Bridging the Gap
Visitors' observations of Iloilo in early times
Iloilo became of interest to the Spanish conquistadores when it was discovered to be a plentiful source of rice. In fact, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, leader of the 1565 Spanish expedition, proceeded there from Cebu in 1569 in search for food.
Miguel de Loarca, a contemporary of the Spanish governor-general, Gonzal de Ronquillo (1580-1583), in a report described Panay, referring mainly to Iloilo, as "the most fertile and well provisioned of all the islands discovered, except the island of Luzon, for it is exceedingly fertile and abounds in rice, swine, fowl, wax and honey; it produces also a great quantity of cotton and madrinaque. Its villages stand very close together and the people are healthful and well-provided, so that the Spaniards who are stricken with sickness in other islands go thither to recover their health" (Blair & Robertson, V, 1903-09).
Because of its fertile lands, Iloilo was already known during the early Spanish times as the leading rice producing area of the Philippines. In the early days of the Spanish colonization, An Augustinian missionary in Iloilo, Fr. Juan de Medina, noted that "Iloilo was the granary of all the islands in the archipelago" (Blair & Robertson, XXIII, 1903-09). On similar note, Antonio de Morga (1609), a Spanish writer of the early 17th century, described Panay and Iloilo as "abundant in rice and wine producing palm-trees and all kinds of food supplies. Its settlements along Panay River are good and rich."
The above observations of the Soaniards were confirmed by Feodor Jagor (1875), a Prussian traveler in the Philippines during 1859 and 1860 when he wrote that when the Spaniards landed in Iloilo, they found the natives dressed in cotton and silk clothes, the latter they obtained from the Chinese to whom they gave in exchange sapanwood or sibukao, gold dust, dried sea cucumbers, edible swallow's nests, food stuffs, and animal skins. Jagor further stated that the natives traded not only with China but also with Japan, Kampuchea, Siam, the Moluccas, and the Malay archipelago.
Early Spanish writers also attested to Ilonggo as having a flourishing shipbuilding industry. Both Loarca and Morga related that, considering that Panay Island contained great abundance of timber and other provisions for construction purposes, Iloilo had a number of shipyards for galleys and frigates, the most notable of which were in Arevalo and Oton (Blair & Robertson, V, 1903-09, Morga, 1609).
Later in the 19th century, visitors to Iloilo confirmed that the province had maintained its leading position. In 1856, for instance, John Bowring, British vice-consul to Hongkong, commented on his visit to the Philippines that Iloilo was "probably the richest and the most populous province in the country." He observed that "about one-half of agricultural products exported by the provinces to Manila came from Iloilo" (Bowring, 1963). Bowring also observed that not only was Iloilo the biggest in population was the largest in agricultural production, the most active in manufacturing, and one of the best instructed among the provinces" (Bowring, 1965).
On the basis of the preceding observations, it is evident that Iloilo was already the number one rice-producing area of the archipelago in early times and was clearly a leading province in the whole of Visayas in terms of population, boat-building, handicrafts and trading activities.