ILOILO CITY — Three landmarks in Iloilo have been recognized for its exceptional and outstanding historical, cultural and artistic significance to the Philippines.
These are the Taytay Boni bridge in Miag-ao town, Iloilo province as well as the old Iloilo Provincial Capitol and the Arroyo Fountain in Iloilo City.
The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) considered the remains of the 1854 Taytay Boni bridge “as an intrinsic part of the declaration of National Cultural Treasure pertaining to the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Parish Church”.
The church has been declared as a national shrine in 1973 and a cultural treasure in December 2014 while it is one of the four Spanish-period Baroque churches in country that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Taytay Boni is made of stone slabs and was named after construction foreman Bonifacio Nuelar.
NMP Director Jeremy Barns also informed Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. that the old Iloilo Provincial Capitol and the Arroyo Fountain has been declared as an Important Cultural Property (ICP).
While the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is the lead agency for ICP declaration, Barns said the declaration of two landmarks in Iloilo City was made under Museum Declaration No. 2020-36 after a nomination was made by “a panel of experts”.
Also known as Casa Real de Iloilo, the old Iloilo Provincial Capitol was first completed in 1873 and renovated in 1910. After a November 1998 fire, the new Capitol was built and the majority of the offices of provincial government located in the new building.
Aside from the ICP declaration, the National Historical Institute (NHI) also declared the old Provincial Capitol as a historical landmark in 2010.
Right across the old Provincial Capitol is the Arroyo Fountain or what is known as “kilometer zero” of Panay Island. Built in 1927 and named after senator Jose Maria Arroyo, who authored the law that established the then Iloilo Metropolitan Waterworks in 1925.