Snapshots of Iloilo

“In designing sourcing models, IT and BPO decision-makers literally have a ‘world’ to choose from when it comes to competitive country locations. The unique needs of a business will clearly drive managers to seek out sites capable of satisfying a range of those complex demands. With that said, informed professionals know that the Republic of the Philippines is a worldclass delivery-center destination that should be closely evaluated as an option in any sourcing exercise.” (Trestle Group Consulting, Philippine Value Proposition, March 2010)

Overview

Iloilo is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of Panay Island and is bordered by Antique Province to the west and Capiz Province and the Jintotolo Channel to the north. Just off Iloilo's southeast coast is Guimaras Province, once part of Iloilo Province but now a province in its own right. Across the Panay Gulf and Guimaras Strait is Negros Occidental. Iloilo's capital is Iloilo City.

At the time of the Spanish conquest, writing was a new import and the use of organic medium such as leaf and bamboo, and no pre-Hispanic written accounts of Iloilo exist today. Oral history, in the form of recited epics, has survived to a small degree, with a few recordings made from the last known surviving binukots.

The earliest written historical accounts concerning the province relates to Spain's conquest of the island of Panay by Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi moving his headquarters from the island of Cebu and creating the first Spanish settlement in the island in Ogtong in 1566. In 1581 the encomienda in Ogtong was moved to La Villa Rica de Arevalo, because of frequent coastal raids by Moro and Dutch privateers, this was again moved near the mouth of the Irong-irong river founding what is now Iloilo City and constructing Fort San Pedro to defend it in 1616.

The City of Iloilo by virtue of a Royal Decree of 1896 was given the honor of having a Coat of Arms with the Inscription: "La Muy Leal Y Noble Ciudad de Iloilo."

Topography

The topography of the province varies from flat lands and rolling hills to mountain peaks and ranges. The mountain ranges lie along the border between Iloilo and the provinces of Antique and Capiz, and roll down into the flat plain towards the coastal towns. Almost one third of the entire province is considered flat.

How to Get There

To get to Iloilo, one can travel from other parts of the country in style through NAIA in Manila as its premier gateway. By air, it is served by 10 jet flights daily from Manila that takes about an hour. Cebu is only 35 minutes and two (2) hours from Davao and Cotabato. By sea, sailing is about 20 hours from Manila 12 times weekly; from Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro, 14 hours twice a week; from Cebu 12 hours once daily. Fastcrafts from Bacolod City takes 50 minutes. Aside from domestic shipping companies, a nautical highway service by roll-on-roll-off vessels from various part of the country is now in service.