From Iloilo City Hall to University of the Philippines Visayas Main Building: A Cultural Heritage

The construction of the building was envisioned in 1908 when Rosauro Jocson of Arevalo was Iloilo’s Municipal President.

This was not materialized, however, not until Vice President (equivalent to the present Vice Mayor) Pablo Nava presented a plan in a regular session of the Municipal Council on December 27, 1928. On February 28, 1929, Juliana Melliza, a philanthropist and a well-to-do Molo landowner donated 10.8 hectares as the building site.

The construction began in December 1933 and completed in 1935 with Andres Bolinas, Jr. of Albay as contractor. Juan Arellano,  who had designed government buildings in Manila and Baguio, served as the consultant architect. Overall, the building was conceptualized by Arellano, who also drew the urban plan of Iloilo in 1933. Alfred Eugenio also collaborated with Arellano as local consulting architect. Municipal engineer, Salvador Delgado served as construction engineer and provided the finishing touches of the interior.

Mayor Maximino Jalandoni vacated the building when the Japanese troops occupied Iloilo on April 18, 1942.

For three years, the Japanese made the building a garrison and the surrounding area a concentration camp. They eventually abandoned the building during the Liberation of Panay on March 18, 1945.

On August 24, 1949 Mayor Vicente Ybiernas and UP President Bienvenido Gonzales signed the “Deed of Donation” which made legal and definite the use of the building and site by UP Iloilo College (UPIC). President Gonzales sent to Iloilo Dr. Tomas Fonacier to start the administrative work, recruit members of the teaching staff and organize classes. With all the requirements set by the Board of Regents having been met, the University of the Philippines Iloilo College (UPIC) was formally opened on July1, 1947. The inauguration ceremony was attended by First Lady Esperanza L. Osmeña and President Sergio Osemeña. Dr. Fonacier served as the first dean of the college with sixteen (16) faculty members. Two hundred twenty three (223) students registered under an integrated curriculum of the junior college program, the only one of its kind in the Philippines.

The Main Building presently houses a variety of offices at the university. It includes the Community Outreach Program (COP), Legal Office, Library,  Health Services Unit, Supply & Property Office and Commission on Audit (COA). Two UPV cultural institutions are also found in the building, the Center for West Visayan Studies and the Chancellor's Committee on Culture and the Arts. The Center for West Visayan Studies (CWVS) serves as research hub and repository of West Visayan culture, heritage, and history. The CCCA Art Gallery features and  exhibits the prized artworks of both national and local Filipino artists.

The former UPIC ultimately became the College of Arts and Sciences with the creation of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas in 1983. The main campus was transferred from Iloilo City to Miagao with College of Fisheries and Ocean Science as the flagship college. In 1996, reversion of the building to the city government was advanced by then Congressman and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales, Sr. The proposal was shelved by the City Council.  Nonetheless, this scenario provided impetus for the UPV administration to revisit and act to preserve the heritage building.