Iloilo’s Heritage Buildings: Going, Going, Gone…

Iloilo is the cradle of early Philippine civilization. The telltale marks of such cultural influences live on in the century-old buildings, pre-war streets and in the enterprising bloodline of its people. Sometimes we unravel the presence of the past by digging into everything. We meet limited facts on these stories but the historical landmarks remind us that “Iloilo is a link to those who influenced, gave power, honor, and integrity to the Ilonggos.”
Time has changed and so did the condition of these buildings. They are standing now as precious structural landmarks. What awaits them? Will they be preserved or are they on the verge of oblivion?
Hearing Elizalde’s prominence, richness will reap into our minds. They have owned vast lands and properties.

Their building has two floors with the ground floor housing bodegas or commercial spaces made of red bricks and the second floor serves as residential spaces. The architectural design is Antillan – characterized by the use of wood curtain walls with wide sliding windows to bring the breeze. Its ground floor walls are stone supporting the light wooden frame of the upper floor.
The grandeur of De la Rama Street according to the history, is a hub of commercial traffic and the life vein of the sugar industry during the nineteenth century and early American period. In 1857, it was originally built by Nicholas Loney, first British Vice-Consul in Iloilo, to connect the bodega or warehouse that he constructed at the waterfront with the town of Iloilo. The road which is about a kilometer long, costs more than $ 1,000 to built.
To finance the bodega and road construction, Loney had to borrow $ 15,000 from Russel and Sturgis, who were his business partners in the sugar industry.
The road costs a great deal and turned out to be a paying proposition. It also brought about the gradual reclamation of the whole western bank of the river along Iloilo. True to its name, “Calle Progresso” (Progress Street) as Loney called the road to be built, the street later became the principal commercial section of Iloilo.
The street got its name from prominent family of De la Ramas who owned the first Filipino firm that opened the first luxurious vessel in the Cosastwise Service. The purchase by the De la Rama Seamaship Co. Inc. of the M/S Don Esteban marked one of the most important events in the history of the Philippine shipping.
At present, De la Rama Street still shows signs of its past grandeur. Lining it are the ruined shells of planters mansions and corporate offices whose elegantly sculptured columns are still very visible at the right side of the street going to the waterfront. There are still identified remembrance of Farmacia Lacson, Visayan Central Colleges (VCC), De la Rama Shipping Company, and Hotel de Paris, Panay Ice Plant, structure of Strachan and McMurray Ltd., the old compound of Coca-Cola Bottling Company, the remains of the bodega of the Asturias Sugar Central and the bodega of Negros Navigation, Inc.
The Masonic Temple in front of the Plaza Libertad was just one of the witnesses of the unveiling history during the World War II.
In 1945, Iloilo City did escape from the Japanese invasion. The Japanese Imperial Army used this building as the Panay headquarters for their troops. More than that, Masonic Temple is one of the three houses of the Japanese comfort women, the other two are, Bilbao Hotel at the Hughes Street, and Allen Hotel at de la Rama Street. Young women were recruited through coercion, these girls and women were as young as eleven years old and were sometimes taken from their elementary schools.
Many Ilongga died in the mistreatment of the Japanese. However, after the war, the comfort stations quickly faded from public consciousness, and for years the issue received almost no attention.
In the main streets of Iloilo City, the Jose M. Basa Street formerly known as “Calle Real” was once the liveliest shopping center in the heart of Iloilo City during the American regime. But now her lights of glory turned dimmer as the sadness and darkness crept into her surroundings most likely after sundown. Most people refer to go to the promising centralized air-conditioned atmosphere of the malls.
Known as “Escolta” of Iloilo, Calle Real was seat of the European and Chinese retail stores on the 19th century. It became the site of the once renowned luxurious Hoskyns department store, the fist ever department store in the orient with a fixed price policy. Its no wonder why Dr. Jose Rizal during his stop over in Iloilo ( then known as the Maynila of the South) on Tuesday, August 4, 1896, while on his way to Manila from his exile in Dapitan, went shopping in Calle Real.
These very examples of old buildings and establishments could very well attest to that popular adage. “ Some phenomenon, fame, fortune, glory, theory, beliefs, and institutions have the privilege to last for sometime moment. But not one has the power to hold on to that forever.”
These are just the reminiscence of the past that mold Iloilo as one of the business capital of the Philippines. The splendor of great buildings that was once a palace of trade and topnotch industry. Is there a way to revive the lost glory of these structures?
The Philippines was no exempt in experiencing a wealthy elite who amassed great fortunes from their enterprises. As these assets were built, they have the “need” to spend their hard-earned money as a show of their prosperity. Some of these were used to built great, massive, impressive, and artistic buildings that awed the people then and still inspires the present generation. However, not all fortunes stay forever, and the large cost of maintaining these massive buildings soon become an anachronism. Their manner of living does not fit the way people live these days.
In times past, these people could support such large buildings with their profits from their business enterprises. However, their profits dwindled and, the increase from their properties could not support their elegant way of living.
Most buildings of today are converted into commercial establishments. Through this procedure, the grand areas of such buildings could be put into a more practical and more profitable use.
As for the great mansions, and that also of the old brick and marble houses, it can be seen that they were converted into commercial establishments.
In addition to these commercial conversions, some residential mansions and buildings that can be found mostly in the city were converted into schools. The old Villanueva mansion is now a school for grade school students. The Bethel Temple Academy is being housed in this building.
Although some old buildings were luckily preserved through the ages, still much of them were unable to survive. Some of them lost their primary purposes of being built, some are vanished in just a blink of years.
With these, the preservation of national landmarks and historical places should be the concern of the government. Let us just hope that with these information, the present generation could stop the desecration of our vanishing cultural heritage.Letting these once glorious mansions and avenues bite the dust of the malls is tragic. Its about time the businessman in the past of the city kick their heels in order to find ways to enliven the spirit of these streets, houses, and structures again. Let there be another chance. Let Iloilo turn back its glory. Let Iloilo, again, turn back the lost crown as Queen City of the South…