BRIDGING THE GAP
The prominence of Iloilo in farming in early times
Through the centuries, Iloilo has occupied a top position in the Philippines' rice and other crop production. Such prominence started before the Spanish colonization of the country and contributed to it becoming the rice granary of the Visayas in modern times. This can be attributed to its wide and fertile plains, mild climate, and secure location that has kept it generally safe from the destructive effects of typhoons.
Miguel de Loarca, an early Spanish writer, described Panay, where Iloilo is, as the "most fertile and well-provisioned of all the islands discovered, except the island of Luzon" (Blair & Robertson XXI, 1903-1909). Loarca might have referred mainly to Iloilo which the Spaniards had observed to be abundant in rice (Morga 1609, Diaza 1890). It should be noted that when the Spanish conquistadores, who were then in Cebu in 1565, heard that Iloilo was a plentiful source of rice, they immediately proceeded to the area. It appears, therefore, that even in early times, Iloilo was already a leading rice and food-producing section of the country. This fact is confirmed by Fr. Juan de Medina, an early Augustinian missionary, who stated that "Iloilo was the granary of all islands in the archipelago"(Blair & Robertson XXIII, 1903-1909).
According to the Boxer Codex, one of the earliest Spanish documents written about the Filipinos, rice cultivation was already widespread in Iloilo and the rest of Panay upon the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century. Rice was called by the natives either as humay, paray, or tipasi. In addition, the natives also planted plenty of coconuts, bananas, sugarcane, different varieties of yams, tobacco, and dawa (millet). Yams were the most widespread root crops in Iloilo, the most popular of which were the ubi and kamote.
Indeed, Iloilo is endowed with wide fertile plains suited for large agricultural production. It has ranked variably as first, second, or third in rice production throughout the country from the Spanish period up to the present. Its rivers Jalaur, Tigum, Salog and others, provide water and allow the construction of canals or irrigation systems needed by the rice industry in the province.
Also important is Iloilo's favorable climate. The climate is mild and the province has seldom experienced the destructive effects of typhoons that annually ravaged agricultural crops in Eastern Visayas, Northeastern Mindanao, the Bicol Region, and Northern Luzon. According to Loarca. Iloilo's climate was "so mild that the Spaniards who are stricken with sickness in other islands go thither to recover their health" (Blair & Robertson XXI, 1903-1909).
Still of great significance is the industry of the people in Iloilo and Panay. The foreigners were not lacking in their praises for the inhabitants. In a detailed account in the Ecclesiastical and Augustinian affairs, 1630-1640, Fr. Casimiro Diazdescribed the natives as "naturally docile than any other of the Pintados, very industrious in their rice farm." Mallat (1846), a French writer, also praised the inhabitants of Iloilo as "the most industrious".
As one can see, Iloilo has always been prominent in the production of rice and other crops since time immemorial due to favorable geographic, climatic and demographic factors.