Silhig Vendor

This old man walks the streets of Iloilo selling silhig (walis tingting in Filipino)– a broom made from the midrib of coconut leaves.

QUICK FACTS ABOUT ILOILO

Land area - 4,719.4 sq.km

Iloilo City, Iloilo Province - now, don't be confused. The entire province comprised of 42 municipalities and 2 cities is called Iloilo. The capital of Iloilo province is also called Iloilo.

Population - more than 2 Million souls- predominantly Catholic you see (sorry, no recent figures here; the last census was 6 years ago)

Location - Iloilo is in triangular-shaped Panay island, the Philippines' 6th largest. Panay is somethere at the center of the Philippine archipelago. Exploreiloilo.com's byline says it well: ILOILO--heart of the Philippines.

Three other provinces occupy Panay as well: Capiz (the seafood capital of the Philippines), Antique and Aklan (home province of world-famous Boracay island).

Panay's four other provinces, together with the island-province of Guimaras (just 15 minutes away from Iloilo City) and the province of Negros Occidental in Negros Island comprise the Western Visayas Region or Region VI.

We chicken-eaters

Today, at our school cafeteria, inspite of the array of “saucy” lunch dishes to choose from like menudo, adobo, linaga, bakareta, and spareribs, I still ended up choosing the driest dish,the most common, the most popular viand of all -- fried chicken. That’s why I’ve come to conclude:

We Ilonggos are voracious chicken eaters. (Geez, that sounds frightening!) Give us plenty of food choices and we’ll still have chicken any day.

I know, I know. The premise is weak so let me just cite a concrete proof instead. Just how many chicken houses are there in Iloilo city? For regular chicken inasal( chicken barbeque on a stick), there’s Mang Inasal, Barrio Inasal, Chicken Sari-Sari, Jo’s Inato, Pecho Pak, the barbeque stands such as at Plaza Jaro, Plaza Mandurriao, along UP in front of Doctor’s Hospital, near the freedom grandstand, at La Paz Market….For native chicken inasal, usually served whole, there’s Tatoy’s, Breakthrough, Nes & Tats and Nato & Helen, Rawit’s at Central Market, Corning’s and co. at Valeria extension...For the "45-days" or "bantress" whole roasted chicken, there’s Andok’s, Pecho Pak, the roadside roasters like Mang Pedro’s, Buto’t Balat (also a resto). And for fried chicken, there are the food-chain giants like Jollibee, McDo, KFC, Greenwich, Kenny Rogers. There’s Andok’s (now more popular for its fried chix), JD bakeshop, and the rolling “Jollicarts”parked at busy intersections at downtown Iloilo. (This list is only partial; I need to scour the whole city still.)

I’ve always been fascinated by the Ilonggo’s predilection for chicken: be it fried, barbequed, roasted, stewed (adobo) or in a soup (tinola and binakol) . The only thing not done to chicken, I suppose is to make kinilaw out of it.

Given a choice of restaurants in the city serving Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Italian and Continental cuisines, most Ilonggos are still found eating at chicken houses.

WHY DO WE JUST LOVE TO EAT MANOK?

I’m throwing this question to Ilonggos out there who might happen to stumble upon this young blog. Let us know what you think.

TAYTAY BONI (pls. don't call it a Spanish bridge)

Photo courtesy of Miagao Munisipyo

If you’re coming from Iloilo to visit the UNESCO World Heritage church of Miagao, there’s a strange-looking stone structure on the left of the National Highway, near the bend at Bgy.Guibongan. It’s actually a bridge. Many folks tend to call it a Spanish bridge. Correction please. It’s a Filipino bridge, specifically an Ilonggo-made bridge. Art historically-correct terms for it can be: “a Spanish-colonial period bridge”/ a stone bridge from the Spanish (colonial) period/ a Spanish-era (stone) bridge/ a heritage bridge/ an old stone bridge.”

The Spaniards did not build that bridge. Nor did they build those churches, convents, cemeteries, schools, houses, town halls. Those structures were built by our forefathers, by Filipinos. Thus, it is very inaccurate to label them as Spanish. Moreover, Spanish architecture has a style of its own. We did borrow certain features from Spanish and Mexican architecture (because the initiators of these building projects were usually the friars);however, our environmental conditions and our local cultural idioms transformed them into truly Philippine architectural pieces.

Going back to Taytay Boni: Iloilo’s best preserved Spanish- colonial stone bridge. Taytay of course means bridge. Why Boni? Short for Bonifacio Neular, the lead guy who built this bridge in 1854. That makes it 157 years old now. Wow!

Several bridges in Bohol have been given recognition by the National Museum. But mind you, our Taytay Boni is many times more beautiful I believe.

Draw a straight line from either end of Taytay Boni and that's your colonial highway. Can you imagine yourself crossing this bridge on foot and walk all the way to Arevalo or the Punta (Iloilo City)? That was nothing unusual in the 19th century. Back then, people did a lot of walking.

The Miagao cemetery capilla

Text & Photo by Joy Rosal-Sumagaysay

The Miagao cemetery located at Bgy. Baybay Norte (formerly Cota Baybay) houses an exceptional capilla or funerary chapel. In olden times, masses were held here on All Saint’s Day, Sundays and other important feast days.

Probably built around 1889-1895, the Miagao cemetery capilla can definitely boast of its original brick dome. It is the only existing capilla in the region or perhaps in the country with such a distinct feature. The capilla is octagonal in shape and flanked by winglike extensions that are actually burial chambers for past town heads and parish priests. Decorative urns carved out of solid stone surround this brick dome.

While the dome and the walls are made from bricks, the capilla’s pilasters, jambs and carved decorations are of creamy limestone. The capilla exhibits Romanesque influence in its three identical arched openings and two circular windows. Most interesting is the skull and crossbones motif enclosed in concentric mouldings found above the arched entrance. This design is repeated in the capilla’s interiors.

BALGOA's MANAPLA PUTO: authentic & the best

I just sank my teeth into the marshmallowy softness of Balgoa's ube-flavored Manapla puto and followed it up with a sip from Venice coffee straight from a vendo.

Not all puto are created alike, not even if they all call themselves Manapla. (Manapla is actually a town in the neighboring isle of Negros that became famous for its puto on a banana leaf base.)

Actually, i'm very careful about passing judgement on food items lest I commit a sin. (he,he). But this one, I'm really convinced about. I just love Balgoa's Manapla puto. It's the ultimate. Most puto--which also pass themselves off as Manapla--(I guess, as long as there's the banana leaf cup, it's called Manapla) are not as soft and tasty as Balgoa's. Those sold in the public markets in Iloilo are generally coarse in texture and can sometimes be gummy.

Come to think of it, the ingredients of puto is an open secret. Its the right combination of quality ingredients and the technique of cooking that set Balgoa's puto above the rest.

There are two varieties at Balgoa's: 1) The traditional Manapla puto sitting on a banana leaf square and 2) the puto without the leaf. Molded in muffin cups, this puto has two flavors: natural and ube-flavored (that's what i'm having this morning).

Striking a conversation with the owner one time, Mrs. Dolly Balgoa, I learned that:
her father-in-law, who started this home-industry in Jaro back in 1960 was originally from Manapla, from a family of puto makers (talk about having the rightful claim to the name).

MONTI'S HUNKS AT UPV

Everyone in the UPVisayas campus used to call those guys as Plato and Aristotle until my colleague and I discovered the truth. They are actually allegorical statues for Law and Order. This building was originally the Iloilo City Hall.

Which one is Law? Which one is Order? Find out yourself.

These huge, free-standing sculptures made of concrete, together with more sculptures (this time in relief) found above the entrance doors were the works of Francesco Monti, an Italian sculptor who lived in the Philippines from the 1930s until his death in the 1950s.

Wherever Juan Arellano was, Monti was not likely to be far behind. No, they were not life partners, just art partners. (When Arellano did the Provincial Capitol of Negros after Iloilo, he also requested the Italian to sculpt the famous lady with the carabao at the plaza.)

Monti’s developed an art deco approach to his larger-than-life sculptures. Observe his stern-looking men. They look very angular and the folds of their togas have a stylized, streamlined effect. Yet, his training in classical sculpture (he came from a famous family in Cremona, Italy, who specialized in tombstone figures) comes out in the way he sculpted the bemuscled body and the closed fist of Law as well as in the details on the faces of the two.

If you’re interested to know more about Monti, there is an ongoing exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum along Roxas Boulevard. Last year, the exhibit was also set-up here at the very building of Monti’s sculptures. Prof. Victoria Herrera, an art historian and museum specialist from UP Diliman is the leader of this humungous project. Being classmates, she asked me to do the research on Monti for Iloilo and Negros. And that’s how we said goodbye to calling dem guys Plato and Aristotle. JRS. 031907.