Research Center of Iloilo: The History Of Iloilo Chapter 10 - 1900s - 1920s

Chapter 10

"A new century, a new way of  life"

Iloilo during American Government

* highlighted in violet is the timeline or date




Americans totally captured and established a government in the city of Iloilo. There was a major reforms under Taft Commission. Ilonggo politicians were installed under the American government. Reforms on education, health and infrastructure revitalize Iloilo as a prominent province outside Manila substantiated by statistical survey of Bureau of Statistics. Iloilo sugar industry emerged as the biggest center of commerce and trade in the Visayas and Mindanao, second only to Manila. English Language was slowly introduced as medium of instruction and government official usage replacing Spanish through American teachers who settled in Iloilo to teach in Iloilo High School. The first public high school in the Philippines.

"On the other hand, there are many innovations since American administration superseded the native civil government. The plaza till then a dreary open space is now a pleasant shady promenade;  electric lighting, an ice-factory, four hotels, one American, one English and three Philippine clubs, large public schools, an improved quay way, a commodious Custom-house, a great increase of harbour traffic, a superabundance of lawyersʼ  and pawnbrokersʼ sign-boards and public vehicles plying for hire are among the novelties which strike one who knew Yloilo in days gone by".

Source : John Foreman The Philippine Islands September, 1905 Third Edition



1900 - A report of the First Philippine Commission to the President of America

(The capitol front view before the Arroyo Fountain built in 1927)

Iloilo with many beautiful churches

"The towns are almost all large clean and well built. In no other province or district are there so many churches and they are all of stone their architecture being pleasing. The cemetery of Janiuay is especially notable. No other province is crossed by as many well built roads and by ways"


Two Cities, Jaro and Iloilo next to Manila

" In all of the towns, especially those of the coast there are many Europeans and Chinese half-castes. The capital of the province is of the same name Iloilo. It's houses are excellent and of good construction. It is next to Manila the most important commercial town in the Philippines as well as exports as in imports. It has like Manila, an ayuntamiento established by a decree and a banking houses"

Jaro formerly Santa Isabel with a population of 13, 070 is situated in a flat land along the right bank of the large river of the same name. This town located about four miles from Iloilo was founded in 1584 or 1585. It was made an Episcopal See separating it from that of Cebu by Bull of Pius IX, 1865. It has a fine cathedral, episcopal palace, seminary and some fine private houses. Like Iloilo it has its ayuntamiento.


Towns of Iloilo (39 towns)

Other towns of the district are Alimodian, Anilao, Arevalo, Barotac Nuevo, Barotac Viejo, Banate, Buenavista, Cabatuan with 20, 035 inhabitants. Calinog, Cordova, Dingle with 12, 098, Duenas,
Dumangas with 15, 178, Guimbal, Igbaras with 11 , 359, Janiuay with 26, 460, La Paz, Lambunao, Leganes, Leon with 14, 714. Lucena, Maasin, Mandurriao, Miag-ao, Mina, Molo, Nagaba, Oton with 13, 883. Passi with 14, 688, Pavia with 6, 328, Pototan with 15, 939, San Enrique, San Miguel, San Joaquin with 13, 649, Santa Barbara with 19, 717, Tigbauan with 16, 850, Tubungan, Zaraga and Novales.*

* Molo , Mandurriao , Lapaz and Arevalo are Spanish towns
* San Rafael , Badiangan and Bingawan are not yet towns.
* Nagaba is previous name of Jordan , Guimaras changed into Jordan in 1902


Province or District of Concepcion (9 towns)

This comandancia and dependency of the district of Iloilo is situated in the extreme northeast of Panay. The number of inhabitants according to the Official Guide of the Philippines in 1887 is 38, 982. Concepcion, the capital located on an excellent anchorage has a population more than 4,000. Ajui with the village of Bolasi has a population of 6, 228. Other towns are Balasan, Carles, Lemery, San Dionisio and Sara with 11, 746 while Batad and Estancia has a population of 12, 564.*

* all present towns are mentioned with exception to Batad, a barangay of Balasan.

Source: A report of Philippine Commision January 31, 1900

1900 - 2nd Commision or Taft Commision

Taft Commission or 2nd Philippine Commission.

On March 16, 1900 following the recommendations of the First Philippine Commission, United States President William McKinley appointed William Howard Taft as head of the 2nd Philippine  Commission. It is unilateral and first legislative body with the power to make law to run the Philippines. They elect provincial governors.




A. Creation of Bureau of Statistics
Taft Commision enacted the Act No. 7 September 26, 1900 for creation of Bureau of Statistics with function of collection, compilation, and publication of such statistical information concerning the Philippine Islands under the supervision of a military governor.

B. Creation of Department of Public Instruction (Precursor of Department of Education)
To comply with the recommendation of the 1st Commission for the establishment of a system of public education, on May 5, 1900 the  2nd Philippine Commission appointed Fred W. Atkinson as the Superintendent General of Public Instruction. He authorized Act No. 74 - establishing a Department of Public Instruction. The Second Philippine Commission enacted it on January 21, 1901. One thousand trained US  teachers have been hired at a monthly salaries of $75-125. To recruit applicants, he advertised in American newspapers and educational journals and sent letters to colleges, universities and normal schools in the United States.

C. The Municipal Code ( Proto-Local Government Code)
January 1,1901 – The 2nd Philippine Commission passed the Act No. 82, the Municipal Code provided for incorporation of municipalities in American Insular Government. Municipal presidents, vice-presidents, and municipal council to serve on municipal boards and their term of office shall be for two years elected by qualified elector (male, 23 years old, not insane, and bonafide resident of a town). Municipalities with population of less than 2,000 can be incorporated by petition of qualified voters or will be attached to the an adjacent and incorporated municipality.

Reorganization of Municipalities in Iloilo
In compliance of the Taft Commission, Jaro was changed back into a municipal or town status. Santa Barbara annexed Pavia and becomes part of Iloilo in 1904.

1903 - Maasin was made an arrabal of Cabatuan on April 4,1903.
Dingle was annexed to Pototan.

1904 - Calinog was annexed to Passi

D. Creation of Board of Health (Precursor of Department of Health)
July 1, 1901 - Act No. 157 was passed by the Commision creating the Board of Health . Pablo Araneta was rewarded with the post of President of  the Board of Health at an annual salary of $1,500 gold.

Supreme Court of Insular Government
Previously Melliza served on the Supreme Court from May 29, 1899 to May 4, 1900 when he resigned because of ill health. Victorino Mapa was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court with an annual emolument of $7,000 gold"

Source: John Foreman  - The Philippine Islands September, 1905 Third Edition

Surrender of Gen Martin Delgado

1900 - In November that year the American authorities asked Raymundo Melliza to join the Peace Committee that would appeal to Gen. Delgado and his guerrilla leaders to surrender. The other members of the Peace  Committee were Gen. Pablo Araneta, Cornelio Melliza, Victorino Mapa, Jovito Yusay, and Juan de Leon.

1901 - Martin Delgado  - 1st Governor of Iloilo

General Martin Delgado sitting in the center in black dress

Provincial Government Act
After several days of passage of the Municipal Code on February 6 The Philippine Commission passed the act no. 83 or the Provincial Government Act. It states that every province shall have an elected provincial governor. Elections are to be held to elect a provincial secretary, a provincial treasurer, a provincial supervisor and a provincial fiscal.



February 2, 1901 – During the fiesta of Jaro, General Delgado weary of war and poorly armed formally surrendered in Jaro to the American military governor, Edmund Rice. Many of the leaders surrendered. Brig. Gen. Robert P. Hughes with 30 officers and 140 men in  Jaro, Iloilo. An American historian wrote, "As a result of this surrender, 41,000 inhabitants of  the province of Iloilo took the oath of allegiance. Benito Lopez was appointed Justice of the Peace of Jaro and served from 1902 to 1903 and relative peace was restored.

He was recognized by the Americans as "the ablest leader" on the  island. The appointment of the first governor of Iloilo province shall take place upon the establishment of the civil government on April 11, 1901. "Jovito Yusay was given the provincial government secretary with a yearly stipend of $1,800 gold; Quintin Salas and his Chief of Staff. Lt. Col. Francisco Jalandoni were the last to lay down their arms on October 4, 1901.

"Martin T. Delgado, the very man who had inflicted such calamities upon the  Yloilo people was appointed on April 11 to be their first provincial civil governor at a salary of $3,000 gold per annum and held that office until March 1904 "

Source: John Foreham The Philippine Islands September, 1905 Third Edition

1902 - Philippine Organic Act

On March 3, 1902 - To follow the Provincial Government Act of  1901 of the 2nd Philippine Commission, the first provincial election was held. Martin Delgano was elected as the governor of Iloilo.

July 1, 1902 - United States Congress enacted the Philippine Organic Act. It is also known as the Philippine Bill of 1902. Provisions include the conduct of census in the whole Philippines,  the establishment of the Philippine Assembly to be elected by the Filipinos two years after the publication of a census. Legislative power (making of law) shall then be vested in a bicameral (2 houses) legislature composed of the original  Philippine Commission as the upper house and the Philippine Assembly as the lower house elected by the people. Supervision of the islands was assigned to the War Department's Bureau of Insular Affairs. July 4 - President Theodore Roosevelt officially ended the Philippine-American War by issuing the Peace Proclamation and Granting of Amnesty to the "Insurrectionists" who in reality were patriots.

1902 - Road  Constructions and Cholera Outbreak

Department of War and Public Works(DWPW) and Construction of Roads

As the war ended, American government focus on the rehabilitation of infrastructure. The DWPW was converted into Bureau of Public Works. Martin Delgado as the first governor of Iloilo was involved in the supervision of major construction of roads. On the first months of 1902, the provincial board utilizing the loan of P94,000 granted by the Philippine Commission undertook the construction and repair of the principal roads of the province with the dual purpose of providing good roads and of furnishing work to the common people. The project was put under the  responsibility of the agency called " provincial supervisor".

SECTION 10 of Act 83 or Provincial Government Act of 1901. The provincial supervisor shall have supervision over the construction, repair, and maintenance of the roads, bridges, and ferries of the province, except those within the inhabited portions of the pueblos and barrios thereof.

The work was stopped in the latter month due to the cholera outbreak. The government had to re-channel the funds in order to combat this epidemic which killed thousands upon thousands  of Ilonggos. Thus, only the road from Jaro to Sta. Barbara was completed.

Source: Report of the Governor of the Province of Iloilo, 1905


Government Projects Disrupted due to Cholera Outbreak

An infected American who traveled from the United states carried cholera to Manila. The outbreak started on March 20, 1902. It started in a suburb of Manila and quickly spread through Luzon and the other islands such as Iloilo. The total number of cholera cases reported up to September 29, 1902 reached 70,222 of which 48,402 were fatal. The heaviest mortality was among the lower classes of natives.


Road from Iloilo to Guimbal, Banate to Janiuay completed

In 1904 - a 36 kilometers of roads from the town of Iloilo to the interior sections were reported repaired. This placed the provincial capitol in an easier communication with the more proximate towns of the province. Later,  repaired roads reached roads reached as far as Guimbal to the south, Banate to the north and Janiuay to the inland interior with a cost of P82,73 (Ibid). Repairs were also made on the bridges in Jaro and Mandurriao and on the road  between Iloilo and La Paz and from Jaro to Pavia and that of Leganes to Zarraga. The Hibao-an road that  joined the municipalities of Mandurriao and San Miguel.

The  Manila Daily Bulletin reported in September 1907 that the City of Iloilo was “the metropolis of the Visayan Islands,  second city of importance in the archipelago and the greatest market for sugar in this part of the world.”


Widening of City Streets and Light Installation

Named "Calle Real" or "Royal Street", it spans from Plaza Alfonso XII (now known  as Plaza Libertad) all the way to Plazoleta Gay and the location of commercial  establishments, the Casa Real (Iloilo Provincial Capitol) as well as the residences of the Ilonggo elite.

1903 - Census of Iloilo

Iloilo remained 2nd to Manila in economy

In compliance of Philippine Organic Act of 1902 which prescribes for the conduct of Census in the Philippines to give way for creation of Philippine Legislature , American Government conducted census in 1903.Iloilo was second in economic performance , in trade , manufacturing and professional service and Iloilo has total population of  329,993 in 1903

American-brand Protestantism engulfed Ilongos

In 1898 the Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist leaders met together in New York to discuss how to bring the Protestant message to the Filipinos. The result was a comity agreement of the missionary enterprises, dividing up places of ministry to avoid future conflicts among themselves and their converts.


Foundation of -  Mission Hospital Dispensary

There was a pervasive introduction of Protestantism in Iloilo. A couple missionaries of the Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board, Dr. Andrew Hall and his wife Mrs Mary Hall, a nurse arrived in Iloilo in 1901 and run a temporary bamboo clinic in Calle Amparo (now Ledesma Street in the photo above) to serve as a venue for the treatment of health care to the very poor.

Union Mission Hospital, First Nursing School and First to produce Nurses in the Philippines

They acquired the property in 1905 in Iznart Street and founded the Union Mission Hospital - Training School for nurses. It was opened in March 1906. The school is the first school of nursing in the Philippines. American nurse, Miss  Elizabeth Brinton later Mrs. John Bordman arrived on June 3, 1906. Mrs. Bordman was in-charge of both the nursing services and also the training school for nurses as superintendent and principal of nurses. She also took care of the patients. Mrs. Mary Hall, Elizabeth Brinton and Amelia Klein all trained registered nurses in America composed the training staff. Dr. Mackle, an American surgeon joined the hospital & who later on carried the medical responsibility when the Halls went on six month furlough in the U.S. Four young girls joined the American-run hospital and they comprised of Nicasia Cada of Oton, Iloilo and Basilia and Dorotea Caldito of Leon Iloilo. Hospital laundry women said that they pitied Dr. Hall, his wife nurse Mary and Felipa for working hard with so many patients to attend to.

It produced the pioneering three graduate nurses in 1909. Now the school of nursing was transferred at Central Philippine University. In 1907, an American Baptist Missionary, Dr. Raphael C. Thomas joined the staff. It was renamed Union Hospital. By 1920, the hospital expanded to a seventy beds. By this time the School of Nursing was registered with the government.

1904 - Muelle Loney Street was born

Muelle Loney Street was born

In March 1904, the Municipal Council of Iloilo passed a resolution naming the long stretch of road along Iloilo Port as Muelle Loney or Loney Waterfront in honor of the Father of Sugar Industry of Iloilo.

1905 - Secretary of War visit Iloilo

On August 14, 1905, William Howard Taft (in black tuxedo photo above) who was the 42nd Secretary of War appointed by President Roosevelt visited Iloilo (he became the 27th President of the United States) and all four members of the American Commission came to Iloilo. Among the members of the Commission was Dean C. Worcester the same Dean C. Worcester the scientist who visited Concepcion in 1887. In a special session attended by the delegates from most of the towns of Iloilo, Taft suggested that the Comandancia of Concepcion should be merged with the province of Iloilo. With the economy of the comandancia in ruin, the Ilonggo leaders agreed to the suggestion. So, Section 1 of the bill creating the province of Iloilo was amended on the third line to read “Province of Iloilo, including the Comandancia of Concepcion.”

1906 - First High School in Philippines

Don Raymundo Melliza, on the other hand founded the Instituto de Molo in 1901 with Manuel Locsin a fellow lawyer. The school produced luminaries as assemblyman Francisco Varona, poet laureate Flavio Zaragoza Cano, Concon Delegate Delfin Gumban, Governor Timoteo Consing, Mayor Serapion Torre, assemblyman Jose D. Evangelista, Don Serafin Gatuslao of Murcia, father of governor Valeriano Gatuslao,  Mayor Agustin Gatuslao, Mayor Jose Gatuslao, Governor Don Miguel Gatuslao, representative Agustin Gatuslao of Himamaylan. It used Spanish, Tagalog with Hiligaynon as medium of instruction.

Melliza also became first the vice president of the Asociacion de Agricola de Panay y Negros that was formed on October 11, 1903.The other officers of the Asociacion were Juan de Leon, president; Ruperto Montinola, second vice president; Benito Lopez, Francisco Villanueva, Manue  Locsin, Claudio Lopez, Juan Araneta, Martin Delgado, board members; Esteban de la Rama, treasurer; and Jose Lopez Vito, secretary.


Thomasites - American teachers

Mary H. Fee -  Describes Iloilo as "Miniature Edition of Manila" on her book Womans Impression of  the Philippines. On September 7, she departed by a Compania Maritima boat bound for Iloilo where she was picked up by a 'tao'. She stayed in Iloilo for a few days to shop. She was beginning to learn the language and words such as 'manana', and the traveling vernacular such as 'sigue' (go on), para (stop), derecho (straight ahead), mano and silia. She waited in Iloilo for two days, making friends with army ladies; she was invited to an afternoon tea with the army nurses. She enjoyed their delicious toast and  thought it tasted good after the 'garbanzos, bescochos and guava jelly'.  According to her, the hardest thing to overcome was the desire of her students to aid her in matters that she could manage better alone. In Capiz, she organized a society and acting as chairman called for an election by informal ballot. Their first ballot polled seventy-three votes although there were only fifty-five persons in the room. She threw the results out and called for a roll call vote.

1902 - Iloilo Normal School was founded by W.E. Lutz with his wife, Mariam Lutz who died of cholera in Manila on July 24, 1903 at the age of 32 even before she could go to her station. He continued his work as a teacher founded the Iloilo Normal School and served as its first principal. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, it was so named because its purpose was to establish teaching standards or “norms.”



Bola-Bola - An only Notable Structure

1906 - The school moved to the present site on the land donated by Don Francisco Jalandoni Y Habana, a soldier and philanthropist. Don Benito Lopez, governor of Iloilo funded the construction with cement footing, wooden structure and galvanized-iron roofing. The two-storey wooden school building with a wide porch along three sides of the first floor looked more like an haciendero's house amidst its very rural setting . It was a solitary object in the midst of rice and sugarcane fields and looked more like a glorified farmhouse. The main gate called the "Bola-Bola" with its concrete side walk balustrade and 4 massive spare columns, each supporting a globe Thomasites planted Acacia trees in the Quadrangle.


Northern Baptist Arrived Establishing Jaro Industrial School

William Valentine founded the Bible School in June 1905, the Jaro Industrial School was opened as a free vocational boarding school for boys. The first class consisted of 20 boys who worked four hours a day to pay their tuition, room and board and spent four hours in the classroom. They established the first established evangelical church in Philippines in Jaro , Iloilo City.

Joseph William Witton Crow from Hollister, San Benito, California

Mary E. Polley from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin teacher in Iloilo Normal School.

William Rockford Hamme from York, Pennsylvania 

Why American teachers are called Thomasites?

 The first recruited teacher volunteers numbering 509 are aboard in United States Army Transport Thomas arrived in the Philippines on August 23, 1901. Subjects taught are English, agriculture, reading, grammar, geography, mathematics, general courses, trade courses, housekeeping and household arts (sewing, crocheting and cooking), manual trading, mechanical drawing, freehand drawing and athletics (baseball, track and field, tennis, indoor baseball and basketball)

1906 - First Railway outside Manila

1906 -  Act 1497 was enacted by the Philippine Commission which authorized the Philippine Railway Co. in Manila "to locate, construct, furnish, maintain and operate a  railway line" in other parts of the country. (Annual Report of Panay Railways 1979). This came about because of the need to improve the means of transportation in the archipelago to facilitate the movements of inhabitants and products. The construction of the railway in Panay was started in 1906 and the 116.1 kilometers system was inaugurated in 1912 (Gleeck 1928). The first railway outside Manila.

1907- First Election of Assemblyman

In the election of February 1, 1906, Don Benito Lopez (husband of Presentación Hofilena) 28 years old was re-elected  as governor of Iloilo. He was assassinated in December 27 and the mastermind was a political rival his own distant relative. They rushed Benito Lopez to the Iloilo Mission Hospital. The three first shots were not life-threatening but the fourth shot on the side wrought much damage on the  liver. Three American doctors, Joseph Pettijohn, Earl Burnes and Col. J. La  Garde could do nothing to save the Governor. All they did was to make him comfortable.


Great and Noble Ilongos that helped shape history of Philippines
To execute the provisions of Organic Act of 1902 whichis to elect an assemblyman. Election was held on July 30 , 1907. Elected assemblymen  from Iloilo to attend the First Philippine Legislature are:

A. 1st District  of Iloilo - Amando Avanceña - Nacionalista Party. He was only 28, a brilliant lawyer and was an officer in the Revolutionary Army.  A member of four committees including the Committee on Public Lands, Forestry and Mining.

B. 2nd District of Iloilo - Nicolas Jalandoni - 26 years old,  lawyer, he won a spectacular victory over two legal luminaries, Juan de Leon, former CFI judge; Raymundo Melliza, former associate justice of the Supreme Court and former-governor of Iloilo. He chaired the Committee on Posts and Telegraphs. He also sat in the Committee on Appropriations and four other committees.

C. 3rd District of Iloilo - Salvador Laguda - lawyer-engineer-journalist, won over General Martin Delgado and Teodoro Husain. Laguda studied industrial engineering in Barcelona, Spain. Elected chairman of the Committee on Style due to his expertise as writer-editor. He was the third Ilonggo to sit in the powerful Committee on Appropriations.

D. 4th District of Iloilo - Adriano Hernandez - won over lawyer Espiridion Guanco. Hernandez was chief-of-staff of the Revolutionary Army in Iloilo. He declined to hold public office under the Americans in 1901. Instead, he managed the Tabacalera in Negros for seven years. Chairman of the Committee on Industry, Commerce and Labor . A member of six other committees including Appropriations.

E. 5th District, Regino Dorillo - Progresista, won over General Angel Corteza by only two votes. Dorillo was clerk of court at the Court of First Instance based in Pototan under the Spanish government. He served as a major in the Revolutionary Army, and was elected municipal president of the combined towns of Passi, San Enrique, Dueñas, and Calinog. He is a composer-musician, he won a gold medal in the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 for his “Marcha de Conant” composition. He has four committees including the major Committee on Agriculture.


Other Ilongos representing other Provinces

Antonio Jayme, 53, a lawyer from Jaro, Iloilo, was elected from the 1st District of Negros Occidental. Incidentally, he defeated two other Iloilo-born candidates, Julio Hernandez and Vicente Franco. Jayme was governor of Negros Occidental prior to his election to the Legislature.

The 2nd District of Negros Occidental was represented by Dionisio Mapa, 28, lawyer from Mandurriao, Iloilo. He defeated the famous Ilonggo millionaire Esteban de la Rama.

An Ilonggo physician, Dr. Vicente Locsin of Janiuay, Iloilo, represented the 2nd District of Negros Oriental. He had been municipal health officer of Silay and Talisay in Negros Occidental and before the election was the provincial health officer of Negros Oriental.

Mindanao have only 2 organized provinces namely, Misamis with two districts and Surigao with only one. The Lone District of Surigao was represented by Francisco Soriano, a lawyer from Molo, Iloilo who was Secretary General of the Revolutionary Government of the Visayas. He served as provincial fiscal of Surigao and Misamis. Later, Soriano became the first elected senator from Mindanao.

On October 16, 1907, the Philippine Assembly was inaugurated at the Manila Grand Opera House. The event was attended by William Howard Taft (at this time appointed Secretary of War) and the new governor-general James Francis Smith. The Philippine Commission composed of 4 Americans and 4 Filipinos as Upper House. Speaker of the House was Sergio Osmeña (Nacionalista, 2nd District Cebu) and Majority Floor Leader: Manuel L. Quezon (Nacionalista, 1st District Tayabas)


Two Ilonggo Brothers who help built Philippine History of the 20th century

Brother of Vicente Lopez took care of two orphans, Eugenio Lopez Sr. 7 years old  (Harvard-schooled Lawyer, he acquired Meralco in 1961)  and Fernando Lopez (Vice President in 1949 – founded ABS-CBN), 4 year old. They lived in their house in Iznart Street, Iloilo City. They inherited Don Benito Hacienda in Casalagan,  Pontevedra, Negros Occidental and then joined the family hacienda in Central Lopez Factory in Cadiz, Negros Occidental.

Because the American government in the Philippines have many prominent Ilonggos, Iloilo developed faster than most other provinces from 1907 onward.

1907 - First Golf and Country Club in the Philippines and Southeast Asia

1907  - The Iloilo Golf Club in Sta. Barbara is the oldest golf and country club in the  Philippines and Southeast Asia and the second oldest in Asia. It was constructed in 1907 by English (or Scottish?) engineers who built the railroad linking Iloilo City to Capiz for  the sugar barons of Panay. The golf course features majestic, century-old acacia and fire trees.

1908 - Construction of Forbes Bridge

The  Forbes Bridge connecting Iloilo with La Paz on the way to Jaro was constructed  during the administration of Ruperto Montinola as governor of Iloilo. The concrete structure replaced the temporary structure made of wood and bamboo used during the Spanish period. The bridge was named in honor of the American governor-general, W. Cameron Forbes.

The plaque inscription:
             Provincial Board
Ruperto Montinola, Governor
F. L. Wilson,Treasurer
J. Lopez Vito, Third Member
R. F. Moss, District Engineer
W. H. Lambert & Co. Contractors.

1909 - Telephone upgrading in Iloilo

The first telephone system in Iloilo was inaugurated on June 1, 1894 in the last decade of the Spanish rule. Through the initiative of John Bordman, an American businessman the Iloilo Telephone and Telegraph Co. was organized in 1909 in order to improve telephone service in the city. A local battery consisting  of 56 telephones was installed by the Bryan-Landon Co. of Iloilo

The hospital was established by the Archbishop of Manila, Jeremiah Harty under the supervision of the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres located in Intramuros. It provided general hospital services. It opened its training school for nurses in 1908 with Mother Melanie as superintendent and Miss Chambers as Principal.

1912 - Banco Espanol became bank of Phil Islands

The bank shed off its Spanish character and became a Philippine institution. Act no. 1790, which was passed by the Philippine Commission on October 12, 1907 gave the stockholders of the bank the authority to change the name of their institution to the Bank of the Philippine Islands. The change in the name eventually took effect on January 1, 1912.

1915 - Roadways in Iloilo

Bureau of Public Works sketch of Iloilo road system in June 30 , 1915. Railway traverse from Lapaz to Jaro to Pavia to Santa Barbara to Pototan and Passi.

Road reached Northern Iloilo

Congressman Venancio Cudilla legislated a bill constructing a roadway to northern Iloilo. A mountain in San Nicolas called Lakdayan in Barotac Viejo was paved. Autobus finally penetrate Ajuy through a road for the first time  and giving good access to the rest of northern Iloilo towns.

Ajuy became a town in 1917. San Dionisio separated from Sara and became a town in 1920. Armando Arcosa and Ramon Deles who were Municipal President and Municipal Vice-President respectively. The two officials sent Delfin Espino to Manila to ask the Secretario del Interior to make San Dionisio a separate municipality.

1916 - Iloilo Aduana

1920's - Road to Baluarte  to Infante, Molo traversing Delgado Street.

The Spanish streets in Calle Real were J.M Basa and Iznart streets. There was a need to widened the street to connect the peripheral places to Calle Real. To accommodate the growing motorized vehicles for easy transportation, street projects happened in the 1920s in the towns of Iloilo. There was a construction of the Baluarte and Arroyo streets, extension of Delgado Street to Valeria and from Fuentes and Jalandoni streets up to the present-day U.P. in the Visayas.



Widening of General Luna etc.

Quezon and Mabini streets were asphalted while their sidewalks were also constructed. More significant was the installation of the streetlights all throughout the city in 1921. In 1926, the widening of important streets like General Luna, J.M. Basa and Ledesma was started. In 1927, an improved street Valeria-Ledesma (formerly known as Weyler) was inaugurated (David 1937).



Calle Santo Rosario in Iloilo City

According to folk traditions, it all began on the night of September 30, 1616 when the statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
was discovered among the debris of the Real Fuerza de San Pedro or the fort by Don Diego Quiñones after a hard won battle against the Dutch. Quiñones was the Spanish leader of a group of Filipino and Spanish soldiers who built the fort and who defended it from the determined attack of a “very large” Dutch force (Buzeta 1851). Two Augustinian missionaries, Fr. Juan de Morales and Fr.
Jeronimo Arevalo were present during the attack and they inspired the soldiers' morale and spirit. It  must be noted that the Dutch at that time were interested in occupying the Philippines and driving out the Spaniards from it. Three days of “unequal and rigorous fighting” eventually led the Dutch to retreat leaving behind 80 dead and 100 wounded (Ibid). The victory of Quiñones and his men was taken as “a good  sign of success” for future battles (Diaz 1875). This was further reinforced with the discovery of the image after the Dutch had left and the defenders took  stock of the destruction in the fort.

Iloilo Road Transportation

The population is slowly growing. There was a need for efficient travel of the Ilonggos from towns to the cities. The demand was answered when the Panay Autobus Co. (photo above) started its operation with an office and  terminal in Rizal Street, Iloilo City. It is the largest of the bus companies operating in Iloilo andthe rest of the island of Panay. It's capital investment of P365,000 was
the most successful land transportation venture in Panay at that time.

1927 - Iloilo Triumph Over Clean Water

Governor of Iloilo Jose B. Ledesma together with board members Mabunay and Engracio Padilla, district engineer Alejo Aquino and
Treasurer R.S. Van Valkeburgh built a project, "Arroyo Fountain"  in front of the old Provincial Capitol in 1927 to honor Senator Jose Ma. Arroyo of Molo who authored Republic Act 3222 in the Philippine Legislature establishing the Iloilo Metropolitan Waterworks in 1925.

It has four mythological caryatids basking in their naked glory carrying a basin. Themselves are standing  upon the fish gargoyles that spits water on direction. Around are encircled with bushes in a platform. It is the Kilometer 0 of Iloilo or a starting point in measuring the distance to any part.

Jose Arroyo younger brother, Mariano Arroyo became the governor of Iloilo province (married to Jesusa Lacson).

Beverages in Iloilo 1910-1930

Water of Life of Iloilo

Iloilo acquired Water System - 2nd only to Manila.

Between 1910 and 1920, the Philippine government started negotiating to buy the land inside the 6,1506 hectares of headwater of the Tigum River known today as the Maasin Watershed. The government planned to supply water for the towns in Iloilo.The owners of sugar land and muscovado sugar mill agreed to sell their lands. Two schools in Sitio Layagon and Sitio Tinayak were also closed. Other landowners willingly relinquished their landsugar cane plantations and four sugar mills were closed. Macario Cartagena owned the sugar mill located in Sitio Bugtason, Zacarias Billena owned one in Sitio Jagna, the mill in Sitio Layagon was owned by Vicente Sabido and one in Bolo owned by a certain Monero.

In 1923, negotiation  was completed and the 6,150 hectares of headwaters of the Tigum River was declared as a Reserved Watershed by Proclamation No. 16 series1923 by Gov. Gen. Leonard Wood. The land was purchased with funds from the central government to be disbursed by the local government through the municipal treasurer, Mr. Felipe  Olivares and later he was terminated due to was unable to pay all the landowners or holders of land titles and tax declaration certificates. The government started constructing dam and sedimentation basin and laborious installation of  massive pipes that stretched more than 30 kilometers long from the water source in Maasin to the city of Iloilo.

1923 - 1925 - Serapion Torre, Municipal President of Iloilo from 1923 to 1925 and his wife the former Ester Melliza. The plaza of Mandurriao was named in his honor by virtue of Republic Act No. 1023 (Approved: June 12, 1954)

1928 - The Santos-Lopez Sugar Central

- was a corporation founded by an engineer Francisco Santos and his wife, Rosario Lopez ( Donya Sayong). It had an initial workforce of 300 and a crop area of 100 hectares At the peak of its operation, it covered sugar  plantations in Anilao, Banate, Barotac Nuevo, Barotac Viejo, Dueñas, Dumangas,  Dingle, Janiuay, Passi, Pototan and Zarraga.


Donya Sayong was born to Capitan Municipal of Jaro, Eugenio Jalandoni Lopez (born in 1839) and from rich business-family of  Molo named Marcela Villanueva on October 8, 1873 and is just one of the 16 siblings.  All her schooling was only in the primary and elementary grades at the Colegio de Sta. Ana in Molo ran by the famous Avanceña sisters. At the age of 18, she was managing her own farm, the big Hacienda Maquina in Silay, Negros Occidental.  She learned not only the mechanics of cultivation, planting, harvesting and marketing but also the art of managing people. After their marriage in May 1904, the couple embarked on a large-scale agricultural ventures. They sold Hacienda Maquina, obtained a loan from Tabacalera and moved to Iloilo where they acquired vast land for sugar and rice production and areas for fishponds.

In 1936, they acquired the Philippine Starch and Sugar Co. in Janiuay

Doña Sayong rose to the challenge.  For the next three decades she was president and general manager of the two mills whose production of sugar rose with the years.  Her sound management was recognized by Sugarland magazine which said:

 " In no central in the islands can you find groups of men more contented, more loyal and better disciplined than those of Doña Rosario, largely due to the contact between her and her men, making them feel that they are under the same household atmosphere. "


Post World War II

World War II destroyed her centrals but Doña Sayong was undaunted. With money from her war damage claims and a loan from the Rehabilitation Finance Corporation, she restored the mill in Barotac Nuevo in 1948. Since reopening the mill in Janiuay was not economically practical, she had it transferred toBarotac in 1952 thus putting two mills in just one site. This expanded the capacity of Central Santos Lopez and in 1953-1954 it produced 357,344 piculs of sugar.

Doña Sayong employed modern hauling and milling facilities.  Railway lines traversed her milling district and an airstrip was laid out near the mill for faster transportation and communication. An aviation enthusiast she often flew in a private plane even in her old age.


Ilongga Philanthropy

Doña Sayong  send some of her employee  children to college. She donated land for school sites and in Barotac Nuevo she gave two sites for municipal cemeteries. Among her significant philanthropies are the beautiful mansion – headquarters of the Iloilo Medical Society in La Paz, Iloilo City and the Fine Arts Building of Central Philippine University. The big-hearted lady was not like many so-called society matrons who love to parade and publicize their charity.  Doña Sayong gave in the true sense of giving, silently.  She would rather help the poor by giving them work and paying them well, thus letting them keep their self-respect and human dignity.

Doña Sayong died at the age of 92 on February 7, 1965. Their five adopted children who survived them: Asuncion vda de Lizares, a niece; Benita Lopez, niece; Lawaan Lopez, niece; Francisco Lopez Jison, nephew; and Mayo Lopez Carillo, nephew.

Upon the death of the childless couple, the corporation  was passed to their heirs - Misses Benita Lopez and Lawaan Lopez,  sisters of Doña Rosario, and Mayo Lopez Carillo, their nephew. The company finally ended its operation in the first week of March 1996 (Lopez-Carillo) due to bankruptcy. At the time of its closure, it was considered as the oldest sugar central in the province of Iloilo.

When Central Philippine University conferred on her the honorary Doctor of Humanities (HH.D.) degree, the university cited her as a “Life-long example of industry and courage, a Filipino lady competing successfully in the ruthless business world usually dominated by the masculine portion of the population, a friend and mother to her many employees, an intelligent contributor to good causes in the community.”

Cine Palace - replica of newly founded Hollywood Cinema

The American cinema is emerging in 1920's. Short films are shown in Hollywood. Iloilo wanted to enjoy the entertainment too. In 1928 , two theaters were built in Iloilo to accommodate the Ilonggos.  Cine Palace and Cine Eagle were patterned to the Hollywood Boulevard Theaters in Los Angeles. They stood side by side. It shows theatrical plays and movies from America. One of the most modern cinemas outside Manila.

Cine Eagle

Leonard Wood is a graduate of medicine in Harvard Medical School. He became governor-general in Cuba who played a large part in eradication of yellow fever and other diseases in Cuba. He was intensely interested in medical questions about leprosy. When he came to the Philippines in 190 .


The  management of leprosy is segregation. By Act 1711 of the Philippine Commission passed on September 12, 1907 the Leper Act authorized the Bureau of Health to apprehend, isolate, detain, confine, segregate, and treat all lepers at the leper colony in Culion, Palawan. Victor G. Heiser was given full responsibility of the segregation program. Lepers are identified and shipped to Culion Island, Palawan.

The Sanitarium was established in 1927 for the lepers then collected and confined in the Iloilo Provincial Jail. By that time it only occupies more than a hectare donated by benevolent grand lady, Mrs. Rosario Gonzaga de Jesena of Jaro, Iloilo City. The patients were sheltered in small nipa huts. Five years later, Mrs. Gonzaga de Jesena donated more lands and more were purchased by the government which now comprise the approximate area of twenty two hectares.

Dr. Goitia and Mr. Gil Leonides were the first members of the Medical Staff. In 1929, Mr. Adriano A. Soliva a nurse from Culion arrived to take the place of the first nurse, Mr. Leonides. More and more patients were coming due to the strict Segregation Law of Lepers.

1928 - YMCA - Iloilo Chapter

Panay Autobus to Dumangas

The other major bus company was the Iloilo Transportation Co. whose office and terminal were situated in Blumentritt Street, Iloilo City. It advertised itself as having double-deck buses with radio music. Its double and single-deck steel blue buses maintained regular schedules covering the areas of Jaro, Iloilo City, Molo, Mandurriao, and Arevalo. In 1937, it operated 316 commodious, clean and comfortable autobuses at least in the standards of that time. These autobuses plied many accessible roads in the island reaching even far-flung barangays. To maintain its reputation, only experienced and well-trained drivers and conductors were employed by the company.

Golden Age of Aviation

1925 – Airplane is being developed in Europe and America by a group of engineers and physicist. Iloilo is the birthplace of Filipino  commercial air transportation. The first regular air services were launched in Iloilo.  Jose “Peping “ Tinsay, an  aviator  from Jaro, Iloilo, was the first to fly the Curtiss Oriole bi-plane the  first passenger plane on 43-kilometer Guimaras Strait between Iloilo and Bacolod.  Bangus, crabs, talaba, and other assorted products from Iloilo to sell to Manila and on his return flights would bring back “scarce” items like canned goods, flour, shoes,  etc. to sell in Iloilo. The photo reveals a swampy areas of Iloilo especially on the Nabitasan area , around Bolilao to San Rafael and apparently there's no houses.