Iloilo Province

Also known as: Lalawigan ng Iloilo

By Landon Little, Founder & CEO, Zentarai Labs · Updated 2026-06-14

Iloilo is a province in Region VI (Western Visayas). Population 2.05M (PSA 2020 census), 2 cities + 42 municipalities, 1,721 barangays total, land area 4,719.4 km². Provincial capital: Iloilo City (Highly Urbanized — independent).

Population (2020 PSA)2,051,899
Land area4,719.4 km²
Cities + Municipalities2 + 42
Total barangays1,721
Income class1st
Annual budget (2024)₱4.3B

Provincial planning context

Iloilo Province coordinates 44 component LGUs (1 component city Passi + 1 highly urbanized Iloilo City + 42 municipalities) wrapping around the eastern half of Panay Island. The PDPFP must reconcile the heritage-preservation mandate around the UNESCO-listed Miag-ao Church corridor (Miag-ao, San Joaquin, Tigbauan, Oton) with the post-sugar agricultural diversification challenge in central Iloilo (Passi, San Enrique, Dueñas, Calinog, Janiuay) and the rapidly urbanizing Iloilo-Capiz-Aklan corridor on the northern coast (Sara, Concepcion, Estancia, Balasan, Carles). Disaster-overlay planning ties to typhoon recovery (Yolanda 2013 hit Concepcion-Estancia hard, per NDRRMC records) and the active Mt. Ubay volcanic system monitored by PHIVOLCS. The proposed Iloilo-Capiz-Aklan railway, the Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros bridge, and the Negros Island Region (NIR) re-creation discussion all reshape provincial planning.

Key industries: Sugar industry transition, Agribusiness (rice, fish, prawn), Renewable energy (wind, geothermal), Tourism (Garin Farm, Miag-ao Church, Guimaras-adjacent), BPO (overflow from Iloilo City), Marine logistics

CLUP & SGLG status

CLUP compliance (RA 7160 / DHSUD): Province adopts its provincial land-use plan and reviews component-LGU CLUPs under RA 7160 (Secs. 20 & 468) and EO 72 (s. 1993), with DHSUD (RA 11201) as national review authority; PDPFP 2018-2027 follows DHSUD-NEDA-DILG JMC 2023-001. Coordinating CLUPs across 44 component LGUs — on the 12-year CLUP cycle (mandatory 6th-year midterm review, DHSUD MC 2025-018) — while reckoning with the Negros Island Region (NIR) reorganization debate.
SGLG (for provinces), RA 11292: Assessed under the single Seal of Good Local Governance (RA 11292), DILG-administered, all-in across 10 governance areas. Note: the CY2025 assessment was deferred (DILG MC 2025-032) and criteria are being reprogrammed.

More on the regulatory framework: CLUP / RA 7160 explainer · SGLG explainer · full glossary.

How Nova Gov fits Iloilo

Iloilo Province's heritage-preservation mandate intersects with the post-sugar-industry transition in a way that's structurally similar to Bacolod (in Negros Occidental). Nova Gov's heritage zone overlays + property-tax + agricultural land-use fusion is the case-fit.

See the heritage-corridor + farmland-conversion demo for Iloilo

Iloilo's 44 LGUs balance the UNESCO Miag-ao heritage corridor against rice-plain conversion pressure spreading out of the new airport at Santa Barbara. Book a demo and we'll show heritage-zone overlays and DAR agrarian-reform boundaries cross-checked against each LGU's reclassification petitions — exactly the small-planning-office workload Nova Gov automates.

Book an Iloilo planning demo →
Explore Iloilo on Nova Gov: Start with the Iloilo City profile — the Western Visayas commercial core driving conversion pressure into the province. The structurally similar post-sugar transition runs next door in Negros Occidental (with which the NIR re-creation debate is shared), and the broader Visayas multi-LGU case is Cebu. The platform overview shows how the heritage and agricultural overlays fit together.

Regulatory framework: CLUP compliance (RA 7160 / DHSUD) · SGLG explainer · Glossary · LGU directory · Province directory