Place:Iloilo City, Iloilo, Western Visayas, Philippines

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Iloilo City, officially known as the City of Iloilo, is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of the province of Iloilo, where it is geographically situated and grouped under the Philippine Statistics Authority, but remains politically independent in terms of government and administration. In addition, it is the center of the Iloilo–Guimaras Metropolitan Area, as well as the regional center and primate city of the Western Visayas region. According to the 2020 census, Iloilo City has a population of 457,626 people. For the metropolitan area, the total population is 1,007,945 people.

Iloilo City is a conglomeration of former towns, which are now the geographical or administrative districts consisting of: Villa de Arevalo, Iloilo City Proper, Jaro (an independent city before), La Paz, Mandurriao, and Molo. The district of Lapuz, a former part of La Paz, was declared a separate district in 2008.

The first Spanish settlement in Iloilo was founded in 1566, when the Spaniards established a settlement area between the towns of Ogtong (present day Oton) and La Villa Rica de Arevalo (present day city district). It was the second Spanish colonial center after Cebu in the Philippine Islands. Iloilo was established as a city three times: first, on October 5, 1889, through a royal Spanish decree issued by the Queen Regent of Spain, Maria Christina, and became one of the few Royal Spanish Cities in the Philippines in Spanish Asia; second, on February 7, 1890, through a legal declaration by virtue of the Becerra Law of 1889, establishing the city government of Iloilo, and became the first legal city in the Philippines; and third, on July 16, 1937, formally inaugurated on August 25, 1937, as a chartered city, through the virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 158, by consolidating the existing City of Iloilo with the towns of Arevalo, Mandurriao, Molo, and La Paz, while the City of Jaro was officially annexed on January 7, 1941, through the virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 604 of August 22, 1940, issued by President Manuel L. Quezon.

The honorific royal title, La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad or Most Loyal and Noble City, was acquired by the city on March 1, 1898, given by Queen Regent Maria Christina. It was an inscription in the Coat of Arms from the Royal Decree of 1896, for the city's loyalty to the Spanish crown during the Philippine Revolution, and it remained inscribed on the city's official seal until the present. Iloilo was the second city in the country to have such a byname, after the City of Manila in the Spanish colonial era Philippines. Iloilo was also more popularly known as the Queen City of the South, being second to the most important and primate city in the Philippines, after Manila, at the turn of the 20th century in terms of economy, with foreign and local commercial establishments lining the whole stretch of Calle Real (Iloilo's Escolta and old business district), an agricultural experimental station established at La Paz in 1888, a school of arts and trades which opened in 1891, and a telephone network system operating in the metropolis in 1894.

Iloilo was the last capital of the Spanish Empire in Asia and the Pacific before the Philippines was ceded to the United States in 1898 through the Treaty of Paris. The Federal State of the Visayas, a short-lived revolutionary state composed of the Provisional Government of the District of Visayas (Panay), the Cantonal Government of Bohol, the Cantonal Government of Negros, and the island of Cebu, was later established, and the City of Iloilo became its capital.

The city is the site of the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral, the seat of Roman Catholicism in Western Visayas and the second National Shrine dedicated to Marian devotion in Visayas and Mindanao (first in Western Visayas); the Archdiocese of Jaro, one of the oldest and largest archdioceses in the country, founded as a parish in 1587; and Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Virgin of Candelaria), the first marian image crowned personally without a papal legate by a pope and saint in the Philippines and Asia (by Pope John Paul II).

Central Philippine University (CPU), a university founded by American Protestants through a grant from John D. Rockefeller in 1905 as the first Baptist Missionary School, attracts 14,000 enrollees from different parts of the Philippines and twenty-seven foreign countries annually, the largest in the Western Visayan region. CPU is also the first institution in the said region to be ranked as one of the top and best Asian and global universities by Quacquarelli Symonds, one of the big two world university ranking agencies after Times Higher Education.^[1]

Iloilo City is one of the Philippines' most important cities, historically, culturally, and economically. As one of the gastronomic capitals of the Philippines, Iloilo is famous for Pancit Molo; La Paz Batchoy; Kadyos, Baboy kag Langka (KBL); Laswa; and Kansi. Several regional and national government offices, financial institutions, and government-owned and controlled corporations held offices in the city. The Dinagyang Festival, held every January; the Paraw Regatta, Asia's oldest sailing event; and the Fiesta de la Candelaria (Jaro Fiesta), one of the largest Philippine marian festivities;^[2] are three of the known cultural and religious festivals the city is flocked and renowned for in the country. The city is the regional hub of education, culinary, religion, healthcare, tourism, culture, industry, and economy in the Western Visayas region.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Pre-colonial period

Nothing is known historically about the region prior to the arrival of the Spanish. In Historia natural del sitio, fertilidad y calidad de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas (1668), the Jesuit missionary Francisco Ignacio Alcina (1668) identifies the origin of the Hiligaynon people of "Oton" (Panay) as the island of Leyte, which correlates with the linguistic subgrouping of the Hiligaynon language.

Numerous legends and fabrications, however, exist on the origins of the Hiligaynon people. Among them is the epic Maragtas, which describes how ten datu and their families, led by Datu Puti, left the "kingdom of Borneo" to escape the cruel reign of Sultan Makatunaw. They arrived in the island of Panay and negotiated a sale of the lowlands with King Marikudo of the Ati people. The price is said to be a golden salakot for Marikudo and a long golden necklace for his queen, Maniwan-tiwan. A pact of friendship was then forged between the two peoples, and the Atis performed their native songs and dances, which is then said to be the origin of the Ati-Atihan Festival. According to Augustinian Friar Rev. Fr. Santaren recording in the Spanish era of this Pre-Spanish legendary history, that Datu Macatunao or Rajah Makatunao who was the "sultan of the Moros," and a relative of Datu Puti who seized the properties and riches of the ten datus was eventually killed by the warriors named Labaodungon and Paybare, after learning of this injustice from their father-in-law Paiburong (Datu of Iloilo), sailed to Odtojan in Borneo where Makatunaw ruled. The warriors sacked the city, killed Makatunaw and his family, retrieved the stolen properties of the 10 datus, enslaved the remaining population of Odtojan, and sailed back to Panay. Labaw Donggon and his wife, Ojaytanayon, later settled in a place called Moroboro.^[3] The Maragtas also goes on to describe other settlements by "Malay datu" in other areas in the Visayas and Luzon.^[4][5]

While once widely accepted and included in school textbooks, Maragtas (as well as the Code of Kalantiaw) is now regarded by modern scholars to be an early 20th century hoax. The historicity of the epic was first challenged by the historian William Henry Scott in 1968. Scott successfully defended his criticism before a panel of experts in Filipino history (including Gregorio Zaide, Teodoro Agoncillo, etc.), some of whom had once promoted the inclusion of Maragtas in books on Philippine history. However, the notion that the Maragtas is an original work of fiction and a hoax by Monteclaro is disputed by a more recent 2019 Thesis, named "Mga Maragtas ng Panay: Comparative Analysis of Documents about the Bornean Settlement Tradition" by Talaguit Christian Jeo N. of the De La Salle University who stated that, "Contrary to popular belief, the Monteclaro Maragtas is not a primary source of the legend but is rather more accurately a secondary source at best" as the story of the Maragtas also appeared in the Augustinian Friar, Rev. Fr. Tomas Santaren’s Bisayan Accounts of Early Bornean Settlements (originally a part of the appendice in the book, Igorrotes: estudio geográfico y etnográfico sobre algunos distritos del norte de Luzon Igorots: a geographic and ethnographic study of certain districts of northern Luzon by Fr. Angel Perez)

There was a mention of Iloilo's current town of Oton in Yuan Dynasty records in the 1300s when Oton was called in Hokkien .

In Panay, according to Friar Gaspar de San Agustín, O.S.A., "...in the ancient times, there was a trading center and a court of the most illustrious nobility in the whole island."

Early Spanish colonial period

In 1519, King Charles I of Spain already acquired and inherited Catholic kingdoms. He is the King of all Spain, King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Burgundy and Luxembourg, Count of Holland, Count of Barcelona, Count of Flanders, Prince of Asturias, Archduke of Austria, King of Aragon, King of Jerusalem, Catalonia, Valencia, Naples, two Sicilies, Corsica and Sardinia. King of the Western and Eastern Indies, of the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea. King of Italy, King of Bohemia and Hungary. He commissioned Ferdinand Magellan to circumnavigate the globe especially to establish International Trade in Spice Island. The dangerous and uncertain voyage as 5 ships with 270 men departs from Seville and by 1520, the expedition have traversed for months calm Ocean they called Pacifico or Peaceful. The mountains of Samar and Leyte was visible as they drew closed which the crew called " Las Velas " or the Sails. They disembark in unpopulated Homonhon Island for a week from a long journey for food and water and call the place "Buenas Senas" or good sign. They navigated through the Strait of Siargapo and at landed Limasawa Island and were received peacefully by locals. Delighted, the Spaniards planted a cross on a hill and the first mass was celebrated. It was the first Spanish settlement and the birthplace of Christianity in the Philippines. The locals were introduced to visit another kinsman chieftain along the Butuan River. The King of Butuan received the Spaniards on April 8, 1521. Returning to Limasawa, The Prince of Limasawa also told them about 3 powerful Kedatuan – in Sugbu, Yrong-yrong and Tondo. On March 17, 1521, Magellan named the newly discovered Island as " Las islas de San Lázaro" . By April 7, Magellan arrived in Sugbu. Datu Zula of Mactan sent Magellan 2 goats.

Humabon tricked Magellan to kill Lapu Lapu, the Datu or chieftain of nearby Mactan Island. The men of Humabon who accompanied Magellan did not engage in battle with Lapu-Lapu. Magellan was hit by a poisoned arrow he turned toward his men who were returning to the ships and fell down. The next day, Rajah Humabon of Sugbu offered a Banquet for Spaniards. Twenty-seven Spanish sailors died due to poisoning by Cebuanos. Rajah Humabon restored friendly relations with Lapu-Lapu, as he is married to Hara Humamay, Lapu-lapu niece.

Under Philip II, in 1565, the Spaniards in Mexico returned to Cebu to avenge Magellan's death against the treachery of Cebuanos. Miguel López de Legazpi pillaged and burned houses in Cebu for days. Cebuanos retreated, fearing the heavily armored Spaniards now with formidable reformed-infantry called Tercios composed of alabardero, alférez with a sword and Arcabucero with gunpowder. Miguel López de Legazpi directed Felipe de Salcedo along with Spanish Friar Martín de Rada and other Augustinian missionaries to look for food. They disembarked in Iloilo and established a temporary settlement in Araut somewhere in Dumangas. In 1566, they founded a settlement in the areas between Ogtong (Oton) and the present-day La Villa Rica de Arevalo district of Iloilo City. Though founded in 1566, Oton, which forms a big part of the area in the said settlement with Arevalo, was established formally in 1572 as the second official Spanish colonial outpost after Cebu City. The city was founded by 80 pure Spaniards from Europe and reinforced by 169 Mexican soldiers from Latin America.

Unlike the Indianized Cebuanos who were neutral to the Spaniards or the partially Islamized Tagalogs of Manila who were more hostile, the people of Madja-as welcomed the Iberians as allies since at that time period, Madja-as was locked in a war against the invading Muslims, especially with the Sultanate of Brunei and its vassal states, the Sultanate of Sulu and the Kingdom of Maynila which, according to Spanish Governor-General Franciso de Sande, are their blood-cousins. The people then fervently accepted Christianity as they supplied the bulk of the mercenaries used in the conquest of partially Islamized Manila, whose rulers were related to the Sultan of Brunei.

When the Spaniards came to the Visayas, they noted that the pirates among them were more terrifying than the Mohammedans of Jolo and Mindanao. All year long, after the harvest, they would sail toward faraway places to hunt slaves and make surprise attacks on settlements. Those who did not live along the rivers, would make their raids in the months of February, March, April, October and November, going deeper into the interior parts of the islands, sacking the villages. These raiding expeditions are called panggubat (noun) or manggubat (gerund verb form).

However, upon Christianization and Hispanization, the fiercest slave-raiders among the Philippine islands, the people Panay and the other Christianized peoples of the archipelago were converted and reformed and they abandoned the practice of slaving, piracy and raiding and contented themselves to be simple soldiers or farmers.

In 1581, Ronquillo moved the colonial center from Ogtong to approximately eastward due to recurrent raids by Moro pirates and Dutch and English privateers. He renamed this new colonial seat La Villa Rica de Arévalo in honor of his hometown in Ávila, Spain. Ronquillo also settled groups of Spanish and Mexican soldiers to become the first colonists of Arevalo as he built his mansion in the area. The Chinese traders supplying the colonists then established themselves in Iloilo's parian Molo. Meanwhile, Jaro was soon filled up with various kinds of mestizos (Mixed raced people) and Mandurriao hosted the growing Indian community near the Nanak Darbar Indian Sikh Temple.

In the early days of the Spanish period; the first Manila Galleons were originally constructed at the port of Oton to the west of Iloilo. Since there was no precedent in Spain for the immensity of a Manila-Galleon, it could be argued that the proto-type Manila galleons were of Visayan design since the Visayans were already constructing huge multi-masted 4 to 5 decked caracoas in their wars against the other kingdoms and thus, the technical know-how to construct the first Manila galleons was an amelioration of Visayan shipbuilding with Spanish shipbuilding. Oton built the first Manila galleons before operations were eventually transferred to the Bicol and Cavite shipyards.

1600s–1700s

In the year 1600, a large Muslim attack on Iloilo City was launched, with a force of 70 ships and 4,000 warriors, raiding and attacking several Visayan islands in order to abduct slaves. However, the attack was repulsed by a force of 1,000 Visayan warriors and 70 Mexican arquebusiers under the command of the Don Juan Garcia de Sierra (the Spanish alcalde mayor), who died in battle. With the increase in Moro incursions toward the end of the sixteenth century, Spanish defenses in the Visayas were strengthened by the construction of a fort at Iloilo staffed by two companies of (Mexican) soldiers.

In 1635, in an effort to check the Islamic slave-raiding into the Visayas islands, the Christian Visayans from Iloilo together with Spanish officers and their Latino soldiers from Peru soon founded Zamboanga City and settled in it, using it as a fortress to prevent Moro attacks in the Visayas, and as a staging ground for Christian campaigns into Muslim Mindanao.

In 1700, due to ever-increasing attacks especially from the Dutch and the Moros, the Spaniards again moved their seat of power some eastward to the village of Irong-Irong, which had natural and strategic defense against raids. At the mouth of the river that snakes through Panay, the Spaniards built the Fortificación de Nuestra Señora del Rosario en el Puerto de Yloylo, Provincia de Oton (now called Fort San Pedro) to better guard against the raids which were now the only threat to their hold on the islands. Irong-Irong or Ilong-Ilong was shortened to Iloilo. Later, the natural port area quickly became the capital of the province.^[6]

Sugar boom era and the late Spanish colonial period (1800s)

Spanish rule government allowed Chinese migrants which worked among the city's industries (the Locsin, Lopez, Jalandoni, Lim and Sy families) and Latinos from across the Pacific (Viceroyalty of New Spain) to man its military fortifications (the Araneta, De Rama and Arroyo families). In the late 18th century, the development of large-scale weaving industry started the movement of Iloilo's surge in trade and economy in the Visayas.

Sometimes referred to as the "Textile Capital of the Philippines", the products were exported to Manila and other foreign places. Sinamay, piña, and jusi are examples of the products produced by the looms of Iloilo. Because of the rise of the textile industry, there was also a rise of the upper middle class. However, with the introduction of cheap textile from the UK and the emergence of the sugar economy, the industry waned in the mid-19th century.

The waning textile industry was replaced, however, by the opening of Iloilo's port to the world market in 1855. Because of this, Iloilo's industry and agriculture was put on direct access to foreign markets. But what triggered the economic boom of Iloilo in the 19th century was the development of the sugar industry in Iloilo and its neighboring island of Negros. Sugar during the 19th century was of high demand. Nicholas Loney, the British vice-consul in Iloilo, developed the industry by giving loans, constructing warehouses in the port, and introducing new technologies in sugar farming. The rich families of Iloilo developed large areas of Negros, which were later called haciendas, because of sugar's high demand in the world market. Because of the increase in commercial activity, infrastructures, recreational facilities, educational institutions, banks, foreign consulates, commercial firms and much more sprouted in Iloilo.

Conversion to cityhood

On October 5, 1889, due to the economic development that was happening in Iloilo, making it the most important port in the Philippine Islands next to Manila, Iloilo was raised from the status of a town to a city through a Royal Decree, and in 1890, the city government was established, and Iloilo became the second Royal City in the Philippines in the Spanish East Indies, after Manila. In 1893, the royal Spanish decree was ratified through a 2nd (legal) declaration by the virtue of Bacura/Becerra Law. Iloilo City was the second-most important city in the archipelago at the end of the Spanish Regime and was known as the Queen City and Royal City in the south of the capital.

The Revolutionary Period (1896)

The immediate reaction of Ilonggo elite to the outbreak of the 1896 rebellion in Manila was that of surprise. They immediately responded with protestations of outrage and affirmed their loyalty to Spain. The Ilonggos themselves were united in their support of Spain during the first two years of the revolutionary period.

Shortly after the Cry of Balintawak, the Jaro Ayuntamiento (another colonial city adjacent to Iloilo City), composed of native Ilonggos, convened a special session on September 1, 1896, where the Manila uprising was condemned as an unpatriotic act "that finds no echo in the noble hearts of Jareños, who do not forget the immense gratitude they owe Spain who, from nothing, raised us to a life of civilization and progress."

The Ayuntamiento of Iloilo also affirmed its allegiance and loyalty to Spain and made a similar protestation. Condemning the uprising, the city's letter to the Governor General says:

"Those dark betrayals, the mere notion of which embarrasses good and loyal Filipinos, have produced a unanimous sentiment of protest and indignation among the Ilongo people, who engrave its most honorable blazon in the sacred and inextinguishable love that it professes to the glorious Spanish nationality that it legitimately feels proud of. The Ilongos are Spaniards, Your Excellency, and Spaniards will they be until death, because they do not want to live and die in another way than under the shadow of the august Castillan standard, to which they owe being dignified and free men now."

The foreign community in the city also asked its representatives to visit local authorities and to elevate their protests against the revolt. And so did the Filipino parish priests of Jaro, Molo, Mandurriao, and Arévalo. Towns in Iloilo province also condemned the Manila uprising, and those of the neighboring provinces of Cápiz and Antique, as well as the island of Negros, followed suit. This emboldened the Ilonggo elite to initiate the organization of volunteers to be sent to quell what was seen as a mostly-Tagalog rebellion. The move was backed by the Spanish and foreign communities of Iloilo. A battalion of five hundred native volunteers was raised, which was divided into two companies, and placed under the cadre of mostly Spanish officers. They arrived in Manila on January 16, 1897. They were one of the largest native contingent to serve the government forces against Katipunan troops led by Emilio Aguinaldo, in the battlegrounds of Cavite province.

The Ilonggo volunteers established for themselves a distinguished combat record in Cavite. Once the Pact of Biak-na-Bato was signed, they returned to Iloilo. In April 1898 their homecoming, just like their departure, was met with much fanfare. This galvanized the Ilonggos into more public outpourings and manifestations of loyalty to Spain.

Due to the loyalty of the Ilonggos, the city of Iloilo was honored with the perpetual^[7] title of Muy Noble (Most Noble). The Royal Decree granting this title was signed on March 1, 1898, by Queen Regent Maria Cristina. Over time, this title earned for Iloilo City the reputation of it being the Queen's Favored City in the South or simply Queen's City in the South, and was later evolve to the Queen City of the South, being the second Spanish port of importance next to Manila, and being located South of the Archipelago's Capital. On a side note, at the beginning of the American period until the Second World War, Cebu became the second port of importance (Iloilo having been partly ravaged by bombardment, fire, and riots during the American occupation of Iloilo City).

Yet, it was also during this period of Philippine history that Iloilo was more popularly known as the Queen City of the South. This points to the fact that the moniker was associated with the Queen Regent's favor and with the honorary title granted to Iloilo City as La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad (The Most Loyal and Noble City), due to the loyalty of its citizens to the Spanish Crown. Besides, the Ilonggos, who were among the first allies of the Spanish Crown in the archipelago, contributed in the Spanish conquest of Luzon. It was in Arevalo (later, a district of Iloilo City), Panay that the conquest of Luzon was planned and launched, on May 8, 1570, with the help of seafaring inhabitants of the Island.

After the defeat of the Spanish forces at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, the Capital of the Spanish East Indies was transferred to Iloilo, with General Diego de los Rios as the new Governor General residing in the city. A truce was declared between the American and the Spanish forces pending the negotiations of the joint commission of both warring Countries in Paris, France for the terms of peace. Meanwhile, General Aguinaldo sent several small vessels to Panay with Tagalog revolutionaries in order to stir up rebellion in the Visayas. He was anxious to secure all territories he could before the conditions for peace should be settled in Paris. At stake was the hope that actual possession of territories would influence the final decision.

By October 1898, fresh Tagalog expeditions were sent to Panay and coerced or persuaded its people to rise in greater force than ever, until finally, General de los Rios had to fall back to Iloilo. By the middle of November, after having secured the support of the inhabitants of the towns outside Iloilo through the leadership of General Martín Delgado, practically the whole island of Panay, except for Iloilo (the City Proper), Jaro, La Paz, and Molo, was under the revolutionary dominion. By December, de los Rios held only the city and port of Iloilo.

On December 25, 1898 (fifteen days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10), the Spanish government surrendered to the Ilonggo revolutionaries at Plaza Alfonso XII (Plaza Libertad today). Military Provincial Governor Ricardo Monet, who was representing Governor General de los Rios, together with Lt. Col. Agustín Solís, formally handed over Plaza Alfonso XII to Delgado, who represented Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the newly established Philippine Republic, in Iloilo. Delgado was named provincial governor afterwards.

The newly found freedom of the Ilonggos would be short-lived. The American forces arrived in Iloilo on December 27, 1898, under the command of General Marcus P. Miller, and were afterwards reinforced up to a total strength of about 3,000 troops and two ships, to take possession of the territory in accordance with the Treaty of Paris.

Filipino–American War

After the Spanish forces left the city, the revolutionary forces made a formal entry amidst music and banners. A government was constituted. On January 17, 1899, an election placed Raymundo Melliza, of a notable family from Molo that was respected by both the natives and foreigners, to office as Mayor. However, the influence of the new regime established by the government of Aguinaldo did not have effective extent far beyond a day's march from the Capital. At the threshold of the City and Province of Iloilo, the Americans were waiting for a signal from Manila. Two more ships supplemented the U.S. forces, even though no clashes with the revolutionaries took place after the Spaniards abandoned the city. Miller expressed demands for the surrender of Iloilo but no gun was fired. The Americans were waiting for the right moment, for it was not until February 6, 1899, that the American Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris.

On February 4, hostilities broke out between Aguinaldo's forces and the Americans in Luzon. Emissaries brought Aguinaldo's message to the Ilonggos to hold the City against the enemies. The demand for surrender was renewed by Miller, on February 7, upon receipt of orders from Manila, with the threat to bombard Iloilo by the 12th day of the month if no surrender would take place.

As the Americans were preparing to attack the city, the 1,650 native troops under General Martin Delgado became uncontrollable and insolent to their officers. They were promised a monthly remuneration of Php4 and food, but only received Php1. Threats of mutiny, sacking and burning of the city, forced the Generals to collect money from the towns of Panay in order to appease the Visayan contingents. The same thing happened to the Tagalog component of the troops. The danger of riots in the city and the attitude of native soldiers fomented fear among the inhabitants. Chinese merchants closed their stores leaving only a small hole for transacting business. Many prominent families, who were in constant fear for their safety, went over to Negros Island in small schooners that flew the Philippine flag, without having any trouble with the American ships on standby in the waters between the two islands.^[8]

On February 10, an Extraordinary Session at the City Hall discussed plans for the impending bombardment of the city. There was a proposal to burn Iloilo, but the Mayor protested to this barbarous plan. A majority in the meeting was in favor of burning, which was seen as an invitation to despoil, lay waste and slay. The instigators who had no property interests in Iloilo, but who were so jealous of those who have, found a ready response of the Tagalog mercenaries, who had no local attachment to the city.

The Americans fired the first shell on February 11, 1899. Foreign eyewitnesses observed that the bombardment damaged quite a few buildings. In the meantime, from early morning, the withdrawing native soldiers, followed by a riffraff mob, were observed to have rushed hither and thither, throwing firebrands on to petroleum-washed houses. The Chinese had to barricade themselves to no use since fire burned their bazaars. Europeans and the Spanish half-castes had to defend themselves with every means possible, including bribing the rioters with a few pesos. Two British warships in the roadstead sent boats ashore and landed a party of marines, who made a gallant effort to save foreign properties,^[9] as the United Kingdom had a strong business interest in Iloilo and a Consulate.

By 1 o'clock of the same day, the Americans made a landing and restored order. Sentinels were stationed to protect what still remained of the townspeople's goods. In due course, indemnity claims were forwarded to the American military authorities, but were all rejected.

Ten years later, an article published in the local paper Nuevo Heraldo summarized the downfall of the Queen City in these words:

"The fire left behind only the name Iloilo, as the main part of the city was reduced to ashes by the retreating Ilongo troops. That event was the cause of the ruin of such a beautiful city, second only to Manila, where, if there was not a surplus of money, neither the people's welfare was wanting, and life was prosperous and peaceful. If the brain who planted such an unqualified act had measured the consequences... maybe he would never have dared doing it..."

By February 1899, the Americans had started mobilizing to colonize anew the City and Province. They continued to meet resistance from the Ilonggos, which lasted up to 1901. In which case, Iloilo was also among the last cities to fall to Americans. Many leaders surrendered to the new regime and were reintegrated to the Ilonggo society without conditions. Among them was General Martin Delgado, who accepted the position of Governor of the Province of Iloilo from 1901 to 1904, under the American flag. He was, at that time, the highest-paid Governor in the whole Archipelago, receiving $3,000 gold annually.

Local government was established in some towns of Iloilo by April 11, 1901. Jose Maria Gay was appointed Alcalde, Matias Hibiernas was teniente alcalde of Iloilo;Jose Yusay was President of Molo; Pablo Borromeo was President of Arevalo; Ruperto Montinola was the lone representative of Jaro, but was not its president; Madurriao's president was Emigdio Mesa. Emilio Magbanua was appointed its police delegate. It was observed by Juan de Leon, judge of the Court of First Instance that there existed a rivalry between the pueblos of Iloilo, Jaro and Molo, which are adjacent to and are only half an hour travel by carriage from each other. Besides, Molo and Jaro are residential pueblos, and Iloilo was the business town for both. It was also recommended that Arevalo be joined to Molo, and La Paz to Jaro. The aggregate population of these territories was at 100,000 in 1901. Presidents and other representatives were also appointed for the towns of Alimodian, Miag-ao, Janiuay, Mina, Oton, Passi, Guimbal, Pototan, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, San Miguel, Pavia, Sara, Nagaba (currently known as Nueva Valencia), San Enrique, Lambunao, Cordoba (a barangay of Tigbauan today), Cabatuan, Leganes, Tigbauan, Banate, Buena Vista, Navalas, Tubungan, Duenas, Mandurriao, Maasin, Lucena, and Leon. Other formerly existing ones, like Anilao and Barotac Viejo, were fused with other towns.^[10]

As the aftermath of the revolution and the Filipino–American War, it was clear to all the most sober-minded and best-educated Ilonggos that Aguinaldo's government was a failure in Panay at least. Visayans of position, with property interests at stake, were convinced that absolute independence without any control or protection from some established political power was premature and doomed to disaster. The Visayan grudge against the Tagalog predominance was also a factor that contributed to the failure of Aguinaldo's government. But the aggravating factor was the dictatorial air and brutal conduct of the Tagalog troops, which destroyed the theory of fraternal unity. Ananias Diocno, the Tagalog contingents' leader known for severity in his Capiz and Iloilo campaigns, left a lasting non-commendable remembrance in the history of Panay.^[8]

American colonial era and advent of Protestantism and counter-reformation (1900–1941)

In 1900, no Americans reverted the city's status into a township. By virtue of Act No. 719 of 1903, the municipalities of Jaro, La Paz, Mandurriao, and Molo, were incorporated into the municipality of Iloilo. Pavia was also incorporated into Iloilo from Santa Barbara by virtue of Act No. 1333 19 April 1905. Later, Executive Order No. 64 24 December 1907 separated Pavia and Jaro from Iloilo and constituted them as the municipality of Jaro with effect on February 15, 1908. La Paz was re-established as a separate municipality in 1920 by virtue of Executive Order No. 70 signed on October 11, 1919.

The Americans initiated the construction of the Baluarte and Arroyo streets, the extension of Delgado Street to Valeria and from Fuentes and Jalandoni streets up to the present-day U.P. in the Visayas. Quezon and Mabini streets were asphalted while their sidewalks were also constructed. More significant was the installation of streetlights all throughout the city in 1921. In 1926, the widening of important streets, like General Luna, J.M. Basa and Ledesma, was started. In 1927, an improved street, Valeria-Ledesma (formerly known as Weyler), was inaugurated (David 1937).

During the American colonial regime that time in the Philippine islands, the Americans brought with them their Protestant faith. A comity agreement was made in 1898 that the Philippine islands would be divided into different Protestant denominations for missionary works to avoid future conflicts; Iloilo is one of the first favored places in the country where the early Protestant sects came because of the city's economic prominence and importance next to Manila during such time. Western Visayas and Negros, in accordance with the comity agreement, was given to the religious jurisdictions of the Baptists, although other Protestant sects were allowed to do missions in the same area.

The Protestant missionaries initiated large-scale enterprises in the predominantly Catholic province. The Presbyterians established the first Protestant and American hospital in the country, the Iloilo Mission Hospital. Supposedly it came also that Iloilo is the original location for foundation of Silliman University, the first Protestant and American university in the country and in Asia. However, due to the Catholic opposition where the school will stand, the founder, David Hibbard, prospected some new locations. He went to Cebu and later had a side trip in Dumaguete City, where he had a decision to establish and where Silliman University is presently located.

Baptists on the other hand, established institutions like Central Philippine University in 1905, as the first Baptist-founded and second American university in Asia; the Jaro Evangelical Church, the first Baptist church in the Philippines; and the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, the oldest Baptist organizational body in the Philippines. Later, the Seventh-day Adventists established the Jaro Adventist Center, the first organized Seventh-day Adventist church in the islands.

Central Philippine University was established through a grant given by the then richest American industrialist and oil magnate John D. Rockefeller. Central Philippine University pioneered the work-study program in the country which was later patterned and followed by other institutions and has also established the first and oldest student governing body in South East Asia modeled on the American civil government, the Central Philippine University Republic in 1906 after the Jaro Industrial School, CPU's forerunner, was established.

Under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1901, the Sabine Haines Memorial Union Mission Hospital (Union Mission Hospital) was established by American missionary doctor Joseph Andrew Hall and his wife Jane Russell Hall. The hospital is also the first hospital for soldiers and the constabulary (predecessor of the Philippine National Police) during the American colonial regime in the country. The hospital pioneered the nursing education in the country through the establishment of the Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses, the first nursing school in the Philippines. Later, the hospital was handed over to the Protestant Baptists. In 1931, the Union Mission Hospital moved to its present site in a property bought by the Baptists, thus a year later in 1932, the hospital changed its name to Iloilo Mission Hospital along with its nursing school. The school was later transferred and became and organic academic unit of the Central Philippine University (the present-day Central Philippine University College of Nursing. Iloilo Mission Hospital has over the years associated with Central Philippine University as its university hospital (CPU-Iloilo Mission Hospital).

Up to the present, the various evangelical Protestant denominations (composing around 2.8% of the Filipinos) and their educational institutions also serve Catholic students in Iloilo, who make up 83% of the population.

Seizure of friar lands and parishes and the above-mentioned Protestant activities gave the American and Filipino public an impression of an anti-Catholic stance of the U.S. occupation of the Islands during the first years of the American rule. The Taft Commission, the sole legislative body of the American government for the Philippines (then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States) while still under the Philippine–American War, were attacked by Catholic press in New York for anti-Catholic bigotry. Soon, pressures from influential Catholics in the United States, and also in Ireland caused President Theodore Roosevelt to appoint a Catholic in the commission to defend Catholic interest in the Philippines. Influential Catholics in Manila followed suit. Worries about Catholic vote in national elections moved the civil government to send the commission to the Vatican to negotiate exploring workable to solutions to the Catholic question in the newly acquired territory. Before coming to Rome, the head of the Commission personally visited the Cardinal Archbishop of Baltimore. Pace by pace, acceptable solutions were employed. In 1902, the President of the United States of America commissioned two American Augustian friars to pioneer a movement to send American priests out to the Philippines to replace the Spanish friars, who diminished in number (1,013 in 1898 to 246 in 1903) due to normal loss of personnel due to death or retirement, death caused by native hostilities, or voluntary return to Spain.

In Iloilo, American Catholics countered the Protestant American missions and the American Catholic bishops, like Frederick Rooker, Dennis Joseph Dougherty, and James McCloskey, were named for the Roman Catholic See of Jaro in Iloilo City. These bishops sustained the educational achievements of the Spanish friars by bringing in American and European Catholic missionaries, among whom were the Sisters of Charity of St. Paul, and Augustinian missionary priests. The Augustinians, who were the first to bring the Christian faith in the Philippines as well as in Panay island, and who built the centuries-old heritage churches in this island, established the Collegio de San Agustín in 1904, which eventually became the only university of the Augustinian Order in Asia. During the American regime, their confreres from the United States developed evermore this institution, which later became the first university in Iloilo. The American Catholic Bishops also maintained and upgraded the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary (established in 1869 as the Collegio-Seminario de San Vicente Ferrer), which was the first institution of higher learning in Western Visayas. Despite the Augustinians being Catholics and Baptists being Protestants, they mutually enriched each other through dialogue mainly because Augustinian ideals were the foundations of Protestantism since the first Protestant was Martin Luther and he was a former Augustinian priest himself and the Protestant zeal for reformation from corruption even started some reform in the church itself. Saint Ezekiel Moreno who was ordained in the Minor Orders in Jaro, Iloilo had walked the fine line between reform, obedience and leadership since he ministered and walked hand in hand with condemned rebels and criminals in the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, he was also obedient to his superiors in the Order of Augustinian Recollects, a reform or "Recollection" movement in the Augustinian Order, which took elements from the Protestant Reformation. Saint Ezekiel Moreno also became the leader of a political movement when he became a Bishop of Pasto, Colombia.

The visitation of Saint Ezekiel Moreno is a harmonized incarnation of the ancient Convivència in Spain when different religions and kingdoms; Pagan, Christian, Jewish and Muslim lived side by side and struggled to maintain their perspective purity, contested with each other and yet also mutually enriched each other without turning into a mongrelized melting pot of a mixed up and confused morass. Coincidentally, Saint Ezekiel Moreno was ordained in the Minor Orders in the then church of Jaro which housed a Virgin Mary statue under the Title of "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Jaro". An image with complex Convivència alluding properties due to the confluence of many symbols from various cultures simultaneously present in the image but it is likely not earthly of nature and is a pure grace direct from heaven or an image "Not carved by human hands" due to its miraculous nature which was found floating in a river, shifting in weight and growing in size.

The Paulinian Sisters took charge of St. Paul Hospital, originally owned by the Catholic Diocese of Jaro. Bishop Dennis Joseph Dougherty, who later became Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia, gave the medical facilities to the Sisters. To commemorate the bishop's generosity, the hospital named a more recent section of the facilities after him: the CADMA (Cardinal Dougherty Medical Annex). To meet the growing need to provide nurses for their hospital, the Paulinians also opened a nursing school. Today, this institution has also become a university (St. Paul University Iloilo), and has ever since supplied high-quality healthcare professionals known worldwide for their skills and dedication to work.

During the American colonial occupation, one of the platforms by the colonial government was first to establish and implement a public education system in the islands and the Thomasites were deployed and commissioned by the American government to teach in the public schools that will be established. The Thomasites tolerated religious freedom, which is one of the foundations of the United States constitution and legacy to the Philippines, while commissioned and under their tutelage to teach in public schools during the colonial period. Public schools that were established when the Thomasites came to Iloilo are Iloilo Normal School, the present-day West Visayas State University (formally established in 1924 but dates back its founding in 1902 as part of the Philippine Normal School System in the Philippines); the Iloilo National High School, the first public provincial high school in the islands; and Baluarte Elementary School, the first public elementary school in the islands.

Commonwealth Act No. 57 was passed in 1936 granting city status to Iloilo; this charter was immediately amended by Commonwealth Act No. 158 some days later to incorporate the municipalities of La Paz and Arevalo as part of the new city's territory. Iloilo regained cityhood status on July 16, 1937, through Commonwealth Act 158. Incorporated as part of Iloilo City were the towns of La Paz and Arévalo and inaugurated on August 25, 1937. The municipality of Jaro, on the other hand, was incorporated into Iloilo City some years later by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 604 22 August 1940, which amended the city charter of Iloilo to include, into Iloilo City, the municipality of Jaro "on the date that the President of the Philippines may set by proclamation". To that effect, President Manuel L. Quezon issued Proclamation No. 663 on January 7, 1941, giving January 16 as the date of Jaro's incorporation into Iloilo City. Sugar's demand was declining, labor unrests in the port area scared the investors away, and the opening of the sub-port of Pulupandan in Negros Occidental moved the sugar importation closer to the sugar farms.

Japanese occupation (1942–1945)

By 1942, the Japanese invaded Panay and the economy moved into a standstill. During World War II, Iloilo was controlled by several Japanese battalions. Japan's ultimate goal was to entrench itself deeply into the Philippines so that at the close of the war they could occupy it just as the Spanish and the Americans had years before.

When Iloilo was liberated by Filipino and American forces from Japanese military occupation on March 25, 1945, the remnants of these battalions were held in Jaro Plaza as a makeshift detention facility.^[11]

Post-war decline

The war heavily damaged the infrastructure in Iloilo. However, the continuing conflict between the labor unions in the port area, declining sugar economy, and the deteriorating peace and order situation in the countryside, the exodus of Ilonggos to other cities, provinces/regions and islands that offered better opportunities and business. People were moving to other cities such as Bacolod, Cebu, and Manila that led to Iloilo's decline in economic importance in central Philippines. Rural agricultural areas continued to help the local economy. For years, because of this exodus of investors, Iloilo's economy progressed in a moderate pace.

Change slowly came. First came the construction of the fishing port and a new international seaport. One by one, commercial business firms invested in Iloilo, spurring on the city to its eventual recovery.

Iloilo became a highly urbanized city on December 22, 1979, by the virtue of Batas Pambansa Blg. 51. Corollary to this new status, its residents effectively lost their eligibility to vote for provincial officials.

21st century and economic boom

After the opening of the new commercial and business center in Mandurriao district and with the construction of a national highway that traverses this area, big businesses like the SM Supermalls, SM Prime Holdings, Megaworld Corporation, Gaisano Capital, Robinsons Land, Ayala Corporation, and Filinvest poured in huge investments in the city, giving impetus and catalyst toward future progress.

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