June 12 celebration to showcase Iloilo’s best

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/iloilo/local-news/2015/06/05/june-12-celebration-showcase-iloilos-best-411463
• Friday, June 5, 2015

(LCP/Sunnex)

THE best of Iloilo will be presented to the public on June 12, as the city and province hosts the 117th Independence Day celebration for the first time.

President Benigno Aquino III will lead the celebration with flag raising rites scheduled in the morning at the plaza of Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.

The traditional vin d'honneur’ will follow and expected to attend are top Cabinet officials and members of the diplomatic community in the Philippines, aside from Aquino.

Aquino will arrive in Iloilo on June 11 to see the ongoing development projects from the Iloilo airport up to the city, including the road widening project, the Iloilo Convention Center and the new bridge crossing the Iloilo River to Lapuz district.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said about 450 guests, including 100 foreign ambassadors and chiefs of missions, are expected to witness the vin d’honneur to be held at Provincial Capitol.

He said all governors and congressmen of the Visayas will also join the celebration, including the Chief Justice, House Speaker, several taipans and business players in the country.

“Let us make use of that momentous event to show this nation the soaring aspirations of Ilonggos that with our past, present and near future achievements, we are poised to reclaim Iloilo’s rightful place as Queen City of the South,” Drilon urged the Ilonggos.

He said Iloilo's hosting of the Independence Day is an affirmation and acknowledgement of Iloilo’s rise as a progressive and developing center in the Visayas.