ILOILO: HEART of the PHILIPPINES

The biggest fire in Iloilo City’s history erupted on February 7, 1966.  I was in my third grade at San Agustin and as we were bundled out of school I could see the plumes of black smoke beyond the school’s walls.  Fire engines wailed and people rushed about.  News reports say it started somewhere along Iznart, rapidly engulfing Ledesma, Quezon, Valeria, Delgado and Mabini streets, devouring 12 blocks of the city’s stores, theaters, schools, and hundreds of houses.  Photos from that time have an apocalyptic feel. It should have been a major blow, since Iloilo city was slowly recovering from the damage of WW2, had labor troubles at the port and was mired in petty local politics. Its “Queen City of the South” title was relinquished to Cebu.  However, in the conflagration’s aftermath, the city arose, phoenix-like, from the ashes.   Shanties and hovels that used to be in Delgado were relocated; small businesses arose, movie houses rebuilt—some ...