The revolutionists in Panay aligned themselves with those in Luzon, affirming their identity not narrowly as llonggos but as Filipinos. In lloilo, the Philippine flag was first unfurled on Christmas Day in 1898 at Plaza Libertad, fronting San José Church. Until then, it was called Plaza de Alfonso XIl. On the eve of Christmas, the Spaniards had surrendered to Gen. Martín Delgado, thereby losing their last capital in the Philippines. The hoisting of the flag would have been impossible without the central role of Patrocinio Gamboa.
Plaza de Alfonso Xll during Spanish colonial times. It would later be renamed Plaza Libertad.
Source: Reynaldo Gamboa Alejandro and Vicente Roman Santos in Estilo Ilonggo: Philippine Southern Lifestyle published by KCC Innovations in cooperation with DOT (2009).
This is where the flag of the first Philippine Republic was raised in triumph after the Spaniards gave up the city, their last capital in the Philippines on December 25, 1898.
Read also: List of Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Sites
