Barotac Nuevo : The Football Capital

By Nico OrdoñezPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 22:24:00 04/25/2011 Filed Under: Opinion surveys, local officials, Sport, Football WHEN I was in Grade 5, I discovered that in the small provincial town of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, the genuine love for football was alive and kicking. All kids, rich or poor, play football on streets, rice fields, town plaza and anywhere with a flat surface. If other towns in our country were to share in Barotac Nuevo’s passion for football, we would have already established ourselves earlier as a genuine football nation. While most towns in the Philippines are devoted to basketball, Barotac Nuevo is devoted...

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LA RUTA ILONGGA: Iloilo City Jeepneys Street Guide

(as according to street names and certain landmarks) First timers in Iloilo may seem to get confused in the jeepneys since there are no placards in the windshield indicating places that the jeepney served in its routes and instead a permanent sticker with the name of the jeepney line is indicated. This guide should be a remedy for confusion in the streets of Iloilo. Villa Villa Arevalo District (Villa Plaza. Quezon-Avaceña-Molo Plaza-MH Del Pilar-Gen Luna-Iznart-JMBasa-Iznart-Ledesma-Valeria-GenLuna-to Villa by same route) Jaro CPU Lopez-Jaena-Jaro Plaza-E.Lopez-Luna-Bonifacio Drive-Arroyo Fountain-Iznart-JM Basa-Fort San Pedro-Duran-Santo...

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More Outlets Planned for Waffle Food Cart

by:  Jeffrey O. Valisno FOOD CART operator Waffle Time, Inc. aims to open more outlets by the end of the year as it aggressively expands in Luzon and Visayas through franchising, a company official said last week.Grace E. Barañao, Waffle Time vice-president for operations, said the company plans to open at least 50 more outlets this year, 20 of which will be opened to interested franchise partners. The company currently has 423 branches in the Philippines and Indonesia. Out of this total, 171 are franchise-owned outlets. “Waffle Time is a pioneer of this concept of cooking waffles on site, and having different variants,” Ms. Barañao...

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Holy History! Churches in Panay

Miagao Church Christ is Risen! Today, we celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead. The Semana Santa that preceded today’s celebration saw a number of Catholics visiting churches all over the country for the time-honored tradition of Visita Iglesia. The faithful visits seven churches to pray and contemplate on the 14 Stations of the Cross and to visit the Blessed Sacrament, which is exposed on the altar on Maundy Thursday. A journey to the historical churches scattered along the countryside offers not only a religious experience for those who choose to undertake it, but also a glimpse into the rich history and culture of the Philippines. These...

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FBI FILES: Ilonggo 101

By Keith Bacongco | Wednesday| April 20, 2011 | Filed under: Mindaviews DAVAO CITY (19 April 2011) — Since I was young, I have often heard my grandparents talk about their hometowns in Panay Island, Western Visayas. Even my uncles also talk about their vacation experience in Iloilo, particularly Pototan town, which is about 45 minutes away from Iloilo City. Just last week, Ruby and I had the chance to visit Panay Island, where most of the settlers in Southwestern Mindanao came from. Having born and grown up in Mindanao, I have always been eager to visit our beloved Iloilo. There’s a joke among Ilonggos that when you say you’re going to visit Iloilo, you will have to “renew.” It means you have to have your “license to boast” renewed in Iloilo. It has been a joke that Ilonggos...

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Calle Real de Iloilo: A Dying heritage Site

By Patricia Dominique C. Yngcong A QUOTE from Wednesday’s The Daily Guardian opinion column irked me. The article was entitled, “A tourist speaks out on Iloilo”. Basically, it was about Danish history professor Julie Blegvad’s impressions about Iloilo City. I agree with Blegvad’s prior thoughts that if Iloilo governance does heed to improving the city’s tourism providing that there are street holes around the city and that the formerly popular Villa Beach is now teeming with coliform bacteria. Did I forget to mention the recent high nighttime crime rates around the dim areas of the city? So much for the Iloilo City slogan: “My city, my pride!” The quotation from Blegvad’s statement that frustrated me was the observation that the Iznart and J.M. Basa heritage buildings were...

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Iloilo town hopes to take off from success of local festival

The town of Zarraga, a fourth class municipality situated 15.7 kilometers north of this city, is banking on Saturday’s feat of its "Pantat" Festival to open more opportunities for its residents. Zarraga Mayor Gregorio S. Brazas said that their winning has given them great pride. Pantat Festival, a showcase of the major industries of Zarraga, was adjudged second during the Aliwan Fiesta street dancing competition held in Metro Manila over the weekend. It represented Iloilo Dinagyang’s Kasadyahan contest after bagging the championship crown during the 2011 Dinagyang Festival. It was conceptualized in 2003 with the main purpose of encouraging...

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Iloilo City Gov’t Initiates ‘Sinadya sa Suba’

ILOILO CITY, April 19 (PNA) – The city government here, in partnership with the Bantay Suba, an organization that works on the rehabilitation and protection of the Iloilo River, are preparing to launch the first festival by the river initially slated May 20-21. Dubbed as "Sinadya sa Suba," the activity has three major components - the cleanup of the Iloilo River, first inland angling competition and the "Konsyerto sa Suba" or the Music Festival by the River. The activity initially aimed to raise funds for the Bantay Suba likewise to raise public awareness and participation in the protection of the Iloilo River. Funds generated will...

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Railway revival planned to link Iloilo and Capiz

Relics of Panay railway in Passi City By Nestor P. Burgos Jr. Inquirer Visayas First Posted 22:35:00 04/17/2011 ROXAS CITY – Panay Island hopes to bring back a part of its historic past with the planned revival of the railway system connecting the provinces of Iloilo and Capiz. The Regional Development Council (RDC) of Western Visayas in its first quarterly meeting here on Friday approved the P16.017-billion project that is expected to boost the island’s economy and tourism industry. The railway system will connect the cities of Iloilo and Roxas spanning 170.36 kilometers and will include access routes to the international...

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Dinagyang Dominates ‘Aliwan’

BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA MANILA – Dinagyang Festival was declared the champion in the 2011 Aliwan Fiesta held here over the weekend. Dinagyang, Iloilo City’s premier festival, was represented by its 2011 champion, Tribu Pan-ay of Fort San Pedro National High School. Pantat Festival of Iloilo province’s Zarraga town was declared first runner-up. It was the grand champion in this year’s Dinagyang kasadyahan contest. The Iloilo contingents bested 16 other Philippine festivals that vied for top honors in this annual event that gathers different cultural festivals of the country. Tribu Pan-ay won P1 million while Tribu Pantat was given P500,000. In...

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FORT SAN PEDRO: Reviving Iloilo’s historic landmark

 THE centuries-old Fort San Pedro is one of Iloilo City’s historical landmark. It has, however, deteriorated thru years of neglect. Now, there is a move to restore Fort San Pedro and develop it into a tourist spot. TIMELINE • 1603-1616 – Inclusive years when the Spanish government constructed La Fuerza de San Pedro (Fort San Pedro) on a 2,564-square meter property at the Iloilo City waterfront for defense against Dutch and English invaders. The materials used for the fortress were earthworks and wood palisades. • 1617 – A Dutch squadron of 10 warships engaged the Spanish defenders manning the fort. The Dutch lost the battle. ...

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How do you Sell Iloilo City

By: Ben Jimena OFTENTIMES we ask ourselves, what is there to find in Iloilo City? Or why would visitors come to the place which seems to have nothing interesting to offer? It does not have much of natural wonders except for its river. No waterfalls, no nearby mountains, no hot spring, no caves. Villa beach is black sand. In the past, we tried to package Iloilo City as a heritage destination. Photos of old baroque churches, antillan mansions, huge pre-Hispanic commercial buildings have been ubiquitous in postcards and other promotional collaterals for Iloilo City which was labeled heritage city. The heritage branding however did...

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