La Paz () (colloquial spelling: Lapaz) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of th ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

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

Mandurriao Mandurriao () is a Districts of Iloilo City, district in Iloilo City, Philippines. It is the second-largest district by geographical area as well as the third-most populous district, with 62,240 people in the 2020 census. Mandurriao is one of t ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 54,720 people. La Paz is known for being the birthplace of the popular Filipino noodle soup dish, La Paz Batchoy. La Paz Public Market, considered the exact birthplace of La Paz Batchoy. The district is also popular for its district plaza, the La Paz Plaza, which is the largest among the six district plazas in Iloilo City. In the past, La Paz was known as ''Ilawod'', which means "sea/wet land," along with Jaro, which was referred to as ''Ilaya'', meaning "mountain/dry land."

History

La Paz traces back to its origins as one of the ''barrios'' of Jaro. Initially established in 1584, it was named ''Bagong Banera'' at the time. However, it wasn't until 1856 that it gained independence from Jaro and became a separate ''

pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

'' (town) known as ''Lobo''. Later on, it was renamed La Paz, meaning "peace" in Spanish, which was derived from its

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

, ''Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje'' ( Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage). On July 16, 1937, La Paz was incorporated as a district of Iloilo City, alongside the towns of Arevalo,

, and Molo. This integration marked its status as an integral part of the expanding urban center. In 2008, the sub-district of Lapuz in La Paz gained independence after a resolution was passed by the city council. This move aimed to establish separate police and fire stations for the area.

Geography

La Paz is situated in the middle-eastern part of Iloilo City, around from

Iloilo City Proper Iloilo City Proper, also known as Downtown Iloilo or simply Iloilo among locals, is an Districts of Iloilo City, administrative district in Iloilo City, Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of the island of Panay in the Western Visayas ...

. It is bordered by Jaro to the north, Mandurriao to the west, Molo to the southwest, the City Proper to the south, and Lapuz to the southeast. The district is traversed by the Tigum River and faces Buenavista on Guimaras Island across the Iloilo Strait to the east.

Barangays

The district of La Paz has a total of 25 barangays. * Aguinaldo * Baldoza * Bantud * Banuyao * Burgos-Mabini-Plaza * Caingin * Divinagracia * Gustilo * Hinactacan * Ingore * Jereos * Laguda * Lopez Jaena Norte * Lopez Jaena Sur * Luna * MacArthur * Magdalo * Magsaysay Village * Nabitasan * Railway * Rizal * San Isidro * San Nicolas * Tabuc Suba * Ticud

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

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; ) is a Public university, public Normal University, normal research university located in La Paz, Iloilo City, Western Visayas region of the Philippines. It was es ...

and Iloilo Science and Technology University. Other notable schools in the district are Western Institute of Technology, St. Therese – MTC Colleges,

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 fir ...

, and Iloilo National High School.

Transportation

La Paz, like other districts of Iloilo City, is served mostly by passenger jeepneys, white metered taxis, and tricycles within the district. It is also the location of the headquarters of Panay Railways, which operated a railroad from Iloilo City to

Roxas City Roxas (, ), officially the City of Roxas (Capiznon language, Capiznon/; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Capiz, Philippines. According to the 2 ...

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__ 1584 establishments in the Philippines Populated places established in 1584