Metro Iloilo–Guimaras

The Metropolitan Iloilo Development Council (MIDC) was created through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) dated February 9, 2001, by the City of Iloilo, along with four nearby municipalities: Oton, Pavia, San Miguel, and Leganes, to foster collaborative approaches aimed primarily at the economic and urbanization growth of the area.

The Guimaras-Iloilo City Alliance (GICA) was also similarly created through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) entered into by Iloilo City and the Province of Guimaras on May 22, 2005, to effect mutually beneficial economic development with a special focus on tourism and infrastructure development.

The municipalities of Santa Barbara and Cabatuan, which both host the new Iloilo International Airport, have similarly recognized the importance of intermodal transportation links and tourism development to overall economic development and have thus joined the metropolitan alliance.

The Metro Iloilo–Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) is hereby created on August 28, 2006, through Executive Order No. 559, signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The agency formulates, coordinates, and monitors programs, projects, and activities for the acceleration of the economic growth and development of the City of Iloilo, the Municipalities of Oton, San Miguel, Pavia, Leganes, Santa Barbara, and Cabatuan, all of the Province of Iloilo, and the entire Province of Guimaras, in support of the Mega-Region Economic Development Strategy of the National Government.

 

Metro Iloilo–Guimaras stands as one of the largest and most significant economic centers in the country. It serves as a bustling hub for various industries, including trade, commerce, finance, technology, medical tourism, hospitality, real estate, tourism, education, and manufacturing.

The major industries within Metro Iloilo–Guimaras encompass a wide spectrum of sectors. These include the management of port facilities, telecommunications infrastructure, utilities, agriculture, banking and finance, retail trading, real estate, tourism, and business process outsourcing (BPO). The metropolis plays a crucial role in facilitating trade and commerce, attracting investments, and driving economic progress.^[2]

Iloilo City, the municipalities of Pavia, Oton, and Santa Barbara serve as significant commercial and business centers within the metropolitan area.

Pavia, known as the agro-industrial center of the region, boasts a robust manufacturing sector. With 39 manufacturing establishments, it produces a wide array of products for both domestic and export markets. Notable products include farm implements, milled rice, poultry and livestock feeds, noodles, soft drinks, dressed chicken, cooking oil, furniture, concrete products, polyurethane foam, and industrial and medical gases. The presence of prestigious manufacturing establishments such as Coca-Cola Bottlers, Phils., Vitarich Corporation, Pryce Gases, Inc., Mandaue Foam Industries, Panay Tropical Grains Milling Corp., and Jaspe Light Steel Indus contributes to Pavia's economic significance.^[3]

Guimaras, a province within the metropolitan area, thrives on its agricultural sector, with major products including mangoes, palay, coconuts, livestock, poultry, and fishing. The province also engages in industries such as tourism, fruit processing, coconut processing, fish farming, handicrafts, mining, quarrying, and lime production.

Being the major economic and financial center of Western Visayas, Metro Iloilo–Guimaras has attracted numerous banking institutions. The metropolitan area boasts a growing number of banks, leading to it having the third-largest bank savings deposits and accounts in the Philippines.^[4]

 

The Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Avenue (Diversion Road), Mc Arthur Drive, Cong. Narciso Monfort Boulevard, Gen. Luna Street, CJ Ramon Avancena Street, E. Lopez Street, Pres. Corazon C. Aquino Avenue (Circumferencial Road 1 or C1), Iznart Street, and Muelle Loney Street are Metro Iloilo's major roads. Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Avenue was renovated and widened into an 8-lane main road with a protected bike lane and a 2-lane service road. It connects Iloilo City, Pavia, Santa Barbara, and the Iloilo International Airport.

There are a multiple operating vehicular overpasses or flyovers in Metro Iloilo; the Infante flyover and the Jalandoni flyover, both along General Luna Street in Iloilo City Proper; the two four-lane Ungka and Aganan flyovers, both located in Pavia; and the two two-lane Hibao-an and Buhang flyovers, crossing Mandurriao-San Miguel Road in Mandurriao district and Iloilo-Capiz Road in Jaro district, respectively, both along the Iloilo Circumferential Road.^[5]

The existing President Corazon C. Aquino Avenue, also known as Circumferencial Road 1 or C1, covers roads from Balabago, Jaro to San Jose, Arevalo, Iloilo City. There are also three new circumferential roads that are under construction within Metro Iloilo. Circumferential Road 2 (C2), from coastal Leganes to Cabugao, Pavia, and all the way to the Oton-San Jose San Miguel Road; Circumferential Road 3 (C3), from the coastal road Zarraga-Dumangas boundary to Zarraga town proper and all the way to Sta. Barbara; and Circumferential Road 4 (C4), from Barotac Nuevo to Southern Iloilo.^[6]

The construction of the Iloilo–Guimaras Bridge, a component of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge, which will connect Metro Iloilo with the island of Guimaras, is well underway.^[7]

 

Iloilo International Airport (Iloilo Airport) is the airport serving the general area of Iloilo City, the capital city of the province of Iloilo and the regional center of the Western Visayas region in the Philippines. It opened its doors to commercial traffic on June 14, 2007, after a decade of planning and construction, replacing Mandurriao Airport in Iloilo City proper which had been in service for over seventy years. As a result, the new airport inherited its IATA and ICAO airport codes, as well as its position as the fourth-busiest airport in the Philippines, from its predecessor. In addition to being the first airport in both Western Visayas and the island of Panay to be built to international standards, it is considered one of four international airports in the Visayas with international flights to Hong Kong and Singapore.

The new Iloilo International Airport is located in Cabatuan;^[8] specifically in Barangay Tabucan, Barangay Gaub, Barangay Duyan-Duyan and Barangay Manguna, all in Cabatuan. The airport can be reached either from the Cabatuan access roads (Barangay Tabucan and Barangay Tiring, Cabatuan) or from the Pavia-Santa Barbara-Cabatuan (Barangay Duyan-Duyan, Cabatuan) access road.^[8] The airport complex consists of a single runway, various administrative and maintenance buildings, waste sorting and water treatment facilities, a power generating station, a cargo terminal and a main passenger terminal. Its location on the Tomas Confesor Highway, a major highway transversing the island, makes the airport accessible from all parts of Iloilo and Panay by road, while its proximity to the currently defunct Panay Railways network could potentially link the airport to the rest of Panay by rail.

 

The Port of Iloilo is the port serving the general area of Iloilo and the rest of Panay Island and Guimaras Island. There are 5 seaports in Metro Iloilo, these are the Iloilo Ferry Port and Terminal Complex, Iloilo River Port and Terminal Complex, Iloilo Domestic Port and Terminal Complex, Dumangas Ro - Ro Port and Terminal Complex and The Iloilo Commercial Port Complex which is located on 20.8 hectares of reclaimed land. It has facilities that include 11,400 sq. meters of open space for operations, supplemented by a backup area of 97,000 sq. meters, a crane, rails of 348 lineal meters, roll-on/roll-off support, a freight station, and a 720 sq. meter passenger shed. The port complex is ideal for ships plying international routes having a berth length of 400 meters, a width of 26.26 meters and a berthing depth of 10.50 meters.

There are a number of shipping companies that use the Port of Iloilo, among them, the Aboitiz Shipping Company, Amigo Shipping Company, New Panay Shipping Company, Negros Navigation Company, Sulpicio Lines, William Lines, and Trans-Asia Shipping Lines. Fast ferries serve Iloilo-Bacolod routes eight times daily. Negros Navigation and Superferry dock to the city where it serves routes going to Manila, Bacolod, Cebu, Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro City.

The only fishing port complex in the Visayas, the Iloilo Fish Port Complex is located at the mouth of the Batiano River on a reclaimed 20.5 hectare land.^[9]

 

Iloilo City boast of 5 integrated transport terminals, these are the Northern Iloilo Integrated Jeepney and Bus Terminal in Tagbac, Jaro. The Central Line Jeepney and Bus Terminal in Ungka, Jaro. The Upland Jeepney and Bus Terminal in Mandurriao. The Souther Coast Jeepney and Bus Terminal in Mohon, Arévalo and the North Coastal Jeepney and Bus Terminal in Ingore, La Paz.

Proposed revival of the currently defunct Panay Railways, re-connect Iloilo City to Santa Barbara, which has a railway station and is home to the entrance of Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan.^[10]

The Metro Iloilo–Guimaras Economic Development Council is made up of 18 local government units (LGUs), including Iloilo City, which serves as the metropolitan's central core, and six municipalities in Iloilo Province and five municipalities in Guimaras Province.^[11]

City or Municipality Province Population (2020)[1] Area Density km² sq mi /km2 /sq mi Cabatuan Iloilo 61,110 112.90 43.59 540 1,400 † Iloilo City Iloilo (geographically only) 457,626 78.34 30.25 5,800 15,000 Leganes Iloilo 34,725 32.20 12.43 1,100 2,800 Oton Iloilo 98,509 86.44 33.37 1,100 3,000 Pavia Iloilo 70,388 27.15 10.48 2,600 6,700 San Miguel Iloilo 30,115 31.97 12.34 940 2,400 Santa Barbara Iloilo 67,630 131.96 50.95 510 1,300 Buenavista Guimaras 52,899 128.26 49.52 410 1,100 Jordan Guimaras 39,566 126.11 48.69 310 810 Nueva Valencia Guimaras 42,771 137.12 52.94 310 810 San Lorenzo Guimaras 29,444 93.04 35.92 320 820 Sibunag Guimaras 23,162 120.04 46.35 190 500 Total 1,007,945 1,105.53 426.85 910 2,400

Metro Iloilo–Guimaras is recognized as a prominent educational hub in the Philippines, with a total of nine universities. The following list represents some of the notable institutions in the metro:

Two new universities are also expected to expand in the area, the University of St. La Salle in Pavia and National University in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

 

The Metro Iloilo–Guimaras Economic Development Council, or MIGEDC, was formally established by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo through Executive Order No. 559, signed on August 28, 2006. It evolved from the Metro Iloilo Development Council (MIDC) that was earlier established by the City of Iloilo and four neighboring municipalities of Leganes, Oton, Pavia, and San Miguel on February 9, 2001, and the Guimaras–Iloilo City Alliance (GICA) that was similarly established on May 22, 2005. Through Executive Order No. 559, the municipality of Santa Barbara became an addition together with the province of Guimaras. After the opening of the new Iloilo International Airport in the municipality of Cabatuan in 2007, the town was also added to the metropolitan.

During the MIGEDC press conference in March 2022, Iloilo City Mayor and MIGEDC Chairman Jerry P. Treñas revealed that the municipalities of Dumangas and Zarraga had expressed their intention to join the MIGEDC in the near future. Velma Jane Lao, MIGEDC Executive Director, is also on the work on the expansion of the council and will be confirming if the other municipalities that have long signified to join are still interested.^[12]

As a strengthened task group, the MIGEDC formulates, implements, coordinates, and monitors programs, projects, and activities that support the Mega-Region Economic Development Strategic Framework of the National Government. It was designed to help address the area’s emerging problems brought about by rapid urbanization and the spatial development challenges of tourism and economic development. The MIGEDC is gearing up to become a Smart Metropolitan.

The MIGEDC is composed of the following:

• Mayor, Iloilo City as Chairperson
• Provincial Governor, Province of Guimaras as Co-Chairperson
• Mayor, Municipality of Pavia, Iloilo
• Mayor, Municipality of San Miguel, Iloilo
• Mayor, Municipality of Oton, Iloilo
• Mayor, Municipality of Leganes, Iloilo
• Mayor, Municipality of Sta. Barbara, Iloilo
• Mayor, Municipality of Cabatuan, Iloilo
• President, League of Municipalities, Province of Guimaras

• Metro Manila
• Metro Cebu

• Metro Iloilo–Guimaras Economic Development Council – Official website
• Metro Iloilo–Guimaras Economic Development Council on Facebook