Beat the drums and make way for the 2010 Dinagyang Festival celebration!

The Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation Inc. (IDFI), tasked by city mayor Jerry P. Treñas to prepare the most acclaimed local festival of festivals in Western Visayas, will once again lay the ground works for the festival celebrated last weekend of January every year in honor of the city’s patron saint Senior Sto Niño.

Iloilo Dinagyang Festival

Dinagyang Tribes committee chair Dr. Jaime Manila said there will be a total of 16 Dinagyang tribes to vie for honors. Dr. Eden Deriada, chair of the Kasadyahan Tribes committee disclosed that there will be 9 groups to vie in the mardi gras contest.

IDFI chairman Lee Chuan admitted that although next year’s celebration will have a moderate budget but this will not sacrifice the quality of performance to showcase the best practices of Ilonggo culture and tradition. Read more »

ILOILO CITY – Two major development infrastructure projects for Iloilo City and Guimaras are upcoming after feasibility studies conducted by consultants of the ADB/GTZ/SIDA – assisted Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) were presented this week to city mayor Jerry P. Treñas and other city officials with the studies covering the proposed Guimaras-Iloilo Ferry Terminal System (GIFTS) and the downtown Central Business District (CBD) revitalization projects.

The city chief executive, also chairman of the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) said an additional grant of US$80,000 for the studies was granted by CDIA and Asian Development Bank to further upgrade the studies. Read more »

ILOILO CITY – The Department of Trade & Industry-Iloilo Office, in cooperation with the Iloilo Provincial Government and the Ilonggo Producers Association will hold a One Town One Product (OTOP) Showcase at SM City on 13-19 April 2009. This trade fair is in line with the celebration of Semana sang Iloilo.

A total of 15 Ilonggo exhibitors will participate in the trade fair that showcase specific delicacies and other products locally made but have already captured national acceptance.

Wilhelm Malones, DTI provincial director said that the OTOP Showcase aims to market and promote the local products of different municipalities and cities in Iloilo by accessing wider market area and establishing linkages with potential buyers. For local government units who have joined for the first time, this will be a good opportunity for them to introduce their OTOPs to the market. Read more »

Iloilo (1 March) — The Department of Tourism (DOT) has accepted for validation four eco-tourism project proposals in Iloilo and Guimaras under its Grants for Entrepreneurial and Eco-Tourism (GREET) Program for 2009.

Tourism Regional Director Edwin Trompeta said the proposals from Iloilo include that of Expansion and Development of Adventure Tour Services and Packages for Iloilo/Guimaras and the Bulabog Puti-an National Park Tour and Cave Guiding, Catering, Accommodation and Transport Services, in Dingle, Iloilo.

The former, which is proposed by the Panay Adventure Tours and Transport Service, is envisioned to promote local destinations around Iloilo and Guimaras for eco-tourism, through adventure tour packages, like trekking, mountain biking, caving, diving, kayaking, and horseback riding, including interfacing with tribal groups. Read more »

Public Safety and Security

• Information Dissemination

A.I Fire Prevention Month Celebration
A.2 National Disaster Consciousness Month Celebration
A.3 Crime Prevention Week Celebration (preparation of flyers, posters, etc.)

• Improve Technical Capabilities

B. Services improvement
B.1 Radio communications training attended by committee member agency
B.2 Conduct seminar on Writ of Amparo

• Improve community participation

C.1 Best practices/models in Public Safety and Security (Search for the Best of the year

• Improve Coordination and Networking

D. Coordination and Administration
D.1 Quarterly meetings

Environmental Management Committee

• Creation of LGU’s Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO)

Meetings
Trainings/capacity-building for MENRO-designates
Establishment of MENRO as permanent positions Read more »

The City Tourism Office is closely coordinating with the Department of Tourism (DoT) in coming up with tourism calendar of events for Iloilo City for the whole year round aside from its present two festival events.

City Tourism Officer Benito Jimena said they want to come up with tourism calendar of events in promoting Iloilo City. The Dinagyang Festival and Paraw Regatta are only seasonal attractions.

The century old houses and churches in the city are among the tourist attractions currently available to the visiting tourists. However, such attraction could not be called as “distinctively” Ilonggo. Century old and historic churches and houses can also be found in other places in the country, said Jimena. Read more »

Urban Partnerships Program-Philippines (UPP-Philippines) Leadership Series.

Download UPPP’s Leadership Series, a learning tool for policy makers to promote understanding of pressing urban issues and encourage policy actions for urban sustainability.

Leadership Series No. 10: Bioregional planning
Leadership Series No. 9: Furnishing the Streets
Leadership Series No. 8: When Public Becomes Private
Leadership Series No. 7: Spokes in the City
Leadership Series No. 6: Urban Waterfronts: The Wave of the Future
Leadership Series No. 5: Breaking Free From the Concrete Prison
Leadership Series No. 4: Walking into a Greener Future
Leadership Series No. 3: The Gospel of Bioregionalism
Leadership Series No. 2: The Evolution of the Jeepney and Transit in Metro Iloilo
Leadership Series No. 1: The New Public Realm and the Sustainable City

Read more »

Presentation by Dr. Gary Davidson and Beate Bowron (Canadian Urban Institute) consultants.

CUI Urban and Regional Planning Program
Iloilo, September 7 – 16, 2008

Beate Bowron, FCIP, RPP, former Director of
Community Planning, City of Toronto

Dr. Gary Davidson, FCIP, RPP, former Director of
Planning and Development, County of Huron

Click link below to download
MIGEDC Focus For Action: Presentation by Gary and Beate (PDF)

Traffic is expected in the city’s main streets this afternoon, particularly near the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand, as a parade of festivals will be held in connection with the 2008 Association of the Tourism Officers of the Philippine (ATOP) national convention being hosted by the city.

The participating festivals are: Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City, Kahilwayan Festival of the town of Sta. Barbara; Tinuom Festival (Cabatuan); Bana-ag Festival (Anilao); Tigkaralag Festival (Pavia); Kasag Festival (Banate); Saad Festival (Leganes); Pantat Festival (Zarraga) and Samba Regatta, also of Iloilo City. Read more »

THE evaluation of entries in this year’s “Pretty Plaza, Banwa Gwapa” project of the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) has began.

The project, which was started last year, aims to recognize the cleanest and most beautiful plaza among seven local government units comprising the MIGEDC. Read more »