Iloilo City Proper

Iloilo City Proper is one of the seven boroughs of Iloilo City , the capital of the Iloilo Province on Panay Island in western Visayas in the Philippines . City Proper is considered to be the heart of Iloilo City.

The township and small port facility was founded in 1600 by the Spanish governor Pedro Bravo de Acuña as La Punta . In 1602 the first Spanish fortress and gazett for the military was built here.

It was then also known as Estanzuela because of the local fishing villages that were on the coast close to the port. In 1616 the municipality was attacked by Dutch conquerors, who were soon driven out. In 1637, the then Spanish governor General Corcuera promoted the settlement of Spaniards from Arevalo and Chinese from Molo in order to better use the economic situation of La Punta . This was followed by rapid development in the municipality, which soon grew into the largest economic center of Panay. The port was opened to international trade in 1855. Many Chinese traders and wealthy British migrants have fueled growth in the province. In 1893 the municipality was renamed Iloilo . After the Philippine Revolution , the borough was named the capital of the short-lived Estado Federal de las Visayas (Free State of the Visayas), a year before the First Philippine Republic was proclaimed. In 1937, shortly before the Second World War, the city of Iloilo was created by merging the two cities of Iloilo and Jaro and the four municipalities of Molo , Mandurriao , La Paz and Arevalo .

Today Iloilo City Proper is home to a large part of the state administration buildings, banks, offices, shops and large retail chains. It has three universities and several technical colleges. Special sights are the old buildings from the Spanish colonial era in the main streets of Calle Real (JM Basa St.) and Iznart St. as well as the Plaza Libertad .