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ILOILO CITY: LEGITIMATE- QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH

Posted on Thursday, December 1, 2011 by Iloilo At Its Best


THE HISTORY OF THE QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH TITLE; WHY IT SHOULD AND WILL ALWAYS REMAIN WITH ILOILO CITY



ILOILO sided with Spain during the first outbreak of the revolution in 1896. The Ilonggo Voluntarios composed mainly by the Ilonggo elites headed by Gen. Martin Delgado gave Andres Bonifacio his first defeat. The movement was funded by realtor Don Eugenio Lopez and shipping magnate Don Felix dela Rama. It was after this that the Queen Regent bestowed Iloilo the title LA MUY LEAL Y NOBLE CIUDAD DE ILOILO.

Therefore, the QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH title is a a moniker of the previously bestowed decree by the Queen Regent Maria Cristina of Spain in 1896: "LA MUY LEAL Y NOBLE CIUDAD DE ILOILO".

Such title was too long for the new American administrators of Iloilo to use in their official transactions with other English-speaking countries that Iloilo transacts business with. An English description was therefore coined to introduce Iloilo especially to the Australian merchants who are the chief buyers of Iloilo's sugar shipment. Hence the title QUEEN REGENT'S CITY IN THE SOUTH was born in 1901 after the Americans assumed government power in Iloilo.

The constant use of the long title used to describe Iloilo went on until a new one came out to simplify the writing of articles in sugar shipment manifesto and other political documentation. Hence the title QUEEN'S CITY IN THE SOUTH.

With the sugar industry flourishing even more that catapulted Iloilo's economy to enormous heights and with the American Government pouring in enormous political and economic functions to the city, Iloilo became the second major seat of power during that time with all administrative functions channeling from Iloilo & Manila only. No other province in the south was as important historically and politically and as progressive as Iloilo. Hence the title QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH sprung out.

The QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH title was then made as Iloilo's official nickname when Iloilo was legally declared a city for the second time by the virtue of the Commonwealth Act No. 158 in 1937.


Text and Photo courtesy of Iloilo: The Next Big Thing FB 



  1. Anonymous December 2, 2011 at 12:45 PM

    Queen City is entirely different as Queen's City in meaning.

  1. Iloilo At Its Best December 2, 2011 at 12:51 PM

    thnx for the comment, but please read further, reference to the evolution from Queen's City to Queen City.

    My appreciation on your comment.

    Godbless!

  1. John Vizcarrondo December 10, 2011 at 2:32 AM

    Hi,

    Thank you for your nice article on iloilo at its best blog spot. I like for your good writing.

    Thanks

  1. Iloilo At Its Best December 13, 2011 at 11:03 PM

    Hi John.... u are most welcome.. your comment is well appreciated!

  1. MJ Castillo March 21, 2012 at 4:27 PM
    This comment has been removed by the author.
  1. Anonymous March 21, 2012 at 4:29 PM

    Why Cebu gets the title ‘Queen City of the South’


    http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/columnist1/12433-why-cebu-gets-the-title-queen-city-of-the-south

  1. Anonymous March 27, 2012 at 4:36 AM

    ang sa cebu claims lang lahat. sa iloilo may history talaga pagka queen

  1. Anonymous April 10, 2012 at 1:07 AM

    kung title yan, eh di dapat inialagaan ninyu. ang basis ninyu ay history. eh binigay lang yan sa inyu ng queen na tagal nang patay. dayuhan pa. nagustohan kayo ng queen kasi pinagtanggol ninyu ang mga espanyol sa rebelyon ng pilipino. modern times na tayo. mas deserving ang title na yan sa city na pinakamaunlad talaga sa south

  1. Anonymous May 1, 2012 at 2:02 PM

    Just wait and see...Iloilo will reclaim the title as "Queen City of the South"...

  1. Anonymous June 5, 2012 at 6:26 PM

    Ang Davao yung queen city of the south dapat. Kasi sila ang sa "south" in terms of geographic location.

    Tayong sa Visayas, na sa center tayo, eh hinde tayo "south".

  1. Anonymous July 9, 2012 at 12:14 AM

    Cebu being what it is today, is a triumph in local governance that led to a progressive and vibrant community. It could safely assume the de facto moniker as the “Queen City of the South.”

    Without fear of contradiction and without malice, we doubt if Iloilo could retake this lost honor.

    The public is already accustomed to the notion that Cebu rightfully deserves the prestigious title better than Iloilo.

  1. Anonymous July 16, 2012 at 5:03 PM

    Iloilo can never reclaim the title "Queen City of the South" as Cebu is already miles and miles away in terms of economic development. At the rate going, even Davao and Cagayan de Oro is already ahead of Iloilo. It would take another 40-50 years before Iloilo can equal or surpass Cebu stature as the second most important metropolitan center in the Philippines. That, if iloilo will grow 2x faster than cebu in the next 20 years . But looking at the economic data, it remains an impossible dream.

  1. Anonymous July 17, 2012 at 4:08 PM

    When you say legitimate, there should also be a legitimate acceptance among people in the Philippines. Iloilo was a queen city in the past. During 1980's up to present Cebu already got the title since it's already a by word and most people accept it proclaiming the title. Significantly, there is already no comparison between the two cities because Cebu is acknowledge internationally as the philippine's best seller. Marami pang kakaining bigas ang Iloilo no?

  1. Anonymous September 22, 2012 at 7:13 AM

    If anyone here is trying to say that Cebu is the rightful Queen City, it's too unfair for Iloilo City. Cebu capitalizes on this title as it could also propel their city economically vis-a-vis Iloilo and it did happen.
    Could Cebu not find its own rightful title? Ni-wrestled lang ng mga Osmena ang titulo na 'yan as early as 1972 or even in previous years pa.
    Go Cebu find your own title!!!

  1. Anonymous September 22, 2012 at 8:31 AM

    THE VITAL QUERrY: Where did Cebu got the title Queen City? Hindi ba kinuha nila ang titulo na yan sa Iloilo?
    Is it the SOP for the Philippine Govt. to offer the Queen City title for the leading city in the Visayas and Mindanao? I guess wala niyan!
    LET'S PUT IT THIS WAY: Kumuha ka man ngayon ng DTI name of business hindi ka makagamit ng Queen City title dahil it belongs rightfully, historically and legally to Iloilo City and not Cebu.
    Pakialam ng Iloilo if Cebu now is leading Iloilo by a mile IN TERMS OF DEVELOPMENT. HINDI HIHINTO ANG CEBU, PUWES! IPAGPAPATULOY MAN NG ILOILO ANG PAGGAMIT NG SARILI NIYANG TITULO!

  1. Anonymous November 5, 2012 at 3:33 PM

    Nasa kanino ang title? di ba nasa Cebu. The whole Philippines acknowledge Cebu as the Queen City of the South. Even my dear Ilonggos accepted this with grace and humility. Pwede ba? huwag ka nang mag illusion sa title na ito. Rest in Peace.

  1. Anonymous November 5, 2012 at 3:38 PM

    Tumigil na kayo!!!!!!!!!!

    CEBU is....... The Queen City of the South

    IlOILO is .... The City of Love

    PEACE!!!!!!

  1. Anonymous November 9, 2012 at 1:06 AM

    wake up iloilo...
    stop coveting a long forgotten history and instead focus on your local economy and stop comparing your city to others.

    Im sure that cebu is not thinking about surpassing iloilo and leading the whole southern philippines in terms of economic development. Having to deal with cebuano businessmen, they aim for success and development of their own business. They hate being dependent to manila and dont even care what happens economically in other cities.
    They have a local economy that is not dependent to manila, if ever philippines will disintegrate, the first province im sure will adapt to change economically will be the cebuanos.

    Cebu didnt became the queen of the south and an economic powerhouse without the cebuanos itself, their unity walang pakialam sa atin na mga tagalog.
    kakagalin ko lang sa iloilo, pero ang napapansin ko ay, optimistic at idealistic ang mga ilonggo, which is good... but sadly hanggang sa salita lang sila.

    Just try to research about the history of cebu and compare it with singapore... they both are sooo alike. infertile land, they import food, trade based economy, and depends a lot to their seaports.
    only that singapore is 5x smaller and got independent from malaysia, and cebu got stuck with us, pinoy. (but i even heard rumors while in cebu that cebuanos are ashamed of being part of the philippines and dont even include in their advertising that cebu is located in the philippines).

    maybe its time ang iloilo naman ang gumaya sa cebu? XD
    peace. city of love. former queen city of the south.

  1. Anonymous April 17, 2013 at 2:58 PM

    As of today April 17, 2013 Iloilo has only 1 highrise bldg. to speak of that is 21 story INJAP bldg. While Cebu has already more than 60 highrise buildings (14 stories up)erected all over Metro Cebu. More high rise buildings and shopping malls are under constructions far bigger than Iloilo can produce and imagine. Mayor Mabilog's dream is for Iloilo to become the Queen City of the South by 2016. So 3 years from now? wa ka malipong mayor. You must have a substantial basis of your dream so that it will not become an illusion.

  1. Anonymous May 10, 2013 at 1:01 PM

    AT PRESENT, METRO ILOILO HAS MORE THAN 200 BANKS WHILE METRO CEBU HAS MORE THAN 400. ILOILO'S BANK DEPOSIT IS 52 BILLION WHILE CEBU HAS 170 BILLION. REFER TO NCSB (NATIONAL CENSUS STATISTICS BOARD)DATA from 2009-2011 CEBU'S ECONOMIC GROWTH IS TWICE FASTER THAN ILOILO. ILOILO CAN ONLY REGAIN THE TITLE IF CEBU WILL STOP GROWING

  1. Anonymous June 23, 2013 at 1:37 PM

    What does it take to become QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH? Only PROGRESS? Too premature to say ha ha ha. How about HISTORICAL & LEGAL BASIS? How about POVERTY INCIDENCE RATE? How about City's LGU PERFORMANCE? How about Human Development Index? How about HOUSEHOLD INCOME? How about Healthcare providers? How about No. of UNIVERSITIES with respect to the population & land area of a City? How about REVENUE COLLECTION w/ regards to population & land area? How about source of NATIONAL SYMBOL w/c is the PHIL. FLAG? How about EMPLOYMENT RATE? How about REAL PROPERTY with respect to the land area? How about total no. of banks & deposit w/ respect to population & land area? No offense to CEBU but I must say that CEBU has no specific date of assuming the TITLE "QUEEN"; it's only by word of mouth and popular perception that CEBU is the QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH nothing more. ILOILO still has the solid basis of its claim the "QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH". If you want to argue let's put it this way PROGRESS VS POVERTY INCIDENCE RATE...........etc? Which is which? It's up for you to judge.

  1. Anonymous June 23, 2013 at 1:52 PM

    ILOILO is the GENUINE QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH. Why? The answers are all in this article:
    "Queen City of the South - Research Center for Iloilo"

    Pls try to google & read the article so that you will be enlightened

  1. Anonymous June 24, 2013 at 10:37 PM

    di naman masyado ginagamit ang title sa cebu ang media mismo ang nagsimulang nagsabi na cebu ang queen city , what cebuanos really used when cebu became progressive was CEBOOM, and now cebu is morelikely having another one, MEGA CEBU... and more

    why compare both cities? when talagang iba naman talaga ang mga identities nila.

  1. Anonymous June 27, 2013 at 8:46 AM

    Please no comparison. Iloilo is a medium city while Cebu is a metropolitan city. Its income, hotel rooms, tourist arrivals, investments in bpo's, shopping malls, high rise buildings etc. cannot be compared to cebu. Cebu as the center and heart of the philippines captures people from samar, leyte, masbate, bohol, negros oriental and occidental, mindanao (cagayan, iligan,ozamis, surigao,butuan, dipolog,even davao)go to cebu to study, shop and do business. Cebu will keep its title even beyond 2020 because of its strategic location.

  1. Unknown September 15, 2013 at 10:08 AM

    kung basihan natin ang present whole aspects sa systema ng gobyerno natin, cebu is always be the second capital city in the phils., while manila always be the capital city bakit na maintain ng mga tagalog ang pagiging pagka capital city nila? hanggang ngayun dahil ba ay may attitude at characteristics cla na ma maintain nila whatever it takes either mapa modern man o kahit noun pa? pero bakit hindi ito na maintain ng mga ilonggo? ang kanilang pagka 2nd capital city like what manila? there something wrong with the ilonggo way of thinking, there something wrong with their culture... ito lang madaling masagot natin dahil they rely/dependent most of their business stature on sugar aspect... meaning to say hanggang doon lang ang nakikita nilang pinakamagandang paraan na maging ganyan ganoon ang kanilang syudad,hindi nila na overcome na if isa lang ang strongest point ng economy mo hindi sya long term aspect na magiging ganyan ang syudad mo..., hindi nila naisip ng mga ilonggo leaders and business sector that time na pang short term lang yung basehan ng pag lago ng economy nila..., Gaya ng CEBU iba ang kanilang line of thinking ngayun dahil ang kanilang mga leaders at business sector ay hindi nag rely more on a one aspect,they rely on a different aspect of business like TOURISM, BPO/KPO, Light manufacturing Mactan export processing zone 1&2 ; shipbuilding, strong business minded people cguro dahil no choice hindi kasi fertile ang lupa ng cebu meaning not favorable to be like agricultural or lesser hacienderos thats why they resort to be the businessmanship way of surviving life.cguro hindi ganyan ka rami ang nakaka access sa magandang klaseng bigas majority of the cebuano specially those in the province or mountanous area of cebu, but dont forget corn ang primary food ng mga cebuano... remember also the factor effect of a corn it can produce great fighter like boxing.mostly cebuano speaking in history of boxing.basta alots of factor why CEBU gain untill now, not to include the dancing inmates... ang ilonggo anong contribution nila para ma market tayo sa buong mundo? ang cebu meron marami, alam natin yan? ang basehan natin yung modern tmes natin ngayun,kase mostly sa ilonggo they always base their self from their gloriuos history at accomplishments nila.

  1. Anonymous December 4, 2013 at 3:48 PM

    Iloilo will always be insecure to Cebu 's stature as the premier city outside Manila. Having the title Queen City of the South is an understatement about Cebu. Cebu clobbers Iloilo in most aspects like economic growth, strategic location/accessibility, quality of manpower/availability of top schools, cost of doing business/cost of electricity and size of market/population. It should beat Davao first it catch up with Cebu. Cagayan de Oro City is outperforming Iloilo also. Iloilo is hyped and overrated.

  1. Anonymous December 5, 2013 at 11:16 AM

    Simple...

    Queen City
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Queen City is a term which is often used to describe a city which is the largest city in a country, state, province, or territory, but which is not the capital. For example the city of Burlington, Vermont, is larger than the state's Capital (Montpelier). Some cities which fit this description are rarely referred to as "queen cities," while for others it has become commonplace to speak of them by this nickname.

    Conclusion: Clearly, history has nothing to do with it.

  1. Anonymous March 17, 2014 at 2:38 PM

    Hahaha. Manila, Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro... These are four big and very progressive cities in the country. Iloilo is overhyped.

  1. Unknown May 23, 2014 at 4:44 PM

    I'm from Manila, I've been in Iloilo just once, but if you see Iloilo now, plus the billions of investments that are coming in the city, there's a hint of bright possibility that Iloilo can regain the title. Let's make this competition a healthy one...both cities deserve the glory --- *exciting*

  1. Anonymous June 2, 2014 at 12:07 PM

    I've been to cebu; worked there for quite some time. I think the majority of Cebuanos are completely unaware that someone's heart is aching every time the media label their city as the 'queen city of the south'. cebu don't really care what label is there (in case of cebu there's plenty.. like Ceboom, island in the pacific, & now 'mega cebu'.).. talk to any cebuano either a businessman, a student, or etc their only interest is to make their city progressive and livable. They don't compare metro cebu w/ other cities in the philippines, although with all the construction & economic boom happening there right now it's common to hear someone saying that metro cebu is becoming more like 'metro manila'... there's just so many big shopping malls, high rise buildings sprouting, & too much non resident visitors, workers and tourists, which might economically sound good but denotes something negative in a structural sense such as traffic and etc.

  1. Anonymous February 16, 2016 at 3:57 AM

    Well sorry to say peeps, As of Feb, 2016 Iloilo bested out other cities as the most livable and safest city in the nation. So, to someone out there who said that it will take 20 years for Iloilo to boost its economy and be acknowledge of its capabilities they just prove you wrong. it only took like what? 3 years to accomplish such title. They even let the City host the APEC Summit. They have attracted lots of investors already, so many projects coming up and building construction and the land still got a lot to offer. So in a span of 3 years, I wonder what will happen then? An American Journalist on his blog acknowledge Iloilo as the Queen City btw. Peace to all!!!!. You guys are amazing

  1. Anonymous March 27, 2016 at 4:19 PM

    Im sorry guys Ive been recently to both cities for a UN study but hard to say that Iloilo will be able to catch up with Cebu. Just move one and quit dwelling on past glories. Iloilo still have a lot of catching up to do even compared with Davao.
    And by the way, online blogs and voting are misleading. Actual ground data is the most reliable.

  1. Anonymous May 14, 2017 at 9:28 AM

    ILOILO IS CAN ONLY CLAIM BY MOUTH. THATS WHY ILONGGOS ARE KNOWN TO BE A BAG OF HOT AIR.

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