The Iloilo Customs House, also known as Aduana de Iloilo, is a historical building in

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of t ...

, Philippines. It was built in 1916, designed by American architect George Fenhagen, then Consulting Architect of the Bureau of Public Works in the Philippine Islands, and is the second largest of the three customs houses in the Philippines, the others being in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

( Aduana de Manila'')'' and

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

(now known as

Malacañang sa Sugbo Malacañang sa Sugbo ( eng, Malacañang of Cebu; fil, Malakanyang sa Cebu) was the official residence of the President of the Philippines in the Visayas. It is located in Cebu City near the Port Area and Fort San Pedro, and within walking distanc ...

), and the second oldest (after Cebu's). The building is located at Muelle Loney Street and Aduana Street along the Iloilo River and still houses the offices of the

Bureau of Customs The Bureau of Customs (abbreviated BoC or BOC; fil, Kawanihan ng Adwana) is a Philippine government agency under the Department of Finance. The Bureau of Customs was established on February 6, 1902 by the Insular Government of the Philippin ...

and the

Bureau of Immigration Bureau of Immigration may refer to: *Bureau of Immigration (India) *Bureau of Immigration (Philippines) * Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (Liberia) *Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforc ...

in Iloilo City.

History

The Iloilo Customs House was built in 1916, during the American colonial period in the Philippines. It was then referred to as the ''Iloilo Customhouse'', completed with an original appropriation of ₱200,000, plus an additional appropriation of ₱33,000 in 1917. It is the second

custom house A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting c ...

built by the Americans after the Cebu Customs House (now known as

) of 1910. Planning for the new

of the port of Iloilo started in 1913, with Consulting Architect William E. Parsons initially overseeing the project. The new building was to rise west from the old Spanish-era custom house near the river. After the departure of Parsons in 1914, the new Consulting Architect George C. Fenhagen took over in the preparation of building plans. Vol. 4 No. 2 of the Bureau of Public Works Bulletin (July 1915) described the circumstances leading to its construction: :''The Consulting Architect has stated that plans for the customhouse will be, he hopes, finally completed about the 1st of August. The residents of Iloilo have become rather impatient for some evidence of this structure. Assurance has been given, however, that work will be started immediately upon the receipt of the plans and it is hoped that nothing further will prevent its being started at an early date.'' In 2018, the building underwent rehabilitation by

National Historical Commission of the Philippines The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural herita ...

(NHCP). The building is currently undergoing another rehabilitation for adaptive reuse. It is planned to house a

maritime museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the militar ...

by the

in 2023, the third thematic history museum in the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...

after the NHCP Museum of Philippine Political History and Presidential Gallery in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

and the NHCP Museum of Philippine Economic History, also in Iloilo City.

Architecture

The architectural style of the Iloilo Customs House is neoclassical, with a dominant central tower. The Manila Customs House, designed by

Juan Arellano Juan Marcos Arellano y de Guzmán (April 25, 1888 – December 5, 1960), or Juan M. Arellano, was a Filipino architect, best known for Manila's Metropolitan Theater (1935), Legislative Building (1926; now houses the National Museum of F ...

and constructed towards the end of the American colonial period, is a more ornate version. Filipino architect

Tomas Mapua Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian surna ...

is often erroneously credited for its design, although he only entered service in the Bureau of Public Works in 1917, when the building was already substantially completed, and as an assisting architect (together with

) to the new Consulting Architect, Ralph Harrington Doane.

References

External links

{{Iloilo City Buildings and structures in Iloilo City Tourist attractions in Iloilo City Government buildings in the Philippines

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links