Ronald Goseco l March 31, 2023 l The Manila Times
ONE of the sculptures dotting the Iloilo City River Esplanade depicts a ship during the Covid-19 pandemic carrying essential workers with the city mayor at the helm. The title of the sculpture is “Iloilo as One 2020.” Mayor Jerry Trenas included in the inscription a quotation, “Governance is a shared responsibility of the governed and the governors.” The remarkable transformation of Iloilo over the past two decades is most probably rooted in this shared responsibility.
I used to cover Iloilo in the late 90s when I was with Ayala and managed Honda dealerships. At that time, I found Iloilo and its people progressive with a strong work ethic. It was also a cash society which limited our financing opportunities. Our frugal customers would save for major purchases including vehicles, and many of them would purchase these in cash. I remember that most of the roads were under construction, and it was dusty throughout the year. Since then, I would occasionally visit the city for business and witnessed the gradual transformation including the airport transfer to Santa Barbara in 2007. This replaced the Mandurriao Airport which was in use for over 70 years. It is now the site of the Iloilo Business Park developed by Megaworld.
Last week, I visited with my bike group ― Boodlers and Bikers, composed mostly of my former military colleagues. We visited the city’s impressive museums, including the Museo Iloilo, which is the first government museum outside Manila; the Museum of Contemporary Art (2018), located inside the Emperador building; the National Museum for Iloilo and Western Visayas (2019), which is housed in the former Iloilo Provincial Jail; the Museum of Philippine Economic History (2019), which features a rich narrative of Philippine economic history with particular emphasis on Panay Island and sugar production; and the Museum of Philippine Maritime History, which opened just this year in the old Customs House. The museums highlighted the rich heritage of the city as an important trading post even before the Spaniards came. Iloilo opened to the world of trade and was the biggest port in the country in 1855.
Today, Iloilo takes pride in being the food basket and rice granary of the region with its fertile land and abundant seas. Rice is the major crop with marine products considered as the main source of livelihood. We also did not miss visiting the historical churches and were fascinated by Nelly’s Garden, a heritage house built in 1928 of solid concrete. It evokes the bygone years when the grandest social activities among hacienderos were held in Iloilo. The highlight for us bikers was the Iloilo River Esplanade with its wide and picture ready bike lanes. This is a 9-kilometer esplanade and linear park constructed along both sides of the river. It is the longest linear park in the country and was designed by landscape architect Paolo Alcarazen.
The project is part of the Iloilo River Rehabilitation Project. The site was an existing dike road devoid of shade and was originally built just as a flood control measure. This was developed with former Senate president Franklin Drilon with funds from Priority Development Assistance along with Trenas and former Iloilo City mayor Jed Mabilog. The project involved the relocation of over 1,000 informal settlers. It also involved the participation of private business groups and educational institutions. Businesses made the river cleanup as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility activities while schools made them a part of their national service training programs.
As we walked around the esplanade we noticed students helping out in the cleanup. We also understand that the project improved real estate values. Before the Esplanade, the price of land in the area was around P3,000 per square meter. Today, that price has gone up more than six times. This project, along with similar projects that are still under construction, are a source of pride for the people of Iloilo. I believe this developed a sense of discipline as well. As we biked around the city, we noticed the cleanliness of the streets. Also noticeable were the orderly electric and telco lines which we understand will be brought underground in the future. One of the projects of the city is the establishment of community clocks.
According to Iloilo-based Asian contemporary painter Rock Drilon who accompanied us on our ride to City Hall, the community clocks will be installed at all major points in the city to develop a sense of time and urgency. As he was telling us about this, we could feel how proud he was of his city. Listening to him talk about the future of Iloilo amid the background of classical music that was piped in all the parks that we visited, we started imagining an even brighter future for the city with its governance model and the discipline that it develops.
Governance will be one of the topics in the upcoming Senior Finance Leadership Program of the Finex Academy this May. This module will be co-presented by lecturers from the Institute of Corporate Directors with real corporate cases shared by the Finex members.
*** Ronald Goseco is a Finex Foundation Trustee. His opinions are his own.