Iznart Street is a busy commercial and educational center in Iloilo City. It is the longest vein of the heart of downtown Iloilo. Its terminals are the old Iloilo Provincial Capitol in the north and the Iloilo Strait in the south. Many streets intersect this grand business avenue, namely Solis; intersecting streets like Delgado and Yulo, Arroyo and Ledesma, De Leon and Aldeguer; and Rizal.
Iznart Street was named after the alcalde-mayor of Iloilo in the late 1860’s, Manuel Iznart (Sonza, 1977). People commonly refer to this street as Iznart but most if not all do not know that the street was already renamed and was even divided into two in 1971. Ordinance Number 6, Series of 1971, entitled Proposed Ordinances Renaming Certain Streets in the City of Iloilo contains two sections that provide for the renaming of the street, as a move towards the nationalization of names.
Section 3 of the said ordinance states: The city street extending from Plazoleta Gay to the Provincial Capitol, now known as Iznart Street, shall henceforth be known as Don Ruperto Montinola Street. Section 4 mentions: The city street extending from Plazoleta Gay to corner Blanco Street, now known as Iznart Street, shall henceforth be known as Dr. Fermin Caram Street. Thus, Iznart Street supposedly no longer exists, but people still continue to refer to it as such.
Bridging the Gap
By Henry F. Funtecha
Source – The News Today Online
