Chapter 6
1850-1899
* highlighted in violet is the timeline or date
The Bond between Spain and Iloilo
Economic condition of Iloilo becomes stronger in 1880’s and the Ilonggo people indebted it to the Spanish government. Commercial trade is marked by ships freely goes in and out of Iloilo port bringing millions of money. There was a rapid growth. International firms and banks invest in Iloilo especially for sugar financing and granting of loans. Several office outlets opened in Iloilo; American, Basque, Catalan, Danish, Portuguese, Swiss and Filipino entrepreneurs. Calle Real (now J.M. Basa Street) situated in the heart of downtown Iloilo served as the main shopping center of the town. Sugar barons Lucio Lacson, de la Rama and Eulogia Lopez built mansions.
"The Calle Real or High Street is a winding road which leads through the town into the country. The houses are indescribable—they are of all styles. Without any pretense at architectural adornment, some are high, others low; some stand back with several feet of pavement before them, others come forward and oblige one to walk in the road."
Source: John Foreham The Philippine Islands September, 1905 Third Edition
" The liveliness of the Escolta (Calle Real) pleased me.” - Jose Rizal
Jose Rizal in Iloilo
August 4, 1896. Dr. Jose Rizal passing through Iloilo on his way from Dapitan to Manila was much impressed by the appearance of the city. He wrote: “…The entrance to Iloilo is beautiful. From afar can be seen the white city set in water, a nymph of galvanized iron, a modern creation, poetic in spirit of its iron uniform. Rizal went to a bazaar that was located at present-day Regent Theater or Cine Palace 1928 (Angayen 1973). The bazaar owned by a Lebanese, occupied a wide space in a squat-looking building similar to the other neighboring stores. The Lebanese store was selling stamps, buri hats and other souvenir items. Rizal bought a presentable buri hat and took again a quiles for Molo or Parian. He went to the house of Don Raymundo Melliza, a magistrate in the Supreme Court of Cuba and a close friend and classmate of Rizal in Manila and Madrid who have just arrived from Cuba due to an increasing tension of Cuban fight for independence from Spain.
1870's Calle Iznart was born
Iloilo had narrow streets and many swampy areas but with the joint efforts of the officials and the residents, Iloilo slowly became a town fit to be called a city.The government of Manila approved the project to widen and improve the town of Iloilo in accordance with the indicated recommendations of Junta Consultativa and sanitize the mangroves still existing within the town limits. Calle Real was widened. Iznart was named after the Spanish alcalde-mayor of Iloilo Manuel Iznart in 1860's. Calle Real the main and most beautiful street of Iloilo City day after day as reported by El Eco de Panay.
Calle Ortiz was born
Don Joaquin Ortiz Sr - was a Spanish noble and wealthy family born in 1798 in Estepa, Sevilla, Spain and had the title of Marques de Luna. He traveled around the Philippines looking for a better location for establishing a business (shipyard) and he found that Iloilo was situated in the center of the Philippines and had ample supply of timber for his ships. Here he decided to invest in shipping business. Frigates, batels and bergantins were what to be found being built in his shipyard. It was also said that he built a beautiful Bergantine which he gave as a gift to Queen Maria Cristina de Bourbon. He donated parts of his property for the widening of the roads and making new ones and so becoming one of the pioneers of in the development of the city. Because of this in appreciation and acknowledgment for his selfless act, the officials then named Ortiz Street after him. His donations are now part of J.M. Basa Street, Ortiz Street, Iznart Street, Rizal Street and Gen. Luna Street and a piece of the Plazoleta Gay.
Valeria Street
A street from General Luna up to Rizal traversing Delgado and Ledesma was named after Valeria Lopez Ledesma (born on April 27, 1866). She is the daughter of Anastacio Lopez Ledesma and Clara Jalandoni Lopez who donated that piece of land.
Source: Ilonggo Initiatives: The Changing Face of Business in Iloilo.
A Livable Iloilo
First Department Store in Philippines - Hoskyn 1877 -
The Englishman Henry Hoskyn, nephew of Nicholas Loney, the first British vice-consul in Iloilo paid P17,000 for the house and lot at the midpoint of Calle Real which became the site of the town's renowned luxury Hoskyn Department Store reputed to be the Philippines' first real department store. It was also claimed as the first to introduce the “fixed price” policy in merchandising in the country and was known to be “the store that sold everything from needle to anchor”. It offered groceries, hardware, stationery, toys, watches, jewelry, machinery, buttons, threads, etc.
(Source: Articulos que ordinariamente reciben y venden Hoskyn y ca. del comercio de Iloilo, 1895).
First bookstore in the whole Visayas & Mindanao
1871 - Libreria y Imprenta la Panayana was founded in Mandurriao, Iloilo by Mariano Perfecto. It is perhaps the oldest existing almanac in the Philippines.
First Dictionary about Old Ilongo of Iloilo and Spanish spoken in 1800's
1876 - Cursos de lengua Panayana was published by Dominican Fr. Raymundo Lorano in Universidad de Santo Tomas explaining about Ilongo diction, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, gerund, present, past future tense, sentence construction, etc.
1883 - First International Banks Opened in Iloilo
1883 - The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was established in Iloilo on April 2, 1883 to facilitate the development of the sugar industry and other agricultural crops in the region. It gave financial assistance to Iloilo traders by extending import and export facilities and offering financial assistance for agricultural facilities, especially those related to the sugar industry.
1887 - Shops around Plazoleta Gay
Firms such as Ynchausti y cia. (Spanish), El Louvre (French), Lizarraga Hermanos (Spanish) and Levy Hermanos & Co. (French) do business in Iloilo in the late 1880s. These establishments were noted merchants, capitalists and large commodities brokers. There were also other European and American firms dealing in maritime and fire insurance.
Alsoa number of European specialty shops and retail stores were on hand selling hats, watches, naval supplies, etc. A piano studio, tailoring and machine shops were moreover, available. Furthermore, here was located Spanish and native establishments like Bazar Cosmopolitan, Cafe Colon, La Puerta del Sol, La Espega de Oro, La Zaragoza, and Tordecillas y ca. There was also German-owned drugstore called Botica Antigua.
Source: Protocols 1601, Yloilo, March 31, 1887; Contribuciones industriales, Iloilo)
Telegraph in Iloilo
Under Spanish government there was a land telegraph service from Manila to all civilized parts of Luzon Island—also in Panay Island from Cápiz to Yloilo .
Source : John Foreham
Spanish Prohibition of Native Liquor
1855 - the Spaniards prohibited the sale of liquor except vino de estanco imported from Spain and sold only by the Spaniards. In pueblo of Dumangas, Mateo Dorilag revolted against this wine monopoly because they could not drink tuba – favorite native coconut wine.
Pueblo of Lucena. Fray Fernando Hernandez and Fray Mateo Serapio ordered the natives to speak Hiligaynon only and not Kinaray-a and those found violating will be met with the pain of severe punishment.
Electricity
The Panay Electric Co. started operating in 1921, although electricity was already available in Iloilo City as early as 1902 with the Iloilo Light Compony.
1863 - Spanish Reforms on Public Education
Through the education decree of December 20, 1863, Queen Isabella II of Spain decreed the establishment of a free public school system in Philippines using Spanish as the language of instruction increasing numbers of educated Ilonggos.
(Source: Nuevas Escuelas Publicas de Janiuay, Ilo-ilo, Recientemente Inauguradas, para niñas y niños. La Ilustracion Española Y Americana. 22 de Setiembre de 1885)
Jaro Cathedral and Plaza emerged
1865: Jaro became diocese - Pope Pius IX in the Bull of Erection, “QUI AB INITIO” on May 27,1865, of the Diocese of Jaro insisted that the new bishop should found and organize a seminary as soon as possible.
1867 - The Archbishop of Manila, Most Rev. Gregorio Meliton Martinez carried out the decree into effect on October 10, 1867. "Decretum Executorium" was also signed by the Rev. Jose Burgos pro-secretary, a secular priest who became one of the outstanding martyr-heroes of the country. At the time Most Rev. Mariano Cuartero, O.P., the appointed first bishop of Jaro was still in Spain acting as General Procurator of the Dominican Order. He received episcopal ordination at the Dominican Seminary of Ocania, Spain on November 1867.
1868 - Saint Vincent Seminary in Jaro - Father Gregorio Martinez officially became the first bishop of Jaro Diocese on April 25, 1868. The new bishop founded the Diocesan Seminary where he could train good pastors for the different parishes, which at that time were almost entirely under the spiritual administration of the Augustinians friars who were then regarded as the Fathers of Faith in Panay.
Jaro was made separate from and independent of its mother diocese of Cebu and became a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Manila. Its territories comprised the islands of Panay (now composed of the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, and Antique), Negros Island (now provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental), Romblon, Palawan and Jolo groups, and the provinces of Cotabato, Zamboanga and Davao in Mindanao.
Lapaz - This district became an independent parish in 1868
Colegio de San Jose
1872 – Colegio de San Jose had its humble beginning in 1872. Reverend Father Ildefonso Moral, C.M., Rector of Jaro Archdiocesan Seminary and Don Recardo Mascuñana signed the contract of its establishment on July 9, 1871.
Cabeza de Barangay - Honored in Jaro Cathedral
Don Manuel Javellana and Doña Gertrudis Lopez son is Don Cristino Javella y Lopez (photo above) became cabeza de barangay in Jaro. He was born in 1850 as devout Catholic, he was among those who helped build the Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Metropolitan Cathedral (more popularly known today as the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral) which was started in 1864. His first wife Baldomera Ledesma bore him with a son Cirilo. His remains were interred in one of the 12 columns along the aisle of the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Metropolitan Cathedral in Jaro together with his son Cirilo. Carved in the gravestone were:
RESTOS MORTALES DE
D. CRISTINO Y CIRILO
JAVELLANA
1886 - Queen Regent made Jaro as City
Newly discovered technologies continue to arrive in Iloilo international port in 1880's. Various international stores and hotels are found in Calle Real. Several banks were opened to cater the bulk of money flow from countries of the world.
1886 – Queen of Spain made the town of Jaro as a city ( Ayuntamiento). It covers Lapaz area. Eugenio Lopez was the last gobernadorcillo in 1876. He served as regidor or council. When news of revolution came to Jaro.
1889 - By October 5, the Queen of Spain royal decree officially elevated Iloilo as a city.
En Edioma Espanol
"“A propuesta del Ministro de Ultramar, y teniendo en cuenta el creciente desarrollo que en la industria y el commercio ha alcanzado la cabecera de la provincia de IloIlo, la más importante de las islas de Filipinas, despues de la de Manila; En nombre de mi Augusto Hijo el Rey D. Alfonso XIII, y como Reina Regente del Reino, Vengo en conceder " el titulo de la Ciudad" á la cabecera de IloIlo, en dichas islas. Dado en San Sebastian á cinco de Octubre de mil ochocientos ochenta y nueve. Maria Cristina”
English Translation
" With the proposal of Foreign Minester , taking into account the increasing development in the industry and the commerce has reached the capital of the province of Ilo-Ilo, the most important of the islands of the Philippines, after the Manila, on behalf of my August son Don King Alfonso XIII, and as Queen Regent of the Kingdom, I hereby grant the title of the City at the Capital of IloIlo, in these islands. Given in San Sebastian to October 5 of 1889. Mary Christene "
Iloilo Is Legally Founded As A City - January 31, 1890
Old Iloilo City Presidencia and the Royal Seal of Iloilo City bearing the label which translates in English as Ever Royal and Noble City of Iloilo.
By November 12, overseas minister Manuel Becerra promulgated a law in a Spanish Cortes (Court) establishing the City Hall. After the signing of a superior decree of 31 January 1890 was signed and Iloilo was granted the authority to have its own city council the right to organize Ayuntamiento (photo) similar to those of the municipalities of Spain. Iloilo City hall was established on February 7, 1890 with Don Tirso Lizarraga as alcalde mayor with Don Sabino Ordaz and Don Isidro de la Rama as tenientes de alcade, and nine councilors. Iloilo became a twin-city of Queen of Spain.
March 1897 - First Bank Outside Manila
Previously known as El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II, Banco de las Islas Filipinas the oldest bank in the Philippines and the first to print Philippine currency opened in Iloilo on March 15, 1897.
1897 - Tagalog Sedition was threat to Iloilo Economy
To A Cultured Society of Iloilo - Insurgencies is disrespect and ingratitude.
A great threat to the International trade of Iloilo.
Iloilo progress economically and socially at late 1800's. Through Spanish reforms on education and economics, the Philippines became the second country in the whole of Asia in economics, education and culture. Ilonggo society attributes these socio-economic progress to the Spanish government. The news of revolution have reached Iloilo to a cultured spirit of Iloilo its a sign of ingratitude to the Spanish government. Moreover, a threat to their economy and international trade. A sign of progress was underscore by establishment of the first bank outside Manila in Iloilo.
A sense of debt of gratitude swept whole Iloilo
A few days after the Cry of Balintawak. The Ayuntamiento (municipal council) of Jaro was the first to condemn by way of a resolution in September 1, the revolution as "an unpatriotic act" that finds no echo in the hearts of the Jarenos". The Ayuntamiento of Iloilo followed suit and organized the Iloilo Battalion. Driven by outpouring love and loyalty toward Spain. A volunteer infantry called "Voluntarios" were recruited. Five hundred native troops of strong and brave Ilonggos, Jaro and Iloilo and the adjoining prosperous towns of Molo, Arevalo, Oton and Sta. Barbara and the more distant northern and eastern pueblos.
Ilonggo Sentiments Governed Calle Real
Martin Delgado, Quintin Salas, Pedro Monteclaro and Adriano Hernandez were among the officers of the battalion gathered and plan to quell the revolutionaries in Manila.the Ilonggo Volunteers gathered at Plaza Alfonso XII (present-day Plaza Libertad) or blessings prior to their departure to Manila. A massive overflow of pro-Spanish patriotism marked the occasion that was attended, in full force, by local Spanish authorities and the Iloilo Ayuntamiento. Diario de Manila, the Ilongo Volunteers embarked on the ship Brutus as folk heroes, cheered by the people who sent them off en masse. Bishop Leandro Arrue and the city officials, led by Governor Ricardo Monet, joined the multitude that wished the Ilongo volunteers luck in their fight for the Mother Country.
Eugenio and Esteban - Ilongos United Leales
Fund-raising to fortify the Ilongo and Spanish battalion divided into two companies, the Volunteer battalion arrived in Manila on 16 January 1897. It easily became one of the largest native contingent to serve the government forces against the insurgent soldiers of General Emilio Aguinaldo in the battlegrounds of Cavite province. Regular financial contributions mainly from the families of the Ilonggo elite supported the Ilonggo Volunteers throughout their years of service. The first fund raising campaign in March 1897 generated some 1,615 pesos. Among the leading contributors were Felix de la Rama and Eugenio Lopez, as well as other urban elite families from both Iloilo and Jaro. Before this, as per the report of Diario de Manila, some 40,000 pesos had already been collected when the Ilonggo Battalion embarked for Manila, 'an amount at the time that would last them for four months.....'
Two Ilongo sugar barons wanted to stop the Tagalogs insurgency. One is Don Eugenio Lopez and Don Esteban De La Rama .
1898: La Muy Noble y Leal Ciudad de Iloilo
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