La Paz () is one of the seven districts of

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 ...

in the

Philippine province In the Philippines, provinces ( fil, lalawigan) are one of its primary political and administrative divisions. There are 82 provinces at present, which are further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The local government unit ...

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

, on the island of

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City o ...

, in the region of

Western Visayas Western Visayas ( hil, Kabisay-an Nakatundan; tl, Kanlurang Kabisayaan or ''Kanlurang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. It consists of six provinces (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimara ...

. It is the third-largest district by land area, after Jaro and

Mandurriao Mandurriao () is one of the seven districts of Iloilo City, in the province of Iloilo, on the island of Panay, in the Western Visayas region, in the Philippines. It is the second-largest district by land area as well as the third-most populous di ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 54,720 people. It was formerly known as ''Ilawod'' or "sea/wet land" together with Jaro which was referred to as ''Ilaya'' or "mountain/dry land". It is known as the origin place of the popular Filipino noodle soup dish,

La Paz Batchoy Batchoy, less commonly spelled batsoy, is a noodle soup made with pork offal, crushed pork cracklings, chicken stock, beef loin and round noodles. Its origins can be traced to the district of La Paz, Iloilo City in the Philippines, hence it is o ...

The La Paz District Plaza, also known simply as the La Paz Park in Iloilo, is the largest of the city's six district plazas. It features a large football field where games are held on occasion. In front of the plaza is a red-brick church, La Paz Church.

History

La Paz was established in 1584 as one of the ''barrios'' of the town of Jaro, named ''Bagong Banera''. It was only in 1856 that it was separated from Jaro and established as a ''

pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

'' (town) named ''Lobo''. It was later renamed to La Paz, which translates from Spanish as "peace", is derived from its

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

, ''Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje'' in Spanish; in English, Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. On July 16, 1937, La Paz was incorporated as a district of Iloilo City, along with the towns of Arevalo,

, and Molo. In 2008, La Paz's sub-district of Lapuz was separated after the city council approved a resolution for its independence in order to have a separate police and fire stations.

Culture

La Paz Batchoy

The La Paz Public Market in the district is often referred to as the specific birthplace of the Ilonggo noodle soup dish,

. It is a noodle soup made with pork offal, crushed pork cracklings, chicken stock, beef loin and round noodles.

La Paz Fiesta

In honor of the district patron saint of La Paz, ''Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje'' (

Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage ( es, Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje; fil, Mahal na Birhen ng Kapayapaan at Mabuting Paglalakbay), also known as Our Lady of Antipolo and the Virgin of Antipolo ( fil, Birhen ng Antipolo), is a 17th-centur ...

), La Paz Fiesta, or the Feast of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, is held annually in the district on May 24.

Barangays

La Paz district has 25

barangays A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

Education

La Paz is home to two of the eight universities in Iloilo City, namely,

West Visayas State University West Visayas State University (WVSU, referred to colloquially by locals as West; fil, Pamantasang Pampamahalaan ng Kanlurang Bisayas) is a public normal research university located in La Paz, Iloilo City, Western Visayas region of the Philipp ...

and Iloilo Science and Technology University. Other notable schools in the district are Western Institute of Technology,

St. Therese – MTC Colleges ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

Hua Siong College of Iloilo Hua Siong College of Iloilo or HSCI (), commonly referred to as Hua Siong, is a private college located Iloilo City, Philippines. Founded by the Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Iloilo as a preparatory school in 1912, it is the first ...

, and

Iloilo National High School The Iloilo National High School (INHS), formerly the Iloilo High School is a Provincial Junior and Senior High School located in Iloilo City, Philippines. It was founded in 1902 under the American colonial government forming as an adjunction of ...

Transportation

La Paz, like other districts of Iloilo City, is served mostly by passenger

jeepneys Jeepneys (), sometimes called jeeps (), are minibus-like public utility vehicles, serving as the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They are known for their crowded seating and kitsch decorations, which have become ...

, white metered taxis, and tricycles within the district. It is also the location of the headquarters of

Panay Railways Panay Railways Inc. is a government-owned and controlled corporation of the Philippines headquartered in La Paz, Iloilo City on the island of Panay. It is a subsidiary of Phividec Railways Inc. of the Philippine Veterans Investment Developmen ...

, which operated a railroad from Iloilo City to

Roxas City Roxas City, officially the City of Roxas (Capiznon language, Capiznon/ hil, Dakbanwa sang Roxas; fil, Lungsod ng Roxas), is a 3rd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippi ...

from 1907 to the 1980s.

References

External links

Iloilo City Government Official Website
{{Iloilo City Districts of Iloilo City Former municipalities of the Philippines __FORCETOC__