A NEW landmark is rising along Festive Walk Road, adding another layer to Iloilo Business Park’s growing identity as a destination for art, culture and creativity.
Standing 12 meters high at the roundabout, Pagsinapol brings together sculpture, architecture and Ilonggo symbolism in a public installation that celebrates Iloilo City’s creative spirit, and the people and ideas that continue to shape it.
Unlike the usual landmarks that simply mark a place, Pagsinapol tells a story. Its name comes from the Hiligaynon word pagsinapol, meaning coming together — an idea reflected in the sculpture’s spiraling form that rises around a reflective pond.
At the center, a sculptural paraw appears to glide across the water. Above it stands a torch-bearing figure. Together, the elements represent unity, collaboration, resilience, hope and the continuing journey of Iloilo’s creative community.
But perhaps the most fitting part of Pagsinapol is its location. It stands in a township where people from different walks of life converge every day – residents, workers, businesspeople, tourists, families, students, artists, and visitors.
People come to Iloilo Business Park for different reasons. Some come for work. Others for food, shopping and entertainment. Some attend events, watch performances or simply spend an afternoon with friends.
And now, there is another reason to stop and look.
Art.
Pagsinapol is Megaworld’s latest effort to bring art beyond galleries and traditional exhibition spaces and into the everyday experience of the city. It is public art in its most literal sense – something people can encounter while walking, dining, working or simply passing through.
For Iloilo, a city whose creative identity stretches across music, dance, literature, cinema, architecture, sculpture, painting and gastronomy, the installation becomes more than a decorative centerpiece. It becomes a physical representation of what happens when these creative expressions come together.
“Iloilo City is a creative city, home to so many creative people,” said Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, president and chief executive officer of Megaworld.
She noted that Ilonggo artistry can be found in diverse forms, including the culinary arts, reflecting the depth of creativity embedded in the city’s identity.
Megaworld’s vision, she said, is for Iloilo Business Park to serve as a venue where Ilonggo arts and cultural identity can be showcased. And Pagsinapol may be one of the clearest manifestations of that vision.
The landmark was unveiled as Iloilo Business Park marked its first year as Iloilo City’s “Center of Arts and Culture.” But the celebration does not end with the unveiling.
Pagsinapol serves as the opening feature of Experience Iloilo City, a month-long cultural celebration designed to put the spotlight on the breadth of Ilonggo creativity. The festivities bring together different forms of artistic expression – from sculpture and painting to architecture, music, literature, dance, film and gastronomy.
For artists, it creates another platform to share their work.
For visitors, it offers another way to experience Iloilo.
And for the city, it reinforces an identity that has always been there, even before the title of “Creative City of Gastronomy” gave it international recognition. Because creativity in Iloilo is not confined to one venue. It can be heard in a song. Seen in a dance. Read in a poem. Captured in a film. Built into a structure. Served on a plate. Or carved into a sculpture standing in the middle of a busy road.
That is what makes Pagsinapol particularly interesting.
Its symbolism is about convergence – and so is its purpose. It brings together art and public space, tradition and contemporary design, commerce and culture.
The paraw at its center looks forward, while the spiraling structure surrounding it suggests movement and connection. The torch-bearing figure rises above it all, carrying an image of hope and shared aspirations.
It is, in many ways, a sculpture about where Iloilo has been, and where it continues to go.
As Iloilo Business Park continues to grow as a commercial and lifestyle destination, Pagsinapol gives the township another dimension. It reminds people that a modern city does not have to choose between economic progress and cultural identity.
There is space for both. A business district can also be a cultural space. A roundabout can also become an art destination. And a public installation can become a conversation about who Iloilo is.
Perhaps that is the bigger story behind Pagsinapol. It is not simply another landmark added to the cityscape. It is a statement that Iloilo’s creativity belongs in the middle of everyday life – visible, accessible and constantly moving forward.
And as people continue to come together at Iloilo Business Park, the sculpture stands quietly at the center of it all.
A paraw moving forward. A torch held high. Water reflecting the sculpture. And a city whose art, culture and people continue to come together./PN
