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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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MOST natives of “I Am Iloilo City” are not aware of this but aside from being tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as the “most shabu-lized” and “bedrock of illegal drugs”, it is also considered as “low end.”
Before the uninitiated gets lost in translation: Low end – inexpensive and of a very low quality or having only the basic features, without options or extras.
Not very flattering. In fact some or most would consider that tag quite demeaning but as far as most good restaurant and hotel chains are concerned, that is the level of the consumer market of “I Am Iloilo City.”
Let’s discuss this in a calm and objective manner and not go into the usual blame game as most natives of these islands resort to every time someone calls attention to their shortcomings.
No, it is not the fault of former World Mayor No. Jed Patrick Mabilog or Cong. Jerry Treñas and not even Sen. Franklin Drilon that “I Am Iloilo City” is considered low end.
Yes, politics has nothing to do with “I Am Iloilo City” being low end; it has been that way since the 1960s up to now despite the bike lanes, the Esplanade and the Iloilo Convention Center.
Why do you think “I Am Iloilo City” lost the title “Queen City of the South” to Cebu?
A report released by the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC-Iloilo) shows that consumers in Iloilo City located in Region VI / Western Visayas, in the central Philippines, are charged with the most expensive electricity rates, not only in the country but also in the whole world.
For instance, United States only charges P3.82/kWh, United Kingdom P4.72/kWh, Russia P0.22/kWh, and Japan P9.63. Surprisingly, Iloilo City under PECO has the highest at P13.30/kWh.
And do you know that “I Am Iloilo City” will never have a 5-star hotel as long as the Iloilo City slaughterhouse does not get a Triple A rating from the National Meat Inspection Service or NMIS as that is the first requirement of 5-star hotels before they set shop?
On top of this, “I Am Iloilo City” does not even have a proper dog pound or an animal welfare ordinance.
These above-mentioned unfortunate situations affecting “I Am Iloilo City” you can definitely say is corruption, and yes, you can blame the above-mentioned politicians. Unfortunate as they maybe, however, they are not the reason or reasons why “I Am Iloilo City” is classified as low end in the consumer market.
Most 5-star hotel chains have three classes when they set up shop; first there’s the main one which has 5-star rating and depending on the market level i.e. location, taste and spending capacity of guests, the branch will also be 5-star, and then they have the mid-range and finally the low end.
The mid-range level is just a scaled-down version of the 5-star and has almost all the amenities and facilities i.e. swimming pool, gym/spa and restaurants and it costs slightly lower than the 5-star.
On the other hand, the low end is a twice scaled-down version of the mid range i.e. no swimming pool, just a coffee shop which also doubles as the restaurant and smaller rooms with less facilities and amenities, of course costing really lower than the mid-range.
As an example, Seda Hotel Vertis North in Quezon City and Seda Hotel Abreeza in Davao and the about-to-open Seda Hotel Capitol Central in Bacolod all have swimming pools, while Seda Hotel Atria in Iloilo City does not have one.
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, a more upscale coffee shop than Starbucks, has three branches in Davao City and seven in Cebu City but none in “I Am Iloilo City.”
Of course “I Am Iloilo City” has a lot of 7-11 convenient stores and Jollibee, which says so much about the natives’ taste.
When moi came back to “I Am Iloilo City” after almost three decades of wanderlust, the displays in the stores in SM City are still the same; it’s good that international clothing chains like Uniqlo and H&M opened shop otherwise the natives will still be stuck with bargain items from Divisoria and Baclaran displayed in the department stores.
Good taste and having a sense of style has nothing to do with money, its how you were brought up and where you went to school.
You can afford to eat at California Kitchen or CPK but your taste is only up to Greenwich and that explains why you are low end. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
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