Jaro (, ) is a district in Iloilo City, Philippines. It is the largest district in terms of both geographical area and population, with 136,274 people according to the 2024 census. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Jaro, which encompasses the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras, Antique, and Negros Occidental, as well as the center of the Candelaria devotion in the Philippines.
Jaro is renowned for the annual Fiesta Candelaria, held every February 2 in honor of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Jaro (Our Lady of the Candles), the patroness of Western Visayas, Negros Occidental, and Romblon. Her image, perched atop the façade of Jaro Cathedral, was personally crowned by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1981, making it the first Marian image in the Philippines and in Asia to receive such recognition. The district is also known as the Mestizo Town of Iloilo due to its association with prominent Spanish Filipino and affluent Ilonggo families.
As a major religious center, Jaro hosts numerous institutions such as the Seminario de San Vicente Ferrer, Jaro Cathedral (National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles), CPU-Iloilo Mission Hospital, Jaro Evangelical Church, Jaro Adventist Center, and the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches. It is home to Central Philippine University, a top-ranked university founded by Protestant Baptist Americans.
History
Spanish colonial era Originally named Salog or Saro, it was also referred to as "Ilaya" or "mountain/dry land" together with La Paz which was referred to as "Ilawod" or "sea/wet land". It had been one of the richer areas of Iloilo City even during the Spanish colonial period (1521–1898) and probably the richest town of the entire colony. Historical artifacts indicate that it had once conducted trade with China and Siam (Thailand) due to its port along the navigable river that ran through the town. It was also the center of religious and economic power in the Visayas during the Spanish rule. Although there were no pure Spaniards living in Jaro in the early Spanish period as they mostly lived in the nearby cities of: Oton, Villa de Arevalo, Iloilo City, Dumangas, and Molo, there were still 470 Spanish-Filipino mestizo families; as well as 11 pure Chinese-Filipino families and 665 Chinese-Filipino mestizo families that were scattered all across the province of Iloilo, of which Jaro belongs to it, and that large amounts of Spanish-Filipino mestizos and Chinese-Filipino mestizos had lived in Jaro.(110)
Cityhood
Jaro officially became a city in 1891. La Paz, which was a former part of Jaro, became independent. Jaro, along with the neighboring towns of La Paz, Mandurriao, and Molo, was incorporated into the then-municipality of Iloilo by virtue of Act No. 719 of 1903. By Executive Order No. 64 of December 24, 1907, the former municipalities of Jaro and Pavia (which was incorporated into Iloilo municipality by virtue of Act No. 1333 of April 19, 1905) were separated from the municipality of Iloilo and constituted as its own municipality of Jaro with effect on February 15, 1908.Executive Order No. 64 of December 24, 1907, see By Executive Order No. 1 of 1921, Pavia was separated from Jaro and made its own municipality.Executive Order No. 1 of 1921, see
American colonial era
By Executive Order No. 97 of December 6, 1915 of the American government, Leganes was removed from the municipality of Santa Barbara and made a part of Jaro with effect on January 1, 1916.Executive Order No. 97 of December 6, 1915, see Leganes was separated from the municipality of Jaro and made its own municipality with effect on January 1, 1940, by virtue of Executive Order No. 241 of December 23, 1939.
In the 1930s, the neighboring towns of La Paz and Villa de Arevalo were incorporated into Iloilo City, at a time when all economic activities shifted to the port of Iloilo; and Jaro, on the other hand, followed suit to be absorbed into Iloilo City on January 7, 1941.
The present independent Iloilo municipalities of Leganes and Pavia were also formerly under the jurisdiction of Jaro at some points in their history.
By Commonwealth Act No. 604 of August 22, 1940, the Iloilo City charter was amended and the municipality of Jaro was declared to be incorporated into Iloilo City "on the date that the President of the Philippines may set by proclamation". To that effect, President Manuel L. Quezon issued Proclamation No. 663 on January 7, 1941, giving January 16 as the date of Jaro's incorporation into Iloilo City.
Jaro's location between Dungon Creek and the Tigum River fulfills an ideal design for establishing communities during the Spanish colonial era: a site between two rivers, with a church and plaza in the center, and homes of affluent families in the vicinity. The church is the famous Parish of Our Lady of Candles, also known as the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral, the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Jaro and the site of a believed to be miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary, which is a statue that has supposedly been growing in size ever since its discovery. Legends also state that among misty days, the Virgin Mary had disappeared from its original nook near the apex of the cathedral and bathed her child in the stream that used to well-forth from Jaro Plaza or that in Moro incursions, the Virgin had assisted in frightening off the raiders. The Marian image perched atop the facade of the cathedral was canonically crowned by Pope John Paul II during his visit on February 21, 1981 (the first Marian image or statue in the Philippines crowned by a Pope and Saint).
The coming of the Americans in the early 20th century when the Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States through the 1898 Treaty of Paris brought with them the Protestant religion and Iloilo is one of the first places where they came and started a mission in the Philippines. During the American occupation, the Philippine islands were divided into different Protestant missions and Western Visayas came to the jurisdiction of the Baptists. Baptist missionaries came although other Protestant sects also came especially the Presbyterians and they established numerous institutions. The Presbyterians established the Iloilo Mission Hospital in 1901, the first Protestant and American founded hospital in the country while the Baptists established the Jaro Evangelical Church, the first Baptist church in the islands, and the Central Philippine University in 1905, which was founded by William Valentine through a grant given by the American industrialist, oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller as the first university in the City of Jaro and also the first Baptist founded and second American university in Asia.
Jaro's celebration of the feast of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Our Lady of the Candles) every February 2 is well known in the Philippines. The fiesta features pageantry with a fiesta queen from one of the prominent Spanish Filipino families of the place, and a cockfight at the Iloilo Coliseum, where cockfighting aficionados from all over the Philippines converge.
The district is notable for its large amount of nineteenth-century architecture. Straddling the main plaza is the antique Jaro Cathedral and the Palasyo, the Archbishop's residence. Early 20th-century colonial American architecture can be found also in American established institutions and structures especially on the main campus of Central Philippine University; the Jaro Evangelical Church, the first Baptist church in the Philippines; and the Jaro City Hall.
The majority of the mestizo families from Iloilo came from this town as it was a center of trade and the main port in the region during the Spanish period; many Spanish traders married natives and settled on the island.
21st century At present, Jaro holds the distinction of being the largest of all the seven districts comprising Iloilo City by land area and population. It still also known for being called as the cradle of Christian faith in Western Visayas or as seat of Catholicism and Protestantism in Western Visayas with pioneer and renowned religious institutions founded in the district.
The recent economic boom in Iloilo ushered unprecedented growth with new malls, condominiums, hospitals, banks, hotels and townships by real estate developers either to be built or already opened in the district. Newly opened malls include the CityMall – Tagbak, Jaro of DoubleDragon Properties, the Robinsons Place Jaro of Robinsons Land, Puregold – Jaro, to name a few. On the other hand, projects that are in the pipeline of some of the known Philippine real estate developers include the Sta. Lucia Land's Green Meadows East township in Tacas, Jaro and the SM Prime's 48 hectare land in Balabago, Jaro for their upcoming mall, the SM Prime Iloilo or SM City Iloilo – Jaro.
Geography
Jaro is the largest district in Iloilo City, spanning of total land area. It is about from Iloilo City Proper. Jaro borders the districts of Mandurriao to the southwest and La Paz to the southeast. It also connects with the municipalities of Pavia to the northwest and Leganes to the north. The district is crossed by the Jaro River and Dungon Creek, and it faces the Iloilo Strait and Buenavista, Guimaras to the east. Jaro is the only district in Iloilo City without access to the Iloilo River.
Barangays
The district of Jaro has the second-most barangays in the city, with a total of 42.
Arguelles Balabago Balantang Benedicto Bito-on Buhang Buntatala Calubihan Camalig Claudio Castilla El-98 Cuartero Cubay Democracia Desamparados Dungon A Dungon B Fajardo Javellana Lanit Libertad Santa Isabel Lopez Jaena Luna M.H. del Pilar M.V. Hechanova Ma. Cristina Montinola Our Lady of Fatima Our Lady of Lourdes Quintin Salas Sambag San Isidro San Jose San Pedro San Roque San Vicente Seminario Simon Ledesma Tabuc Suba Tacas Tagbac Taytay Zone II Ungka
Demographics
Population Historically, Jaro holds a high-concentration of many ancestral mansions of old Visayan families mainly of Chinese mestizo descent, and sometimes of Spanish descent. Family mansions such as those owned by the Lopez, Montinola, Sansón, Ruiz de Luzuriaga (of Negros Island), de la Rama (also of Negros Island), de Araneta, etc. families line the streets of this historic district.
The French traveler Gabriel Lafond de Lurcy wrote of the place as such in his travelogues:
At present, Jaro which holds the distinction as being the largest by land area of all the seven districts of Iloilo City, also is the most populous. The economic boom in Iloilo City from 2010 to 2020, resulted to an urban sprawl converting the once grass fields in the areas of barangays or barrios of Sambag, Tacas, Balabago and Bitoon (Coastal Road), McArthur (from Tabuc Suba to Buntatala) sprouted with subdivisions, retail centers and stores, malls, car showrooms and other establishments, which doubled the district's number of households and population.
Religion
Jaro is the cradle of Christian faith in Iloilo and Western Visayas. It is the seat of Catholicism in the region. Some notable religious institutions were built by either the Spanish and American missionaries. The Jaro Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Jaro which covers the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Guimaras and Negros Occidental.
It is one of the oldest and largest archdioceses in the country which dates back its founding in 1500s. The provinces of Negros Oriental, Palawan, Zamboanga, Romblon, Capiz and Mindoro were some of the former parts of the archdiocese but became independent and subsequently under their new respective archdioceses.