Mandurriao () 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 ...

, in the province of

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 Western Visayas region, in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is the second-largest district by land area as well as the third-most populous district, with 62,240 people in the 2020 census. Mandurriao is the site of the developing Iloilo midtown area, where major city developments have been concentrated over the last two decades. It is projected to be the next

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

and financial hub of Iloilo City. Mandurriao is one of the major commercial areas in

, the others being Molo, Jaro, and the

City Proper A city proper is the geographical area contained within city limits. The term ''proper'' is not exclusive to cities; it can describe the geographical area within the boundaries of any given locality. The United Nations defines the term as "the sin ...

. Aside from being known for many commercials, condominiums, and

business process outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

(BPO) offices, Mandurriao is also home to many nightlife locations in the city. Smallville Business Complex, along with Riverside Boardwalk, Festive Walk Parade, and City Time Square, are one of the bustling commercial and leisure areas in the district, featuring upscale restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and hotels. Accordingly, the district is sometimes locally referred to as "The District That Never Sleeps". The first phase of the

Iloilo River Esplanade The Iloilo River Esplanade is a esplanade and linear park along the Iloilo River in Iloilo City, Iloilo. It stretches on both sides of the river, from Carpenter's Bridge in Mandurriao and Molo districts to Muelle Loney (Drilon) Bridge in the ...

is located in the district, which opened in 2012.

Etymology

The name ''Mandurriao'' was derived from the names of two crocodiles fighting named ''Mandu'' and ''Riao'' during the exploration of the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...

in Iloilo. The names of the crocodiles were originally from two now-defunct lakes also named ''Mandu'' and ''Riao'', where the two crocodiles' habitats are, respectively. It later formed in the minds of the people that the place was called ''Mandurriao''. Eventually, the letter "r" in ''Mandu-Riao'' was replaced with "rr". For the Spaniards, having an "rr" in a word brought further beauty and character.

History

Mandurriao was founded in 1726. It was its own municipality before being incorporated into

on July 16, 1937, along with the former towns of Arevalo,

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bol ...

, and Molo by virtue of Act No. 719 of 1903. Mandurriao was a residential and agricultural district before it was turned into a business district. It was once known for its

fishponds Fishponds is a large suburb in the north-east of the English city of Bristol, about from the city centre. It has two large Victorian-era parks: Eastville Park and Vassall's Park (once the Vassall Family estate, also known as Oldbury Court). ...

and salt beds, which have now been transformed into an urban development area and have become the city's new commercial district.

Mandurriao Airport period (1937–2007)

Mandurriao Airport was built in 1937 and has served as the gateway to Iloilo. The airport was also used as a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

airfield. In the 1990s, the Philippine aviation industry liberalized and air travel increased in the country, and problems at Mandurriao Airport began to emerge, prompting the city and provincial government's agreement to a proposal to build a new airport outside of the city.

Development period

In 2007, the new airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo opened, leaving the old airport in Mandurriao open for privatization of the property.

Megaworld Corporation Megaworld Corporation () is a real-estate company in the Philippines. It is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index. The company develops large-scale, mixed-use, planned communities incorporating residential, commercial, educat ...

acquired the 72-hectare site of the old airport for ₱1.2 billion (roughly $2.5 million) to be developed to become Iloilo City's new central business district (CBD), named

Iloilo Business Park Iloilo Business Park, also known just as Megaworld among the locals (after the developer's name), is a mixed-use master-planned community development in Mandurriao, Iloilo City, Philippines by Megaworld Corporation. It is located on the site o ...

. In 2015, the

APEC The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Finance meetings were hosted in the Iloilo Convention Center, which occupies the former site of the airport's passenger terminal (demolished between 2012 and 2013). Aside from Megaworld Corporation,

Ayala Corporation Ayala Corporation (Spanish: ''Corporación Ayala'', formerly ''Ayala y Compañía'' (Ayala & Company)) is the publicly listed holding company for the diversified interests of the Ayala Group. Founded in the Philippines by Domingo Róxas and A ...

, SM Development Corporation, and Gaisano Group of Companies have also invested in the nearby area within Mandurriao.

Economy

Mandurriao is the center of trade, commerce, finance,

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

, and

in the city, along with Iloilo City Proper. It is the fastest developing district in Iloilo City. Among the four largest mixed-use development townships in the district are

;

Ayala Land Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) is a real estate firm based in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation. It began as a division of Ayala Corporation until it was spun off and incorporated in 1988. It became publicly listed in the Phi ...

's Atria Park District;

SM Prime Holdings SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPH) is a Filipino integrated property developer and a public subsidiary of SM Investments Corporation. It was incorporated on January 6, 1994, to develop, conduct, operate and maintain the SM commercial shopping cen ...

' SM Iloilo Complex; and Gaisano Group of Companies' Iloilo City Center. South of the Atria Park District is the Smallville Business Complex, Iloilo's

nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

capital and a popular dining and entertainment hub. These townships are adjacent to each other, resulting in the formation of a single large CBD in one area being named Iloilo Midtown CBD (New Iloilo Business Center or Iloilo Business Triangle). Mandurriao also has the highest concentration of high-rise buildings in Iloilo City. Besides the high structures, it has a remarkable aesthetic and a reputation as the central amusement hub of the metro. Trade and commerce continue to soar in the district. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies, upscale hotels, residential towers, large malls, parks, and offices are sprouting everywhere within the district.

Education

Mandurriao has several academic institutions. The most notable ones are namely, Ateneo de Iloilo–Santa Maria Catholic School, Iloilo Scholastic Academy, Santa Isabel College of Iloilo City, St. Joseph School, and Mandurriao National High School, among others.

Transportation

Mandurriao is mostly served by

jeepney Jeepneys (), sometimes called jeeps (), are minibus-like public transportation, public utility vehicles, serving as the most popular means of Transportation in the Philippines, public transportation in the Philippines. They are known for their ...

s and white-metered taxis.

Tricycles A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes ...

and

trisikad The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport. It is a type of hatchback tricycle designed to carry passengers on a for-hire basis. It is also known by a variety of other names such as bike taxi, velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, ...

s are also being used as transportation within the district for shorter distances. The Aleosan Transport Terminal (Hibao-an Terminal) in Hibao-an Norte, Mandurriao serves routes to central Iloilo towns or ALEOSAN ( Alimodian,

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

, San Miguel) towns, vice versa. In March 2019, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board announced the opening of a new Premium Point-to-Point Bus Service in Iloilo City with express bus services from

to Iloilo International, Kalibo International, and

Caticlan Malay , officially the Municipality of Malay ( Aklanon: ''Banwa it Malay''; Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang Malay''; tl, Bayan ng Malay), is a 1st class cosmopolitan municipality in the province of Aklan, Philippines. It is the richest municipality in ...

airports in Cabatuan,

Kalibo Kalibo, officially the Municipality of Kalibo ( Aklanon: ''Banwa it Kalibo''; Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang Kalibo''; tgl, Bayan ng Kalibo), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the Province of Aklan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

, and

Boracay Boracay (; often locally shortened to Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of three barangays in Malay, Akla ...

(Caticlan, Malay), respectively. In addition to Iloilo City's being the ''Bike Capital of the Philippines'', there is also a network of the country's longest protected bike lanes that follows the long stretch of Diversion Road that traverses Mandurriao's new business center. The bike lane stretches from Iloilo Esplanade up to Ungka in Jaro.

Barangays

The district of Mandurriao is divided into 18

barangay 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 metropolita ...

References

External links

Iloilo City Government Official Website

Iloilo Business Park
{{coord, 10, 43, N, 122, 32, E, display=title, region:PH_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Districts of Iloilo City Former municipalities of the Philippines