Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc.
4. La Villa Rica de Arévalo (1581)
The fourth governor- general, Don Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa arrived in Manila in 1580. The following year, while consolidating Spanish rule in Panay Island, he was seized with nostalgia for Arévalo, his birthplace in Old Castille, when he gazed upon the verdant plains and glistening shore near Otón in Iloilo. He named the promising place La Villa Rica de Arévalo (The Rich Villa of Arévalo) and declared it the capital of the province in 1582. Initially, it numbered several encomenderos as residents and a sturdy church and convent were built in honor of St. Anne, the Mother of the Mother of God. Its first parish priest, Padre Diego Vásquez de Mercado, rose to become the fourth archbishop of Manila (1610-16). xviii
Despite its auspicious beginnings, the place did not live up to the founder’s lofty expectations for it proved to be vulnerable to massive Muslim and Dutch attacks. It was virtually abandoned in favor of the adjacent Port of Iloilo, when the latter was fortified in 1616. As Iloilo continued to prosper, the villa went down in the colonial world. The former took over as the provincial capital in 1688 and Arévalo was absorbed by Otón town. In 1827, it became an independent municipality lasting as such till the end of the Spanish Regime. In the 20th century, it was incorporated to the modern City of Iloilo. xix
Despite its auspicious beginnings, the place did not live up to the founder’s lofty expectations for it proved to be vulnerable to massive Muslim and Dutch attacks. It was virtually abandoned in favor of the adjacent Port of Iloilo, when the latter was fortified in 1616. As Iloilo continued to prosper, the villa went down in the colonial world. The former took over as the provincial capital in 1688 and Arévalo was absorbed by Otón town. In 1827, it became an independent municipality lasting as such till the end of the Spanish Regime. In the 20th century, it was incorporated to the modern City of Iloilo. xix