WE ARE writing this article today for the keen-eyed investor to look into the good prospects for further growth and expansion of Iloilo as a business destination.
To out-of-towners who visit Iloilo, we especially invite you to take a little tour of particular areas and sections of Metro Iloilo where you can easily see movement and growth.
From the moment you land in Iloilo at our international airport and travel the 15-kilometer stretch of highway to the city, you will notice several buildings recently built or still under construction on both sides of the six-lane road. A singular feature of the road is a center island on its entire length with proper lighting at nighttime and with no counter traffic to prevent delay.
After passing Pavia town and the Iloilo Coca-Cola Plant in Barangay Ungka, Pavia, Iloilo towards the city, you will come to two large building complexes under construction across the road from each other – that of Robinsons and the other is by GT Mall. This is the third store by Robinsons in Iloilo City, while for GT Mall it is the second after that in Molo.
Then you come to the junction of the Circumferential Road, a 16-kilometer stretch of four-lane highway named President Corazon C. Aquino Avenue laid out around the city to expand business area and development. There is a traffic stop light at this busy intersection.
To the left is a new department store of City Mall by well-known Ilonggo Edgar “Injap” Sia II, former founder of Mang Inasal, and now in real estate and in the business of building malls. There are two other City Malls in Iloilo. The one at the bus terminal in Tagbac, Jaro, while the other is at Parola which is the seaport terminal for pump boats to Guimaras across the strait.
New businesses are sprouting up along the long stretch of Sen. Benigno Aquino Avenue Jr. where SM City has also concentrated its development. SM City is now constructing two multistory office-residential condo buildings, one across its shopping complex and another at its northern end facing the highway. Both buildings are expected to be finished soon.
We are pleased with the construction of the right wing of the Florete Bldg. and so with the Gaisano Shopping Complex on the other the side of the road that has opened for business even if work is still going on at other parts. And going southward to the new bridge that crosses towards La Paz District are several new commercial buildings that sprouted up.
A few meters on Diversion Road after the Florete Bldg. is Pison Avenue towards Ateneo de Iloilo school where you will also find many new buildings along this route. Several are still under construction, and also at the Ayala-SEDA area where there is a hospital, multistory condo units and a food square. That is not all. Further Southward at Smallville and at Boardwalk up to the area along the Iloilo River several new establishments have been added.
Megaworld’s township in Mandurriao continues to expand, notably with the inauguration of the first international hotel recently beside the Iloilo Convention Center. Construction and continuing development is going on.
The last time we wrote an update of Iloilo’s growth was in October 2017. Our column page does not have enough space to describe to you added new infrastructures and developments since then.
We therefore invite you to see for yourself how Iloilo is moving and growing. We would like to mention of a new shopping mall along the Iloilo Circumferential Road going left from the road junction at the bus terminal in Barangay Hibao-an, which we visited last weekend. This is good foresight.
We predict that Iloilo will become now the preferred and best business destination in the country, especially with the intensive efforts that we see of the incumbent administration.
Happy Independence Day!
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Historical Quote of the Week
“The first city to have a car assembly plant is Iloilo – the Taller Visayas de Strachan & Macmurray. The car assembled was the Deiler in the 1920s.” (For comments or re-actions, please e-mail to jnoveracompany@yahoo.com)/PN
