Iloilo CityArticle Free Pass Iloilo City, chartered city, on the
southeastern coast of Panay, Philippines. At the mouth of the
Jaro River on the Iloilo Strait and sheltered by the offshore
Guimaras Island, it is the commercial centre of Panay and a
regional centre for sugar exports. Pre-Spanish settlement was
extensive, but the seaport remained small until 1855, when it
was opened to foreign trade. The huge sugar exports of the
nearby island of Negros were an additional spur to its growth,
and for a time Iloilo City rivaled Cebu City as the main port of
the Visayas island group. Although freight traffic dropped with
the construction of artificial ports on Negros, passenger
traffic has remained high. Thousands of migrant labourers
annually journey through Iloilo City, which is linked by rail
with Roxas, on the northern coast, to Negros’s sugar
plantations. Iloilo City is also a major fishing port, and it
has a large airport. The city has a compact urban core and
several plaza and market centres. It did not inc