ILOILO City – The new Freedom Grandstand on Muelle Loney Street facing the Iloilo River would be inaugurated ahead of the 2019 Iloilo Dinagyang Festival, according to the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. (IDFI).
Construction is on its last stages.
The highlights of the Dinagyang are on Jan. 26 (Kasadyahan contest) and Jan. 27 (ati-ati tribes competition).
The new Freedom Grandstand will be the main performance and judging area, according to IDFI chairman Ramon Cua-Locsin.
“I heard Mayor (Jose Espinosa III) is already preparing to inaugurate the new Freedom Grandstand before the Dinagyang. As to the date, I don’t know yet,” said Cua-Locsin.
The new grandstand – located on a 2,600-square meter property acquired for P32 million by the city government from Panay Railways, Inc. – is bigger than the old one that used to stand in front of the Aduana (old Customs house) on JM Basa Street.
Cua-Locsin said the IDFI accepted a reservation for 400 seats at the new Freedom Grandstand.
The reservation was made by a Japanese cruise ship that would be dropping by Iloilo City for the Dinagyang Festival.
The new grandstand would have a seating capacity of 4,000 – twice the seating capacity of the old grandstand. Its construction has a budget of P50 million.
Aside from the new Freedom Grandstand, the other Dinagyang performance / judging areas are the Iloilo provincial capitol; Quezon Street; Maria Clara; and Plaza Libertad.
The new Freedom Grandstand would also have an accompanying multi-purpose building that would house some city government offices like the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Iloilo City Urban Poor Affairs Office and Transportation Management and Traffic Regulation Office, among others.
The old grandstand was demolished to give way to the revival of Sunburst Park, an open space for recreation.
Over 50 years ago, the park gave way to the construction of the Freedom Grandstand – a memorial to the Iloilo City Freedom Law or Republic Act 1209 that then senator Rodolfo Ganzon authored in 1955 empowering the people of Iloilo City to elect their own leaders. Prior to the law’s enactment, officials of Iloilo City were appointed by the President./PN
