HISTORY ACHIEVED: The municipality of Pavia, Iloilo celebrates this Friday, Jan. 8, its centennial anniversary.
Through the efforts of its citizens headed by Delfin Gumban, Pavia became an independent municipality after separating itself from Jaro. It has emerged from a facile to a bustling town of industrial and manufacturing firms.
Here’s more you need to know about Pavia yesterday, today and tomorrow:
* How the town got its name is unclear, and has long been disputed. However, historical facts coupled with sentiments made Pavianhons believe that their town was built in 1848 when thirteen 13 landowners decided to shape the future of the former camping place, decisively noted as “biya-biya”, meaning neglected or abandoned.
* It was believed that Pavia was settled by the Malays before the invasion of the Spaniards. It was later settled by the Chinese as evidenced by archeological diggings of a Chinese burial ground on the embankment of Cabugao Sur approximately between the 15th and 16th centuries.
The Malays and the Chinese established trade and commerce in the settlement with an estimated population of 200 to 400.
* Before it was attached to Jaro, Pavia became a part of Sta. Barbara in 1901 and seceded from it in 1904.
* Petronilo Gumban governed Pavia from 1916 until his election as Presidente Municipal of Jaro in 1920.
* Delfin Gumban was the first mayor of Pavia (1921-1924). He is widely considered the town’s Father of Independence.
* Pavia’s Santa Monica Parish Church was built sometime in 1862 under the order of Spanish Agutinian Fathers led by Fray Policarpio Minayo. The church is popular for its Romanesque-Byzantine design and walls (interior and exterior) made of red-bricks. Moreover, it is the only existing brick-constructed church in the entire Panay Island.
It was used as a garrison by the Japanese during World War II. During the battle for liberation in March 1945, American tanks punched a hole through the edifice.
* The town holds its Carabao-Carroza Festival every May 3 since 1973. It is an enduring celebration of the local industry, perseverance and grit of the Pavianhons! The festival, which highlights the celebration of the town fiesta, has three main attractions: the Carabao-Carroza Parade, Carabao-Carroza Race and the Search for the Carabao-Carroza Queen. The yearly festvity is now being dubbed the longest existing festival in Iloilo Province.
* Pavia’s Tigkaralag Festival is celebrated every Oct. 30. Tigkaralag comes from a local dialect word that loosely translates to season or time (tig) of souls (kalag) and refers to the observance of the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days that fall Nov. 1 and 2, respectively, according to the town’s Tourism Officer, former Councilor Dexter Dizon. The festival is celebrated by having participants of all 18 Pavia villages wear tigkaralag costumes and parade themselves from Barangay Aganan to the town’s plaza where they will compete in a dance-drama competition reflective of Tigkaralag. However, the scarefest was “like no other” for its 30th edition last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It went online.
* Pavia is the smallest municipality in terms of area in Iloilo, covering only 2,715 hectares.
* The town is tagged as the Regional Agro-Industrial Center in Western Visayas.
* Pavia has made big strides to progress in the past 100 years. It has attracted many industrial companies and residential subdivisions, and many more are interested to invest in the municipality, said its 19th and present Mayor Laurence Anthony “Luigi” Gorriceta.
* According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 55,603 people.
The town that now celebrates its 100th anniversary is proud of its past, present, future and everything in between. Only what’s prouder than Pavia is its residents called “Pavianhons.”
