Treñas Opens Business, Legislative Hubs Before Exit

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas inaugurated the city’s Business Center and Legislative Building on Friday, June 27, ahead of his official departure from office next week.

The three-story business center, located beside the Iloilo Customs House in Sunburst Park along JM Basa Street, will function as a one-stop shop for business and investment-related transactions.

The building houses the Business Permits and Licensing Division on the first floor, the Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion Office on the second, and both the City Environment and Natural Resources Office and the Public-Private Partnership Office on the third.

Treñas said centralizing these services under one roof will improve the ease of doing business in the city.

The eight-story Iloilo City Legislative Building will serve as the new home of the incoming 12th Iloilo City Council.

Located behind City Hall within the Ker & Co. compound, the facility features a modern session hall on the seventh floor and councilors’ offices on the sixth.

The Office of the Building Official occupies the first floor.

The building also includes a multipurpose auditorium with a 250-seat capacity on the eighth floor, a parking area, and a footbridge connecting directly to City Hall’s third floor.

The 11th City Council, led by outgoing Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon, held its final session in the building on June 25 as a symbolic opening.

Construction began in October 2021 and was funded through the city’s general funds from 2017 and 2019, with a total cost of PHP246.89 million.

On the same day, the city government also unveiled the restored Japanese war memorial, originally built in 1976 by prewar Japanese residents of Iloilo and their descendants in Japan and the Philippines.

The memorial now stands as part of the redeveloped Sunburst Park, formerly Plaza de Aduana.

The original structure was demolished during the expansion of the old Iloilo Freedom Grandstand in the 1990s.

The restored monument was donated by Iloilo Kai, Japanese veterans, volunteers from the Panay World War II campaign, and the Azabu Lions Club.