ILOILO CITY, Philippines — A bronze statue atop the dome of the new seven-storey City Hall of Iloilo City being constructed is now regarded as an icon symbolizing Iloilo’s rich history and culture.

Ilonggo artist and UP Visayas professor Edward Defensor, who crafted the 15-foot lady bronze statue known as “Ang Lin-ay Sang Iloilo (The Maiden of Iloilo)” drew inspiration from Iloilo’s rich agricultural lands which has made the province one of the country’s top rice producers.

“It has been in my mind since 15 years ago, this graceful figure of a peasant girl standing proudly on a harvested field of rice,” Defensor said, adding that he “envisioned a symbol that is associated with Iloilo’s rice industry; the province could not be represented otherwise since we have always been known as the rice granary of the entire Visayas region.”

The statue which sits atop of dome of the building which, when its construction is fully complete, would be Iloilo City’s seat of power, represents the Ilonggo people, according to the Visayas artist.

“When you say Ilonggo, you don’t specify whether he or she is of the province or the city. A symbol for one may as well be a symbol of both,” Defensor emphasized.