BRIDGING THE GAP
Sto. Rosario Street
Sto. Rosario Street is located at Barangay Sto. Rosario-Duran Iloilo City. The street is adjacent to three barangays, namely: Veteran's Village in the north, General Hughes in the south, and Zamora in the west. The eastern part is bounded by the Iloilo Strait, across of which is Guimaras Island.
As it is with many places in the Philippines, the origin of the name Sto. Rosario has been muddled by fact and fiction. One legend says that in early times, just shortly after the Spaniards had occupied the Philippines, there were frequent accidents that happened in the waters between Iloilo and Guimaras. Every now and then, people living near the sea drowned and boats capsized even while the weather was fine. This, naturally, created fear and apprehension that people began to be wary of going near the water.
One day, a man from the area saw a piece of wood at the nearby sea that looked like the image of a saint. He wondered about it and so he brought it to their parish priest to be examined. Indeed, it seemed a holy revelation to the priest. Though he did not know the name of the saint or the figure, he was quite sure that it was a miracle because after the discovery of the piece of wood, the number of accidents lessened and everyone began to pray the holy rosary in front of the figure. Eventually, the priest named the church in the area Sto. Rosario and the people later named the place Sto. Rosario in honor of the wooden holy image that was discovered.
Another version of the origin of the name of Rosario Street says that a vision of the Virgin Mary was seen above the waters at the edge of the barangay and that was how they began to pray the rosary and eventually named the place Sto. Rosario.
Sto. Rosario Street, known as Calle Rosario during the Spanish period was already a well-known artery of Iloilo in the 1880s and 1890s. According to the Spanish documents, Contribuciones industriales, Calle Rosario served more as a residential area for wealthy residents of Iloilo. It was an area with a number of large buildings owned by both rich Filipinos and foreigners during the closing decades of the Spanish occupation of Iloilo. The second warehouse of Ynchausti y cia, a famous Spanish firm, was situated here, as well as an imposing solid structure owned by the Spaniard, Don Jose Figueras.
Sto. Rosario as an official barangay was created in January 1969 through Resolution No. 52 of the Municipal Board of Iloilo City on motion of Councilor Federico Abadiano and seconded by Councilor Mansueto Malabor.
Today, Barangay Sto. Rosario is home to Fort San Pedro National High School and the Montes II Elementary School. Other than these two educational institutions, there is a good number of commercial establishments in the area. There are more than 100 sari-sari stores, about a dozen carinderias, half a dozen beauty parlors/barber shops, a few grocery stores, a school and office supplies store, a general services contractor, an insurance service company, and others that cannot be readily classified.