ILOILO City – This southern city has continually redefined itself over the years, much like the Dinagyang Festival, which has been levelling up for over five decades. Both have evolved significantly and undergone remarkable transformations, showcasing progress while maintaining its unique cultural essence.
For Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, this transformation story of the city and Dinagyang highlights the unity, faith, resilience, and innovative spirit of the Ilonggos.
“From our humble beginnings to various national and international acclaims, these milestones highlight the dynamic evolution of our beloved city, embracing both tradition and development,” said Treñas.
The recently-concluded Dinagyang is another testament to the festival’s world-class trademark and Iloilo City as a premier destination in the country, with thousands of local and foreign tourists joining the festivities.
Dinagyang, as one of the most anticipated religious and cultural celebrations in the country, continues to gain international attention and recognition.
The seventh-time and reigning Aliwan Fiesta champion and the country’s recipient of Best Cultural Festival Awards, Dinagyang also won as Best Festival in the 2024 Philippine Leaf Awards and was recognized as the Asia-Pacific Folklore Festival of 2024 by the prestigious International Festival and Events Association (IFEA) – Asia at the Asian Festival Awards. It is the only recipient from the Philippines since IFEA’s inception in 1956.
Similarly, Dinagyang Festival has been showcased in other countries, and after this year’s staging, Treñas announced that the city government and Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. (IFFI) will bring Dinagyang to Auckland, New Zealand, and Osaka, Japan following invitations from them.
“Each year, we ensure that Dinagyang reaches new heights with the dazzling performances of our Dinagyang tribes. I am deeply grateful to everyone who tirelessly works to bring out the best of the festival each year. Dinagyang is a symbol of our strong faith and rich culture, and its preservation relies on all of us. This way, it will continue to bring pride and inspiration to future generations,” Treñas underscored.
He further expressed confidence that the management of the Dinagyang in the coming years will be in good hands as well as the continued progress of Iloilo City under the next leaderships.
NEW ERA OF DEV’T, NEW ILOILO
Iloilo River Esplanade, widened Ninoy Aquino and Corazon Aquino Avenues, radial and circumferential roads, bike lanes, beautified public plazas and markets, and other significant infrastructure projects for better service to the people coupled by visionary leaderships are the reasons why Iloilo City is on the map and being looked up to by other local government units in the country. This is apart from several sisterhood/brotherhood pacts it has with other cities from abroad, enhancing cultural understanding and fostering mutual cooperation.
The city mayor said more ongoing and future developments are unfolding in Iloilo City expecting to conceive positive effect to the community and the local economy.
One of these is the Iloilo River North Bank Road popularly known as the Iloilo Sunset Boulevard, another landmark project championed by no less than former Senator Franklin Drilon.
“We are deeply grateful to Senator Drilon for his huge contributions by bringing us significant projects in our city. We have the river esplanade because of his strong vision for the city and his ability to look for funds in the national level to implement these projects. In fact, he has been instrumental also for the realization of the Jalaur River Development Project II,” Treñas said.
The Sunset Boulevard is seen to pave the way for a new era of land development in the area benefitting not only the city but nearby Iloilo towns.
According to the city mayor, the project is just timely as the city center is now enjoying massive development and there is a need for expansion for more growth.
He specifically noted that new reclassifications into residential and commercial for about 200 hectares of fishpond that will facilitate easy conversion of this big tract of land to the owners, developers or joint venture agreements.
“With the new zonal development resulting from this road network, we can expect more investment and employment opportunities in this area. We thank our business sector in advance for this,” said Treñas, on his message delivered by Raisa Treñas during the opening of the boulevard.
The city mayor also announced that the amended RPT Incentives for special areas, such as coastal, radial and circumferential roads, now includes Sunset Boulevard.
With this, the city has prepared a five-year incentive program for new investors for Sunset Boulevard.
“We can already foresee the benefit of this road project to our local economy. Just like our existing road network projects, such as the C1 Road or the Corazon Aquino Avenue, and the expansion of the Diversion Road or the Ninoy Aquino Avenue, which were also initiated by our beloved Senator Drilon, the presence of these connections has translated into massive development. Our government is doing its part to improve economic activity so the business community, especially the micro, small, and medium enterprises, can directly benefit,” he added.
Raisa Treñas, as the former executive assistant of Mayor Treñas, is also grateful to Drilon.
“On my part, nagapasalamat gid ako sang hugot kay Senator Drilon, whom I share the same strong vision and goals for Iloilo City, sa pagbilin sang sini nga legasiya sa mga Ilonggo. Ang Iloilo City Government, sa idalom sang Treñas brand of leadership, padayon nga magahatag sang mabaskog nga suporta sa tanan nga mga proyekto para sa kaayuhan sang mga Ilonggo. Bangod nagapati ako nga ang pinaka-importante sa tanan, gina-bululigan naton ang Kauswagan sang Syudad sang Iloilo,” she stressed./PN
