General Information

The Western Visayas region was created from Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo (including its then-subprovince of Guimaras) and Negros Occidental by Presidential Decree No. 1 as part of the Integrated Reorganization Plan of President Ferdinand Marcos.Western Visayas is located in Central Philippines and lies between two large bodies of water, namely; the Sibuyan Sea and the Visayas Sea. The province of Antique, on the western side of Panay, is separated from the other provinces by a long range of mountains. One of these, Mt. Madia-as, is the highest mountain on the island, a dormant volcano adorned with several lakes and more than a dozen waterfalls. The population is largely Malay, immigrants from Borneo centuries before the Spanish arrived. Their language, Kiniray-a, is Indo-Malayan. Several Visaya dialects are also spoken.

Economy/Resources

The Tourism Industry in Western Visayas generated a total of PhP15.4 billion for the region’s economy in 2002. Tourist receipts increased by 32.9 percent from the last year’s revenue of P11.5 billion. Tourist arrivals in the region also improved by 33.0 percent over the last year’s total of 629,243 visitors. Foreign visitors which constituted 13.0 percent (108,383) of the total tourist arrivals also increased by 6.6 percent over the previous year’s total of 101,693 visitors.  Local visitors still remained the biggest market of the industry in Western Visayas comprising 85.5 percent.   

Western Visayas is rich in mineral and non-mineral resources. Metallic ore reserves found in the region include primary copper, iron (lump ore) and pyrite.

Culture

The region’s ethno linguistic people are called Panay-Hiligaynons (Ilonggos, Aklanons, Capiceños, Antiqueños and Negrenses).

Climate

The province has no pronounced climate. It has a short dry season and is relatively wet the rest of the year.