Iloilo Central Market. Photo courtesy of PNA.
Two of Iloilo City’s biggest public markets are drawing more than just everyday shoppers after their redevelopment turned them into cleaner, more modern commercial spaces.
The Iloilo Central Market and Iloilo Terminal Market were renovated through a partnership between the Iloilo City Government and SM Malls. Both reopened in 2025.
Local Economic Enterprise Office head Maricel Mabaquiao said more people had been visiting the markets, with the city introducing activities and other efforts to encourage additional foot traffic.
The improvements gave vendors more organized spaces to sell their products while providing shoppers with upgraded facilities without removing the markets’ traditional role in the community.
The transformation has also caught the attention of other organizations looking at how Iloilo carried out the projects with help from the private sector.
Since the markets reopened, representatives from around 23 institutions have visited to learn how the facilities were redeveloped and how they are being operated, Mabaquiao said.
Some of the visitors were interested in the public-private partnership, an arrangement in which a government works with a private company to develop or improve a public facility.
Iloilo City officials see the markets as examples of how traditional public markets can be modernized while continuing to provide spaces for local vendors, shoppers and businesses.