Iloilo City Tour: Promoting tourism through heritage
Iloilo is known for its loving people and for its rich cultural heritage. Along the streets of the city are the huge century-old churches and establishments. Visiting the city is like browsing the pages of history.
"We are very supportive of the projects of ICCB. I know we have a long way to go compared to other tourist destinations in the Philippines. As long as everyone will do their share, Iloilo City will become the next tourist destination in the country," Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas remarked during last Thursday's launching of the Iloilo City Tour.
Treñas was the invited keynote speaker on the launching of the Iloilo City Tour held at the Conference Room of the Department of Tourism (DOT) Regional Office 6.
With the desire to promote tourism in the city of Iloilo, a project was conceptualized and organized by the DOT and the City of Iloilo together with the Iloilo City Convention Bureau (ICCB). Iloilo City Tour targets the local and the foreign tourists alike.
The said project will run for 3 months and will eventually be permanent. "We have to go through product development," Manny Gruenberg of Grand Dame Hotel and JD Cafe explained.
Equipped with a van and a group of competent Tour Guides, Iloilo City Tours started its operation last April 28, 2006. The project will showcase the archaic ancestral houses as well the historical churches in the city. Likewise, it will promote the famous Ilonggo delicacies and crafts.
For only P300, exclusive of food, visitors can indulge in a journey to the past. The guest will assemble in front of the Museo Iloilo before eight in the morning. The 4-hour trip will start at exactly 8:00 am. The van will track down the road northwards passing through the calm yet mystique Iloilo River until it reaches the district of Lapaz, the home of the world-renowned Lapaz Batchoy.
Afterwhich, the van will dissect the busy and spacious street of E. Lopez passing by several rudimentary structures and numerous antique houses. Behold the sight of the elegantly landscaped Nelly's Garden. Peep into the rich colonial past of the city by taking a glimpse of the untouched charm of the Samson Montinola Antillan House, the classic beauty of the Celso Ledesma Mansion, the captivating aura of the Dellota's antiques, and the well-preserved majesty of the Magdalena Jalandoni ancestral house and art museum.
Upon reaching the equally-old Jaro Plaza, the tour will progress to the distinctively panoramic Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral and its peculiar belfry across the street. The visitor will pay homage to the miraculous shrine of the Divine Infant and Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria.
While leaving the district of Jaro, the cradle of the National Hero behind the publication La Solidaridad, Graciano Lopez Jaena, guests will plunge into the abyss of historical accounts that encapsulate the modern-day Iloilo.
The guests will soon find themselves feeling the air of austerity inside the serene Molo Church. They will be given a time to unite art with faith as they walk into the aisle surrounded images of female saints, the unique feature to which the church is known, towards the alluring altar. Beneath the floor of the aisle lies the remains of the prominent people in the district. Outside, a grotesquely magnificent sight of the combined Gothic and Renaissance architecture awaits the guests.
Proceeding to the long stretch of Muelle Loney, the University of the Philippines Visayas, known for its excellence, and the University of San Agustin, one of the oldest universities in the country, are visible. The tour will take the guests into the old port of Iloilo, historically significant for numerous trades during the Spanish era, after passing to the old streets. Also, old edifices that portray essential part in the history of honing the former Queen City of the South including the timeless Iloilo City Hall and the immaculate St. Joseph Parish.
Reminiscent structures relevant to the gallant past of the city will also be pointed out. The New Freedom Grandstand, a structure commonly linked to demonstrations and rallies as well as to the festive Dinagyang, is a must-see. The visitors will also pay tribute to the Hoskyns, the oldest department store in the country.
Going back to Calle Real, the center of trade and commerce in olden times, the tour continues to flow towards the huge Casa Real de Iloilo (Old Provincial Capitol), one of the oldest landmark constructed in 1840. Facing the said structure is the Arroyo Fountain, a goddess-inspired work of art consisting four unclothed women each carrying a fish that serves as a labyrinth for the water.
To further excavate stories from the country's little Athens, the tour will stop over at the Museo Iloilo, a repository which houses Panay's most treasured artifacts and relics of each period in history.
The tour, of course, will not be completed without experiencing the delectable taste that is purely Ilonggo. Guests will be amazed by the delicious native delicacies and their eyes will feast over the unprecedented talents of the Ilonggos expressed in different art forms at the Ilonggo Producers Association (IPA) Showroom. The tour ends at the Robinsons Place Iloilo.
Tickets for the Iloilo City Tour are available in local hotels here in Iloilo.
"We are planning to put up a cultural show at the Robinsons," Dr. Ma. Teresa Sarabia, former President of the ICCB, said.
Present during the launching of Iloilo City Tour were: ICCB President Emilio Diaz; Councilor Mercy Drilon-Garcia, Chairman of Committee on Tourism; Councilor Jed Mabilog; Edward Yee; Marissa Segovia; Atty. Jose Demaisip, former President of the Tour Guide Association of Western Visayas; and Association of Iloilo Travel and Tours Operator Secretary Judy Jeanjaquit.
Representatives from DOT6, Iloilo City Tourism Commission, Bantayan Resort, Racso's Woodland, and Robinsons Land Corporation were also present.