Iloilo province and city: How to deal with the present and the past for the future
ON a recent visit to Iloilo City and outlying towns, I was struck with how the local governments are maintaining their plazas which are parks, in the traditional way — open spaces, greenery and a gazebo in the center. It was a heartwarming sight to see how in the late afternoon hours, large numbers of people would gather to commune with nature, with each other or have a little snack from puto and bibingka vendors who also congregate in the plazas at that time and not earlier.
The plaza at Santa Barbara across the church had its pathways for walking, the gazebo at the center, a statue of Jose Rizal with three “friends” identified as Marcelo H. del Pilar, Pedro Paterno and Graciano Lopez Jaena (a native of Iloilo).
Molo and Jaro plazas had the same configuration with a gazebo said to be designed by Juan Arellano. In San Joaquin farther out, the plaza is huge and looks renovated. It is by the sea which gives it a stunning background of blue water when seen from a distance. Guimbal also has an impressive plaza that seems to be under renovation. And so do many other towns.
The point is that these towns are keeping their traditional plazas intact and still maintaining their identity as welcoming places within easy reach of everyone to relax and be in nature’s open spaces as well as allowing for progress.
Another observation is that Iloilo churches are given the attention and care needed not only by the clergy and their congregations but by local governments which keep their premises as open spaces for people to use and not commercialize the area.
San Joaquin and Miagao are the outstanding churches because of the bas-reliefs that they have outside over their main entrances — “The Surrender of Tetuan” in San Joaquin (depicting a victory of Spain in Morocco in 1860); and the charming bas-relief of Miagao — a collection of familiar trees (like papaya) with St. Christopher as a giant among them.
These churches are also museums as they remain as they were over time with very few jarring innovations. The Miagao Church glows pink inside from its coral stone color.
Many of the churches are made of coral stone or have retablos in the same material. One example is the Cabatuan Church (St. Nicolas Tolentino) which has coral stone retablos that glow even in the late afternoon shadows.
The Santa Barbara Church in coral stone is outstanding. Santa Barbara, the patron of miners and those who use explosives, the protectress against lightning, stands at the highest point of the coral stone retablo above all other saints. The convento of Santa Barbara is a museum in itself with its wide staircase, hardwood walls and floors, and huge proportions, including a balcony overlooking the plaza.
When we visited, church employees and lay people were putting together a number of life-size statues that would be used in the Lenten processions of Holy Week. They were numerous because some were borrowed from other churches like Molo and Jaro. These statues come with robes and wigs. The life-size Last Supper grouping of statues was so lifelike you expected them to speak.
In these towns, people go to church on foot. There is no conglomeration of cars seeking space around them. At most, there are tricycles. The plaza is across, and people walk into the church from there or from the street. In other words, there are no disrupting crowds. Or so it seems.
Another thing to note in Iloilo is that the local governments are also maintaining museums. Santa Barbara has a charming little museum across the church showing historical and artisanal ware, including textiles, baskets, church objects, World War 2 relics, vintage newspapers, etc. And its cultural workers are very welcoming and informative.
Iloilo City has beautifully kept museums, too. The Ynchausti building, originally a huge warehouse/ trading area for sugar, abaca and distilled spirits, has been turned into a well-curated museum of 19th century local industry. It has television monitors for documentaries in many sections of its spacious upper floor in hardwood and reached through an imposing staircase. At the former Customhouse of Iloilo now felicitously turned into a museum of Philippine maritime history, there are vintage artifacts and photographs telling the story from pre-Hispanic navigation by the stars to revolutionary times and on to the modern era of Filipino seafarers today.
Another impressive museum for its building and its contents is the former Iloilo City Hall (neoclassical style), which has been turned over to the University of the Philippines West Visayas for a museum about Iloilo. It features its traditional and ongoing weaving industry, its contemporary artists and its agricultural practices. The building, which has been restored to its original glory through development funds of former representative Rafael Lopez Vito and the local government, features high ceilings, classical columns, pocket gardens and interesting exhibits in appropriate spaces.
We missed the National Museum branch with its textile exhibit. It was a former provincial jail, with the original building fit to be turned into an exhibition space. That will be for next time when we plan to go back.
Iloilo City itself has welcomed progress but has kept its identity as a livable city with new developments like the river esplanade where people take leisurely walks or exercise well into the night. It also has planned new areas which identify as part of the city while keeping its older ones, such as downtown commercial areas and districts, in their familiar state. Heritage houses abound and, in general, the tone is one of appropriate progress without denying the advances or assets of the past.