Celebrating Iloilo City’s Charter Day

By Herbert Vego

IT’S a special non-working day in Iloilo City tomorrow (August 25, 2026), in accordance with President Ferdinand R. Marcos’ Proclamation No. 1388, which marks the city’s 89th Charter Anniversary.

In today’s parlance, a charter city in the Philippines is one whose existence, governance, and corporate powers are defined by a specific law or “charter” enacted by Congress. It receives a larger share of national tax allotments.

A month-long celebration in Iloilo City has been going on. Festivities include food and coffee festivals, community sports, employee wellness days, cultural programs, and a night market.

The Mayor’s Night on August 25 will honor the “Top 10 Outstanding Ilonggos” who have excelled in community development and public service.

This year’s theme, “Celebrating 89 Years of Progress Toward a Better Iloilo City for All,” aims to promote Mayor Raisa Treñas’ people-centered programs, culture, community involvement, and inclusive growth.

Very few of us alive today had already been born on August 25, 1937, when then President Manuel Luis Quezon came to Iloilo City to declare it as a “charter city” by operation of law, Commonwealth Act 158, as earlier enacted by the National Assembly. The law also merged the towns of Molo, Arevalo, Jaro, Mandurriao and Lapaz into the old city.

By then, the old “city proper” had been known as “La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad de Iloilo” (The Most Loyal and Noble City of Iloilo) – a title bestowed by the Queen Regent of Spain in 1897.

Iloilo City has since then evolved from incoherent groupings of fishermen’s hamlets along the Iloilo River.

The opening of Iloilo City’s Muelle Loney port in 1855 triggered the boom of the sugar export industry under the leadership of Nicholas Loney, the British vice-consul who constructed warehouses in the port and introduced new technologies in sugar cane farming.

No less than the late historian Rex Salvilla told this writer that Iloilo was already enjoying a flourishing economy when the Spaniards colonized the Philippines in the 16th century. Three Malay ports already catered to visiting Chinese merchants in Ogtong (now Oton), Tabucan (Molo), and Salog (Jaro).

The surviving porcelain jars, plates, cups and saucers brought by those Chinese merchants are among the exhibits still viewable at Museo Iloilo today.

Our identity as part of the Malay race is traceable to the lore that in the 13th century, ten Bornean datus came to the island of Panay and made a deal with the ruling chieftain, Marikudo: a gold salakot, a gold batya and a gold necklace in exchange for the lowlands of the island. One of the datus, Paiburong, took over the territory of Irong-Irong – original name of Iloilo.

While the Spanish conquest of the Philippines was underway in the 16th century, Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi came to Iloilo to establish a settlement in Ogtong.

Because of the economic boom, Moro pirates and Dutch and English invaders raided the city, prompting Spanish authorities to build defensive fortresses. One of them was Fort San Pedro at the mouth of Iloilo River, ruins of which remain walkable today.

In the late 18th century, the development of a large-scale weaving industry spurred Iloilo’s surge in trade in the Visayas. Sinamay, piña, and jusi were among the products shipped to Manila and foreign cities.

On December 25, Christmas day of 1898, the Spanish government surrendered to the Ilonggo revolutionaries at Plaza Alfonso XII (now Plaza Libertad). The revolutionaries’ celebration was short-lived, however, because American forces arrived that same week.

The American occupation led to the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935 to 1946, with Manuel Luis Molina Quezon as President.

During World War II in 1942, Japan invaded Panay, holding the economy to a standstill.

By the end of the war, Iloilo’s economy and infrastructure had crumbled. The ensuing conflict between labor unions and industrialists, the declining sugar trade, and deteriorating peace and order triggered the exodus of Ilonggos to other cities and islands that offered better opportunities.

All of that belongs to the past. Today, Iloilo City is experiencing a powerful economic boom driven by a 7.1% growth rate, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.