Iloilo City plans Mandurriao plaza, Arevalo gym upgrades

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

ILOILO CITY — The Iloilo City government is set to upgrade two public spaces, with the rehabilitation of Mandurriao Plaza and improvements to the Arevalo gym planned for 2027, Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu announced.

Treñas-Chu said the full rehabilitation of Mandurriao Plaza would proceed once all vendors have transferred to the Mandurriao Public Market, which is scheduled to be formally turned over to the city government in November 2026.

“The Mandurriao Market is about to be turned over. The Iloilo City government rehabilitated it after it was turned over by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and it will be turned over to us [by the contractor in] November this year,” she said during her second State of the City Address on Oct. 26.

“Once it is turned over this year, the rehabilitation of Mandurriao Plaza will be in full blast,” she added.

The DPWH Iloilo City District Engineering Office (ICDEO) turned over the market to the city government in late 2025.

The market opened in September 2025 but fell short of its original design, with only 80 of the planned 200 stalls completed.

Of these, 75 were allotted for vendors and five for offices, leaving a shortage of 85 stalls for the market’s 160 vendors.

The city government subsequently allocated PHP 5.5 million to make the facility usable.

The market project was planned in three phases: the relocation of vendors, construction of the main structure, and completion of the facility, including a gymnasium, additional stalls, and a sewage treatment plant.

Only the first two phases were funded and completed, leaving the market partially unusable.

Of Iloilo City’s six major public markets, Mandurriao is the only one funded through the national budget.

In July 2024, the City Council revoked the ICDEO’s authority to construct seven delayed infrastructure projects in the city, including the Mandurriao Public Market.

The Office of the Building Official (OBO) reported that Phase 1 had no building permit application and had not undergone an initial evaluation, although the ICDEO completed it in June 2022.

Phase 2 underwent an initial evaluation on June 3, 2024, and was referred back to the ICDEO on June 28, 2024.

However, it also lacked a building permit despite having been completed.

The planned rehabilitation of Mandurriao Plaza forms part of the city government’s continuing efforts to improve public spaces across its districts.

The plaza has undergone phased improvements since 2022, including drainage upgrades, landscaping, and other enhancements aimed at making the area more accessible and functional.

Earlier this year, the city government also lined up a rehabilitation and improvement project for Mandurriao Plaza with a proposed contract cost of PHP 9.66 million and an implementation period of 150 days.

Arevalo gym

Treñas-Chu also said the Arevalo gym, located in front of the plaza, would undergo rehabilitation in 2027.

“Arevalo will not be forgotten. By 2027, we will further improve the appearance of the Arevalo gym in front of the plaza. We will beautify it further so it will have the same aesthetic appeal as our other plazas,” she said.

“We are showing that all areas are being looked after. We are not neglecting any of them, and some have simply come later for valid reasons,” she added.

Treñas-Chu did not disclose the allocated budget for the gym rehabilitation, but documents obtained by Daily Guardian showed that the proposed budget of the Office of the City Engineer includes PHP 8 million for the “Rehabilitation of Gym at Arevalo Plaza.”