of the Jesuits being in Tigbauan town because the settlement had always been under the Augustinians who established it as an independent parish in 1578. Although the Augustinian provincial ordered the abandonment of all the Visayan missions in 1580 the order was apparently never implemented because Fr. Luis de Montoya was appointed prior of the town during the same year. The Hiligayonon term "tigbauan" means however a place of reeds, and could be any swampy area along the coast. Jesuits did go to Iloilo but to Suaraga; later jurisdictional conflict between the Augustinians and the Jesuits erupted as Jesuits began evangelizing the Mundos. Chirino may have, in fact, established a boarding school at Suaraga.

Panay's coast was subject to frequent slave raids and so a number of watchtowers were built to protect the coastal settlements. Iloilo served as an important way station for Mindanao, and the fort was used to outfit military expeditions south.

By the 19th century, Iloilo had a thriving weaving industry, cottage-based and funded partially by Chinese entrepreneurs who also marketed the textile. In 1855, Iloilo was opened to international trade after a long period of protectionism. This spurred the economic growth of Iloilo, especially when the market for Philippine sugar was opened in Europe. The British vice-consul, Nicolas Loney, was responsible for promoting the sugar industry by bringing sugarcane from Sumatra, machines from England and extending credit to planters. Loney also imported cloths from India and Manchester, England, which were inexpensive copies of the weaves popular in Iloilo. This spelled the doom of the weaving industry with the subsequent displacement of labor, which was then absorbed by the sugar industry. Loney established Loney and Co., the first foreign firm in Iloilo. Loney also established a shipping company that brought sugar from Negros to the international port of Iloilo. Capiz on the northern coast also participated in the sugar market. Buyers of molasses representing Manila-based distilleries, came to Capiz to buy the product.

The sugar trade attracted Chinese entrepreneurs; outside of Manila and Cebu, Iloilo was one place where the Spaniards allowed the Chinese to settle.  The enterprising merchants provided transportation for the sugar and engaged in retail. Some eventually married into the local families and created a mestizo elite.  The elite settled in Jaro. The Chinese settled in Molo, where a Chinese mestizo priest, Fr. Manuel Locsin, built a neogothic church in stone which still stands.

Iloilo joined the Revolution against Spain after serving as the Spanish capital for four months, after the capitulation of Manila. The independence of the Philippine was proclaimed in Santa Barbara on 17 November 1898.

By the end of the 19th century, Iloilo City and its suburbs of Jolo, Molo, and La Paz became one of the thriving urban centers of the Philippines. It became a cultural lodestone in the early 20th century so that visiting foreign opera troupes performed at Iloilo. The wealth generated by sugar is expressed in the opulent mansions and residences built by affluent families in Iloilo and Jaro during the first half of the 20th century. A number of foreign firms were established in Iloilo and a railway system linked Iloilo with Capiz to the north. Foreigners established their own exclusive club; the ruins of Club Ingles used to stand near Gen. Hughes St. in Iloilo. The cosmopolitan character of Iloilo catalyzed the construction of the first golf course in the country at Sta. Barbara. The golf course is still operating. Because of her affluence Iloilo came to be known as "Queen City of the South."

Iloilo suffered ruin because of catastrophic earthquakes in 1910 and 1948.  One of the casualties was the Greek cross planned neogothic church of Oton, considered as the masterpiece of Augustinian architecture in the island.

Iloilo is a center for education in the Visayas.  Here was established the CPU, UP Iloilo, a host of Catholic schools, Assumption, St. Clements, Sagrado Corazon de Jesus.

Iloilo was the site of some of the fiercest battles of World War II which as a consequence caused the widespread destruction of many of its heritage buildings. It was in Iloilo that the guerilla resistance was established and from here spread to the rest of the Visayas.  Hence, retaliation was severe.

The post-war years saw the province embroiled in political squabbling, sending Iloilo into decline.  Only in the past two decades is Iloilo reawakening with the establishment of a light industry area in Pavia, the building of gated subdivisions, malls, the diversification of crops, and the upgrading of infrastructure.  But the province and city is still far from the glitter of its heyday, which still lingers in a city and province so genteel.