The Port of Iloilo: Its role in the development of Western Visayas

Abstract

The story of Iloilo as a port of entry officially started on 29 September 1855 when, by royal order of the Queen of Spain, it was opened to international trade. But the port had already been used for interisland commerce and for trade with some Asian countries for centuries. It had also been a shipbuilding center for a long time.

When the Spaniards came in the 16th century, they discovered that Arevalo (now a district of Iloilo City) had a shipyard for the building of galleys and frigates. In 1587 Thomas Cavendish, a British privateer and the third circumnavigator of the globe, plundered the Spanish galleon "Sta. Ana" off Southern California, crossed the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines, and attacked the Arevalo shipyard where the galleon "Santiago" was being constructed.

Cavendish was driven off by the Spanish and Ilonggo defenders of Arevalo, but his sneak visit meant that the port of Iloilo was already known to the British in 1587. And not only to the British. The Dutch also knew the importance of Iloilo as a port and they attacked it a number of times: in 1609, 1614, and 1616. These attacks and the frequent raids by the Muslims from Mindanao and Sulu forced the Spanish authorities to transfer the provincial capital from Arevalo to Iloilo (some five kilometers to the east) where they built a fort near the mouth of the Iloilo River.

The fort provided military protection to the natural harbor of Iloilo which was formed by the narrow but deep Iloilo Strait and the winding, navigable Iloilo River. The harbor was also shielded from strong winds and high waves by the island-plateau of Guimaras. The port was capable of accommodating a good number of ships of moderate size. Because of the large volume of agricultural and manufactured goods that it handled, the port of Iloilo became, by the 19th century, "the most notable in the Visayas and to it converged ships from all the provinces of the colony in search of rice and other products.