Iloilo: Santa Barbara Church and Iloilo Golf and Country Club

Santa Barbara, Iloilo has a special place in our country's history. I was honored to celebrate our 115th Independence Day with the citizens of Santa Barbara. One of the town's heritage sites is the Santa Barbara Church, a National Historical Landmark. It was here that the Revolutionary Government of the Visayas led by Gen. Martin T. Delgado convened the junta that raised the first cry outside Luzon.

Another heritage site is the Iloilo Golf and Country Club, the first golf course in the Philippines, which was established by Scottish engineers in 1907. Unfortunately, the original club house was burned down by the Japanese during the Second World War. Except for the historical marker, there's no other structure that highlights that it is the country's oldest golf course. Maybe they could reconstruct the old club house to house the golf course's museum, an added attraction for Santa Barbara. There are many qualified restoration architects who can do that.

With Sta. Barbara Mayor Dennis Superficial, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor & Cabatuan Mayor Ramon Yee during the 115th Independence Day ceremonies

Iloilo & Capiz: Seafood binge in Capiz

I flew to Iloilo today to attend tomorrow's launching of the Ateneo Alumni Association - Iloilo Chapter. Our flight arrived at the new Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo at 6 a.m. We decided to proceed first to our hotel in Iloilo City to drop off our stuff.

Since Sta. Barbara and Pavia were along the way, we decided to pass by to check out their churches. We had to pay PHP200 for a taxi since the new airport is several towns away from Iloilo City.

Before proceeding to the bus station for Roxas City, we had batchoy for breakfast at Ted's. The bus to Roxas was about two hours and costs PHP113. We arrived at 11:30 a.m. and went straight to the Baybayon Seafood Plaza in Baybay Beach to savor the seafood. Capiz claims to be the Seafood Capital of the Philippines.

The food was great and really cheap! We were shocked our bill was just PHP334. The small batya of talaba (oysters) was just PHP25; scallops were PHP5 a piece; the big pusit was just PHP40 a stick; cagaycay (shells) for the soup was PHP35; the slice of blue marlin was PHP80 and the kilawin was just PHP25 a serving. The non-seafoods include pork barbeque at PHP10 a stick and tayuba (liempo) at PHP35.

From Baybay, we took photos at the center of Roxas City, where you can find the Capiz Provincial Capitol, the Cathedral and Panublion Museum, a water tank which was converted into a museum. We then took a jeep to the town of Pan-ay to check out the church and the largest bell in Asia (the third largest in the world). The Pan-ay Church is a National Cultural Treasure and National Historical Landmark.

We then went back to Roxas City, and took a bus back to Iloilo City. Traffic was bad when we got back so we didn't have much time to rest before dinner with the Ateneo alumni. My SSEAYP batchmate, Winwin Sanchez, dropped by the hotel to say hi. Then the group of Tito Chito Tinsay, Danya Jacomille and Pam Go arrived to pick us up for our dinner at the Mango Tree Restaurant, owned by Ateneans as well.

The ambiance of the restaurant was great. They have a large garden at the back which one could use for functions. Don't forget to try out their sizzling bulalo steak and their frozen mango iced tea which I liked very much.

If you thought the night was over, it wasn't! The group proceeded to Smallville to hang out. Smallville rocks! This is the new hip nightlife area of Iloilo City. We didn't stay up too late since the launch was the next day. More photos in Multiply.