Iloilo City: Where the Present Courts the Past

Iloilo weaves past and present so seamlessly, just like the fine threads of the hablon. That is why it is called the city where "the past is always present." Its well-preserved heritage buildings and cultural traditions are not blurred, but in fact, bloom, with modern development.

- JOANNE RAE M. RAMIREZ

Despite the city's growth and modernization (the minute you land in the airport, you will see why), many ancestral houses, churches, and other landmarks from the Spanish colonial era and beyond stand proud.

A group of journalists were in Iloilo City recently upon the invitation of Sen. Loren Legarda. Though she is from Antique, about 2.5 hours away from Iloilo, she doesn't favor any one province when it comes to culture. In fact, the Traditional Philippine Textile gallery in the Old Iloilo Provincial Prison, now the National Museum of Western Visayas, was established with her "strong support."

Iloilo boasts numerous ancestral houses, like the Avanceña-Camiña Balay nga Bato near Molo, which are testaments to its rich past. Legarda was also instrumental in the installation of the National Museum "Important Cultural Property Marker" in this heritage house, which she calls her "happy place" when in Iloilo.

"Iloilo is one of the few cities and provinces where you can find many heritage buildings," former Sen. Franklin Drilon, an Ilonggo, once told me proudly.

I knew the minute our Philippine Airlines plane touched down at the Iloilo International Airport that the Iloilo of my youth had changed—for the better. The airport is a newer version of NAIA II.