ILOILO City – Today marks the 84th Charter Day of this southern city. However, due to quarantine restrictions brought about by the coronavirus disease pandemic, the celebration will be done virtually.
A pre-recorded program will start at 6 p.m. and broadcast via the official social media pages of the Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. (IFFI) and Mayor Jerry Treñas.
“It will tell the story sang pag-declare sang Iloilo City as a chartered city, and it will highlight Ilonggo values,” according to Joyce Clavecillas, executive director of the IFFI.
Treñas will also give his charter day message to the Ilonggos.
This year’s Charter Day theme is “Celebrating 84 Years of a Noble and Resilient City”.
Celebration actually started on Aug. 20 and would run up to Aug. 31.
Lined up activities include ILOve ILOve Local Grab Food Sale on Aug. 23 to 31; Online Job Fair by the Public Employment Service Office on Aug. 25 to 27; Ambahanon and Ilonggo Concert by Festive Walk Iloilo on Aug. 27 at 6:30 p.m.; and Excavating the Hidden Stories of Iloilo on Aug. 31 at 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Iloilo City Sports Development Division under Executive Assistant for Sports Rudiver Jungco Sr. also spearheads virtual sports events from Aug. 20 to 27. These are the virtual arnis “Anyo”; virtual skateboarding and the virtual BMX, Uswag Open Style virtual competition; virtual taekwondo speed kicking tournament; online chess tournament; Esports festival (finals today, Aug. 25); and “Padayon Sa Pag Uswag” virtual hip hop songwriting competition on Aug. 27.
Iloilo was formally inaugurated as a chartered city on Aug. 25, 1937 after the municipalities of La Paz, Mandurriao, Molo, and Arevalo were merged on July 16, 1937 by virtue of Commonwealth Act No.158.
According to former Iloilo City tourism officer Ben Jimena, the inauguration was initially scheduled on July 16, 1937 but was moved to Aug. 25, 1937 because of the pending appointment of a permanent mayor.
That time, the interim mayor was Angel Tadeo, former provincial treasurer, and there were 24 persons interested to become alcalde. Eventually, it was Dr. Ramon J. Campos who was sworn in as mayor of Iloilo City.
A review of the past with some help from historians and museum owners pointed to July 16, 1937 as the date when Commonwealth Act No. 57 became a law converting Iloilo to a city.
The condition for the conversion was its consolidation with the towns of La Paz and Arevalo to meet the population requirement. Prior to this, the towns of Molo and Mandurriao were already made part of the Municipality of Iloilo. With the consolidation, the total city population increased to 53,353 enough to meet the needed number.
At that time, Jaro was still a separate municipality that had both Leganes and Pavia areas attached to it. Several years later, when Jaro was also made part of Iloilo City, the two adjoining towns were declared independent.
Prior to the inauguration of Iloilo City was another big event held eight months earlier in December, 1936 – the inauguration of the newly constructed Iloilo City Hall which is now the University of the Philippines Visayas Main Building. It was constructed at a cost of P218,000 on a 16-hectare government property valued at P63,000. Its first concrete was poured Feb. 1, 1934 and was completed more than two years later. It was inaugurated on Dec. 19, 1936./PN
