When Te Otong passed away, his many business ventures were divided among his children. Seven-Seven Trading, his first business interest was passed on to Enrique “Ike” Te, the third of his five kids. Established in 1945, Seven-Seven Trading is a testament to Ike’s parents’ hard work and perseverance. “Kuwento ng […]
The appointment began with a father’s call for moral support and was sealed with a personal note written on a small piece of paper, “Mary Lou,” it said, “For as long as I live, I want you to be president of the school.” The year was 1972. Master Mariner John […]
The St. Anne Parish Church is one of the most beautiful churches in Western Visayas. It is an awesome imposing edifice of white corral rock. It will be once again the center of the celebration of the fiesta of the District of Molo, Iloilo City on July 26. The Gothic […]
![Nicholas Loney Monument [Iloilo City Cultural Heritage]](https://shemaegomez.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Nicholas-Loney-Monument-1024x576.png)
Great Britain was the first country to establish a vice-consulate in Iloilo. The first vice-consul, Nicholas Loney, arrived in Iloilo on July 31, 1856. Through his firm, Loney, Ker & Company, he financed sugar production. He was responsible for introducing sugar cane seeds from Sumatra and sugar machinery from England […]
Vicente “Dako” Yap, the eldest of 11 children from naturalized Filipino parents, had known dire straits. The Yap’s first business, a bazaar went bankrupt. “It was hard, the reversal of fortune that happened.” It is a tribute to Dako’s father’s ingenuity that armed with culinary skills, he put up a […]
Sen Rafael Ill is the Bricklayer of A.M. Builders’ Depot. Everyone loves a success story. Epic tales of conquering seemingly insurmountable odds and the sweet taste of victory that follows have been countlessly retold in literature and the media, leaving indelible images both awe-inspiring and familiar to be one for […]
Ian Pama’s journey home took a slightly different turn. He had barely trod the boards as a graduate of De La Salle University in 1997 when he was transplanted right into the thick of managing the newly-established Valiant Bank that the family-owned. “Talk about on-the-job training,” he laughs. This was […]
Fronting the Iloilo River, La Paz was once known as llawhod, It was a barrio of Jaro until 1865 when it became an independent municipality. Since 1937, it has been a district of Iloilo City. The Jaleco family, owning substantial tracts of swamplands and grasslands in the district, are among the principal families […]
The Celso Ledesma House A Beaux Arts Victorian mansion stands in the heart of Iloilo’s commercial district, unperturbed by the bustle of Calle Ortiz and the pier nearby. It is the house that Engineers Mariano Cacho and Mariano Salas built for Don Celso Ledesma in 1922. The Japanese imperial forces […]
Johnny Que is the Renegade of Waflle Time, Coffee Break, etc. Johnny Que recalls how a flash of nostalgia triggered a similar moment of discovery. Already a successful architect, he came upon “the original Iloilo Supermart waffle machine” in one of his trips through the family business warehouse. “It was […]