The District Of Molo

Molo Plaza fronting the St. Anne Parish Church, an example of Gothic architecture

Yusay-Consing Mansion was renovated and made into a heritage house museum and souvenir shop.

This district is a swampy area so it's impossible to pass through in this place going in or out without passing through water. In Chinese language, this situation is called Bulo (no way out or no way in). In one of the Moro invasion in 19th century, a Chinese was assigned to watch the shores. After he saw the nearing vintas of the Moro, the Chinese went to the poblacion or town proper to warn the people. Since he could not pronounce the letter "r" he shouted Molo instead of Moro.



Photo Source:

http://www.exploreiloilo.com/do/info/molo-church/

http://fieldstoneconstruction.weebly.com/

The Origin Of Mandurriao

Mandurriao Church

Donato Pison Avenue Intersection

A group of Spanish soldiers are crossing the length of the river. They passed by the natives who seems to have noticed something in the river. The noise and celebration invites the strangers. They desire to know the name of the place they have reached. The native who was asked could not understand the Spanish language and just assume that he is asking for what is happening in the river. In his surprise he said:

" Mandu.... Riao...." which means and evokes something of a battle of the mentioned. These are crocodiles whose names were taken from the place of their habitat: the lakes of Mandu and Riao which are now gone.

It was formed in the minds of the people that the name of the place is Mandurriao. Eventually, the letter "r" in Mandu-Riao is replaced with "rr". For the Spaniards, having an "rr" in a word brings further beauty and character.





Photo Source:

https://iloilomass.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/mandurriao-mass-schedule-mandurriao-church-espousal-of-the-virgin-mary-church/

http://www.exploreiloilo.com/blog/ayala-atria-iloilo-kapideco-san-rafael/

The History Of La Paz District

Parish of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in La Paz District, Iloilo City

La Paz Plaza Football Field, where some of the finest football players of the country play

La Paz Public Market, the birthplace of the popular dish La Paz Batchoy and the traditional coffee making Madge Cafe.

In the beginning, La Paz is a barrio or small community of the town of Jaro. It has a span of 110, 700 square meters. The place was originally called Ilawod because it faces Iloilo river on the south while Jaro is called Ilaya because it faces the mountain. Love of freedom and the desire to live peacefully and prosperously compelled the people to separate from Jaro in 1865. The name of the place was changed to La Paz which means peace and their patron saint is  Nuestra Señora De La Paz y Buen Viaje or Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. When the Jaro Archbishop saw the peaceful, law abiding citizens, he designated the Holy Virgin Mary as the patron of the barrio and call it Nuestra Señora De La Paz y Buen Viaje or Our Lady of Peace.

The church in this district was built in 1869 by the priests Candido Gonzales, Leandro Jambrina, Manuel Camara and Mariano Isar.

The La Paz Catholic Church that is situated at Jereos Street fronting La Paz plaza is one of the unique places which has a significant part in history, culture and spiritual development of the people.




Photo Sources:

https://iloilomass.wordpress.com/tag/parish-of-our-lady-of-peace-and-good-voyage-la-paz/

http://mapio.net/s/75584412/?page=12

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entrance_to_La_Paz_Market_Iloilo_City.jpg

The Legend Of Nuestra Señora De La Candelaria - Patroness of Jaro and Western Visayas

Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria or Our Lady of Candles, Patroness of Jaro and the whole Western Visayas Region

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Parish Church or the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral

In Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral, which imposingly standing in front of the plaza or town square of Jaro is the enshrined old statue of Nuestra Señora De La Candelaria or Our Lady of Candles. The townsfolk proves that the image is miraculous and countless of help, graces and blessings has been bestowed to the devotees.

Long time ago when the Spaniards set foot in the shores of Iloilo, some fisherman netted a hard object in the shores of Iloilo river. What they saw is a statue of Our Blessed Virgin, as high as one foot. The fishermen attempted to carry the image but it was so heavy.

In just a short span of time, the news spread. The people crowded the area. They plan of bringing the statue in a nearby church no matter what efforts they do to carry it nothing happens.

At last they decided to carry the image to the cathedral of Jaro. It was a surprise that if awhile ago ten men helped to carry the statue without any progress, now only one fisherman is carrying the statue easily. The image is enshrined in Jaro Cathedral.

After it was done, eventually there were so many things that took place. Allegedly, the image frequently disappears from its shrine in the church especially if its too early in the morning. Many have said that they often see a beautiful lady with an unusually long hair giving a bath to her child in the old artesian well formerly located in the middle of the Jaro plaza or town square.

Another miracle took place few years before the war. The incident was witnessed by many people.

The whole place of Our Blessed Virgin is so dark. After a few days, there is a sudden brightness in the site of the image when no one touched and arranged it. Another miracle is this: the once foot long image grows taller and bigger to its present size and a lush vine grows up around the place. The vines became the center of attention and considered to possess miraculous cure to any illness.

This is the patroness of Jaro and the entire Western Visayas. On her feast day, February 2 the candles were blessed, the light symbolizes the brightness of faith.

The new throne of Our Lady of Candles was made in 1980 before Pope John Paul II arrived in Jaro.




Photo Source:

Wikipedia
Flickr courtesy of Mic Cal

The City Of Iloilo

Iloilo City Hall

Different Sights and Places of Interest in Iloilo City

The city of Iloilo is consists of seven districts, six of whom were former towns or independent city namely: Arevalo, Jaro (formerly a town before becoming an independent city), Lapaz, Mandurriao, Molo, City Proper while Lapuz which is formerly a part of Lapaz, was declared a separate district in 2008.

Arevalo - was named La Villa de Arevalo by Governor-General Gonzalo Ronquillo y Peñalosa in memory of his hometown in Spain.

District of Jaro - the former name of Jaro is Salog. With the arrival of the Spaniards in the islands, they have no idea about the local dialects of the natives. They walk around in the place to view it and to learn about its name. Incidentally, a Spaniard stopped by Barrio Cubay. He saw a man building a house. He is so busy carving and cleaning the bamboos to be used as flooring for the house. The Spaniard asked the name of the place. The man could not understand what the Spaniard is saying so he just answered "salog" (floor).

In another occasion, a group of Spaniards came to the place. Upon their arrival, the natives were so busy in crafting clay jars that they call "saro." A Spaniard ask the name of the place. The natives assume that he asked about the name of the object they were doing so they answered saro. Since then, the place was called Saro that eventually became Jaro.





Photo Sources:

Iloilo City Wikipedia Entry

Iloilo City Government Official Website - www.iloilocity.gov.ph

The Legend Of The Town Of Leon

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Parish Church, Leon, Iloilo

Leon Town Plaza

Bucari Mountain Resorts in Bucari Mountain Ranges - Bucari, Leon, Iloilo

The first name of the town is Camando, taken from the name of the river Camando. This place is near the Sibalom river and every year it caused a lot of damage to the plants in the area and even people's lives were in danger. In 1859, Father Agustin Castro arrived in the place and became the parish priest. After he saw the damages of the overflowing of the river and flooding it caused to the people, he recommended the transfer of the town proper.

In 1862, Gobernadorcillo Joaquin Carbonero and other high officials of the town agreed to the suggestion of Father Castro to transfer the town proper.

In their meeting, they recommended three sitios as the new place for the town. First was Linti-an, the sitio near Gines  and Igkadios about 15 kilometers from the town.  The second mentioned sitio was Hampanga, a sitio near Carolina and Lang-og. This is about six kilometers from the town.  The third is Capan, a sitio which is about three kilometers from the town. In the three sitios mentioned, Capan was chosen as the new area for the town proper. Capan is a vast ricefield owned by Don Placido Capacillo. The place is about an hour to walk before you reach Camando. The date of the transfer of the new town of Camando took place on September 1, 1865.

In the first mass celebrated in a small chapel it was recommended that the new pueblo or municipality shall be named Alexandria, in honor of the town's patron saint, Saint Catherine of Alexandria. However, Father Agustin Castro told that the new pueblo shall be named Leon in honor of his native hometown in Spain.





Photo Source:

www.panayisland.com

https://wanderingtigerblog.wordpress.com

The Barrio Puyas

Sitio Puyas has a distance of about one and a half kilometer away from Milan.

One day, a foreigner came to the place to sell the good he carries. The area is thriving with the plant called "Puyas" or Job's tears plant (Scientific Name: Coix lacryma-jobi) . Puyas or Job's Tears is a kind of plant whose seeds or fruit is used to make novelty necklace, dangling and other things used by children. On the road towards the place of the route of the foreigner, the children gather and play with the seeds of puyas. The foreigner went to the children and ask about the name of the place however during that time the children are scared of foreigners. They run away shouting "puyas, puyas." The foreigner thought the name of the place is Puyas so he called the place Puyas.

Today even if puyas plant is no longer thriving in the area, the place is still known as Puyas.

This is now the biggest sitio or community of Barangay Milan in the town of Lemery.