Close government–business relationships helped deliver major infrastructure projects in Iloilo City

16 Jan 2026

This article examines Iloilo City as an alternative model of government–business relations, built on a stable local political system and strong informal ties with the business sector. Since the early 2000s, partnerships among national and local leaders and business groups have led to key infrastructure projects.

Iloilo City’s infrastructure boom, which began in the 2000s, was facilitated by a stable political configuration that enabled a sustained flow of national government funding through congressional and residential pork-barrel allocations, as well as official development assistance (ODA). Political alignment between the city’s local authorities and the two-term Senate President Franklin Drilon, who pushed bureaucracies at the top and leaned on national government entities, enabled unimpeded access to these sources. Personal ties, supplemented by partisan (Liberal Party) connections, lubricated these processes. This consolidated political machine, which included Congressman Jerry P. Treñas and Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, committed to a common development logic that promoted constructive rather than collusive private sector influence.

Drilon’s leadership downplayed competition among local businesses for influence in the city government. Local business groups are cohesive because of their social connections to politicians, and through their formal interaction in planning platforms organized by the city government. Planning for big-ticket infrastructure projects was facilitated by harmonious business-government ties, orchestrated at the top by Senator Drilon. It also required the cooperation of the city mayors, whose electoral longevity stood to benefit from good economic performance and sustained revenues. Iloilo City achieved major infrastructure projects—an international airport, flood control and Iloilo River rehabilitation, a network of roads and bridges linking transport nodes, and a mega-dam to supply its future water requirements—largely due to this fortunate confluence of events and key leaders. Big infrastructure projects shape partnerships between local governments and businesses because both see them as key to economic growth.

The analysis is based on data generated from interviews with Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, and his 2022 campaign manager, city government planning officials, and representatives of business groups and the urban poor. It also draws from previous studies examining Iloilo City infrastructure projects, local newspaper accounts, and economic data from the Iloilo City Planning and Development Office. 

Author: Rosalie Arcala Hall (Division of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas)

Read the full paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/18681034241265724

Close government–business relationships helped deliver major infrastructure projects in Iloilo City

This article examines Iloilo City as an alternative model of government–business relations, built on a stable local political system and strong informal ties with the business sector. Since the early 2000s, partnerships among national and local leaders and business groups have led to key infrastructure projects.

Iloilo City’s infrastructure boom, which began in the 2000s, was facilitated by a stable political configuration that enabled a sustained flow of national government funding through congressional and residential pork-barrel allocations, as well as official development assistance (ODA). Political alignment between the city’s local authorities and the two-term Senate President Franklin Drilon, who pushed bureaucracies at the top and leaned on national government entities, enabled unimpeded access to these sources. Personal ties, supplemented by partisan (Liberal Party) connections, lubricated these processes. This consolidated political machine, which included Congressman Jerry P. Treñas and Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, committed to a common development logic that promoted constructive rather than collusive private sector influence.

Drilon’s leadership downplayed competition among local businesses for influence in the city government. Local business groups are cohesive because of their social connections to politicians, and through their formal interaction in planning platforms organized by the city government. Planning for big-ticket infrastructure projects was facilitated by harmonious business-government ties, orchestrated at the top by Senator Drilon. It also required the cooperation of the city mayors, whose electoral longevity stood to benefit from good economic performance and sustained revenues. Iloilo City achieved major infrastructure projects—an international airport, flood control and Iloilo River rehabilitation, a network of roads and bridges linking transport nodes, and a mega-dam to supply its future water requirements—largely due to this fortunate confluence of events and key leaders. Big infrastructure projects shape partnerships between local governments and businesses because both see them as key to economic growth.

The analysis is based on data generated from interviews with Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, and his 2022 campaign manager, city government planning officials, and representatives of business groups and the urban poor. It also draws from previous studies examining Iloilo City infrastructure projects, local newspaper accounts, and economic data from the Iloilo City Planning and Development Office. 

Author: Rosalie Arcala Hall (Division of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas)

Read the full paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/18681034241265724