Kaya naman pala!

ILOILO CITY – Iloilo was once described as “the armpit of Western Visayas” by Rex Drilon, the former CEO of property developer Ortigas and Company. Rex is himself a native of Iloilo who has long moved out to greener pastures.

It is ironic Rex made his colorful olfactory description of Iloilo in a sidebar article in an expensive coffee table book published some eight years ago, precisely to promote a cultural and economic renaissance of Iloilo. If Rex wanted to challenge his fellow Ilonggos into doing something, it looks like he succeeded.

Iloilo probably doesn’t deserve to be described as an armpit even during its really down years. I was last in Iloilo about 10 years ago for the Jaro town fiesta. I remember it to be a typical provincial city that was growing rather badly with horrible traffic jams.

The worse thing I could say about Iloilo at that time was it was boring. It doesn’t have the quality beaches of Boracay. It had the island of Sicogon, but that was then in a somewhat abandoned state.

After visiting the historic churches, including one that was a UNESCO heritage site, there was nothing else for a tourist to do. Of course the culinary scene was an attraction. But over all, Iloilo looked like the rest of the country… mismanaged by its political leaders and going nowhere fast.

Even the legendary beauty of Ilonggas seemed like a thing of the past. And that observation is not mine, but was something I heard during the coronation of the Jaro fiesta queen, the grand daughter of Oscar M. Lopez.

The master of ceremonies expressed gratitude to the old Iloilo families for coming back and allowing their daughters and granddaughters to become fiesta queens. The spiel said they need to “import” their fiesta queens because the “natives” don’t have “it” any more.

I have seen and met enough Ilonggas to know that is not true. I thought that sad commentary was made by the Jaro fiesta organizers because the Ilonggos left at home developed a kind of inferiority complex. They convinced themselves the superior ones have moved to Manila and they should have too, if they were any good.

I now know for sure that Ilonggos can and should hold their heads up high. What I have seen during my visit to Iloilo this time is nothing less than amazing. I saw the kind of development that should be happening in the entire country. While it is still very much a work in progress, they have done enough impressive achievements to make them superior even to Metro Manila.

It starts with their modern airport, the wide highways and the feverish construction of new township developments. Most impressive of all is how they have cleaned the Iloilo River, which involved resettling the squatters in a brand new subdivision managed by Gawad Kalinga.

No wonder, former Tourism Secretary Narz Lim had been challenging me to go and see Iloilo now. I finally accepted her invitation to visit, together with some media colleagues. I am happy that I did. The chaos and lack of infrastructure development in Metro Manila had been depressing me for some time now. Iloilo today gave me reason to be optimistic about the future.

Kaya naman pala! Iloilo today makes me imagine a new Singapore in the making. Singapore comes to mind in the impressive promenade they call The Esplanade --- a pretty walkway along the cleaned up Iloilo River. It was designed by Paulo Alcazaren, who was also responsible for some of the impressive environmental design we see in Singapore, including some along the Singapore River.

I had to ask Mayor Jed Mabilog how they managed to do in less than four years, what we have been trying to do with the Pasig River for many years now. Two words, he said, political will.

Example 1: There was this incumbent councilor who had put up a beer garden and had been squatting for many years on government-owned land along the river bank. They asked him to leave. When he refused, they just asked the PNP to support a demolition team one Sunday afternoon. I understand the councilor lost the next election and has migrated to Canada.

Example 2: A ship repair facility had also illegally occupied a portion of the river bank that belongs to the government. The facility was dumping waste into the river and the long line of ships awaiting repair along the bank was contributing to the mess as well. The owner eventually had to leave. The PPA subsequently built a new passenger terminal at the site for the fast ferry boats from Bacolod.

The other reason why Iloilo is a changed city, according to Mayor Mabilog, is political unity. All the provincial and city officials, as well as all but one of the congressmen are members of the Liberal Party. They all work together to build a new Iloilo they can be proud of. It seems to be working.

The old airport, now called Iloilo Business Park, is being developed by Megaworld at a budgeted cost of P35 billion. Andrew Tan’s property units have launched five residential condominium towers, five office buildings and two hotel towers in the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park. They say they will definitely build more in the coming years.

Megaworld’s subsidiary, Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (formerly Fil-Estate), is developing the 170-hectare Sta. Barbara Heights near the new airport and the Sta Barbara Golf and Country Club, reputed to be the first golf course in the country. Part of the master plan is to build a commercial, retail and institutional district that connects to the road leading to the new Iloilo International Airport.

Nearby, Ayala Land is also feverishly developing condominiums, a hospital and an open air mall like High Street in Fort Bonifacio. Ayala is building over a dozen new condominium buildings worth P15 billion in this newly emerging business center.

My big question to both Megaworld and Ayala people is: Who exactly do they expect to buy all those condo units? Both told me they have experienced very brisk sale.

Megaworld sold the first condo building in all of two weeks. There is a lot of money in Iloilo, Megaworld and Ayala officials insist and they are just providing something Iloilo both have always wanted to buy.

Iloilo officials claim Ilonggos are natural savers, which explains why there is a lot of money to spend on these new developments. Someone said total savings for Iloilo is in the vicinity of P80 billion. They are not like their spendthrift cousins in Bacolod who spend their money even before they have it. Ilonggos would rather deposit in banks or keep their stash in their mattresses.

Two other things that support the property developers are the OFWs and the BPOs. Iloilo is a maritime center with a respected maritime school that trains ship officers. When they come home, they like to spend for their families.

With the power situation stabilized in Iloilo, they have started to attract BPOs who hire the graduates of the many universities in Iloilo City. So, like the country, Iloilo is benefiting from the two legs of our economy: OFWs and BPOs.

Despite the absence of the usual tourist attractions, Iloilo is bent on getting more than its share of tourists. The convention center is expected to deliver those visitors to the city once it is completed. It was delayed three months because of that overpricing allegation, which had recently been dismissed by the Ombudsman. It will definitely be completed in time for the APEC conference late this year.

In the meantime, feverish construction activities are evident from the new airport to the city. Highways are being widened and new ones being opened. I wondered aloud if they don’t fear running out of cement. They said they are convincing Ramon Ang to put up a cement plant there.

I kept on asking, how this dramatic change happened? The political as well as the business leaders, are one is saying that they owe much to Senate President Frank Drilon. They point to Frank as the one who personally directed development activities, particularly the infrastructure development. Someone joked they will start calling Frank by a new name: Frank Kuan Yew.

Rep. Jerry Trenas said he had worked on producing the feasibility studies during his term as mayor. Then, it just took four years for Mayor Jed Mabilog with lots of help from Frank Kuan Yew to get as far as they have now gone.

Kaya naman pala! The armpit is now a pretty face. That’s the challenge to the rest of the country.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco