Popular Fitness Centers in Roxas City

by Admin • From The Blog • 0 Comments on July 27, 2013

Whether you’re a beginner or a pro in physical fitness, Roxas City has the facilities to keep you in tip-top shape. And it doesn’t matter if you’re new to this city and just learning your way around or just starting to look for a great place to workout, because it’s easy to spot these fitness centers.

While one of the famous early morning exercises of local residents is to jog from their front yard to the beach, you can settle in one place and enjoy your favorite workout routine.

It’s true that the famous fitness gyms in the country have higher membership fees, but Roxas City fitness gyms are famously inexpensive.

How would you like to spend less than five hundred for a monthly gym membership and still enjoy the same strength and conditioning as other big fitness gyms in the country?

Popular Fitness Centers in Roxas City

1. Villareal Stadium. This is the city’s sports complex, which has a bit of everything. Villareal Stadium is in Tiza, Roxas City. Major landmarks near Villareal Stadium are Capiz National High School and Capiz State University main campus.

This improved facility has its own fitness gym, a rubberized track, football field, basketball court, volleyball court, lawn tennis court, and a swimming pool for both children and grown-up. Villareal Stadium holds a lot of national games in its record books.

2. Musculean Gym. This famous gym is closely managed by the owner who is also a gym instructor. Musculean Gym has a fitness program for both beginners and advanced members. You’ll find Musculean gym in Geovil Enterprises Bldg. at Magallanes St., Roxas City.

3. Perfect Image Spa Gym & Fitness Center. This well-ventilated gym is at Legaspi St., Roxas City. Perfect image gym has an assigned instructor who can give you a start up workout, as well as, a specialized workout routine.

Pan-ay Bell – The Biggest Church Bell in Asia

In 1566, Fray Martín de Rada is said to have preached the Gospel in Bamban(Pan-ay) and from there he proceeded to evangelize Dumangas to the south. The Augustinians continued to spread their net of evangelization to the south and west of Pan-ay until they had established footholds in the whole island.  By the late 1500s, they had been had been the sole evangelizers of Panay island until the Jesuits arrived at this time.

Pan-ay Bell

Because of lack of food, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi transferred the Spanish settlement from Cebu toPanay in 1569. The town was formally founded in 1572 (1581 according to Jorde), although by that time Legazpi had moved the capital of the Philippines, further north, to Manila. Fr. Bartolome de Alcantara was named the prior of the town with Fr. Agustin Camacho as assistant. A prosperous town due to trade, Pan-ay became capital ofcaptivating Capiz for two centuries, until Capiz was named capital. The town name was eventually given to whole island. After 1607, Fr. Alonso de Méntrida, noted for his linguistic studies and Visayan dictionary became prior. In the 18th century, Pan-ay was famous for its textile industry which produced a cloth called suerte and exported to Europe. In the 19th century, Don Antonio Roxas, grandfather of Pres. Manuel Roxas, opened one of the largest rum and wine distilleries in the town. The Augustinians held the parish until 1898, when administration tranferred to the seculars.

The first church was built before 1698 when it is reported that a typhoon had ruined it. In 1774, Fr. Miguel Murguía rebuilt the church, but it was later damaged by a typhoon on 15 January 1875. Fr. Jose Beloso restored the church in 1884. The church is best known for its 10.4 ton bell popularly called dakong lingganay (big bell). The bell was cast by Don Juan Reina who settled in Iloilo in 1868. Reina who was town dentist was also noted as a metal caster and smith. The bell was cast at Pan-ay from 70 sacks of coins donated by the townspeople. The bell was completed in 1878. It bears an inspiring inscription which translated reads: “I am God’s voice which shall echo praise from one end of the town of Pan-ay to the other, so that Christ’s faithful followers may enter this house of God to receive heavenly graces.”

Sta. Monica Church, Pan-ay, Capiz

Heritage Features: Pan-ay belongs to the Baroque style. The pediment cascades gracefully down. The façade is ornamented with swags of flowers, niches and statuary. The bell tower to the left of the façade is simple in contrast to the façade.  It base is planned as a quadrilateral but its upper stories are octagonal with the two sides longer than the other.  To the church was attached an L-shaped convento, which had been ruined.  Remnants of the covento have been incorporated into the present modern convento.  Behind the church are remnants of a wall, which according to town lore was once a fortification.  Attached to the sacristy is a large storage room, now converted into a Blessed Sacrament chapel.

The interior was formerly divided into a central nave with flanking aisles, but in recent years, the wooden posts that marked the divisions were removed to improve sight lines to the altar.  The wooden choirloft was also removed because it was damaged by termites, so were the wooden floors of the bell tower.  In place the tower has an independent steel stairway that leads to the topmost floor.  This floor has been reconstructed in reinforced concrete with coral stone facing.  The roof of the church, already damaged by a storm in 1984 and subsequently repaired, was already in a dilapidated condition in 2000.  Its wood work was rotten and was in danger of collapsing.  The woodwork and roof have been replaced by a steel and galvanized iron structure.

The church retains much of its original floor: terra cotta tiles, white marble and black slate as accents and for the sanctuary.

The church has three altars in Baroque style. The retablo of the central altar has been painted over in silver and gold enamel, however, the side altars have hardly been touched and probably represent the original colors of the woodwork—primaries of blue, red, green, orange with gold leaf accents.  These altars are unique for Latin inscriptions carved on roundels set in its reed thin columns.

Behind Gospel side altar are remnants of decorative painting, also done in brilliant primaries.

Roxas City Bridge

Roxas City Bridge (Old Capiz Bridge) was built in 1910, it is overlooking the Panay River which is the silent witness to the various changes and developement of the city. Roxas City has been dubbed as Venice of the Visayas because of the equally alluring, huge stretch of Panay River that transverses at the very heart of the city passing the major edifices.

Capiz Provincial Capitol

Built ca. 1915, the Capiz Provincial Capitol is one of a number designed by the American architect, William Parsons. Born in Akron, Ohio in 1872, and educated in Yale, Columbia and the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris, France, Parsons organized the architectural office of the Bureau of Public Works. He was connected with the Bureau from 1905-14.

Heritage Features: The capitol belongs to the “California style” inspired by the California missions, characteristic of Parson’s earlier design. Although elements of Classical architecture are evident in the central portal, and the generous use of Roman arches for windows, the capitol lacks the temple-like look of Neoclassical capitols and municipal halls. The style has a overhanging pitched roof supported by protruding carved corbels. Capiz window shutters give the building an informal and domestic, rather than a solemn or hieratic, air. All told, the style is a modern and simplified interpretation of Spanish-Filipino architecture of the 19th century. The building is integrated into a trapezoidal lot and takes full advantage of the limited space. The foyer of the capitol leads to a graceful flight of stairs leading to the upper stories. A light well illumines the capitol’s interior.

Immaculate Concepcion Metropolitan Cathedral Parish

The new superb and amazing image of Immaculate Concepcion Metropolitan Cathedral, Roxas City painted with blue in honor of parish Patron Saint Immaculada Concepcion. The parish was founded in 1707. The current structure of the Cathedral was build in 1827.

Immaculate Concepcion Metropolitan Cathedral Parish

When Capiz became a diocese in 1951, Msgr. Vicente Gonzales was the incumbent parish priest. He was succeeded by the following: Msgr. Edmundo Fuerte, Msgr. Vicente Hilata, and Archbishop Onesimo C. Gordoncillo, the present parish priest

The ancient replica of Immaculate Concepcion Metropolitan Cathedral. Far different from the present but still it embody the same purpose as the “house of God”.

THE ROXAS CITY PEOPLE'S PARK

A fresh new seaside development from the Seafood Capital of the Philippines - Roxas City, Capiz, THE PEOPLE’S PARK.  It is just three kilometers away from the city circle. The place is a favorite weekend spot for the local populace and those coming from nearby towns and provinces. Here, one can watch the beautiful sun as it rise in the morning and as it set in the afternoon. 

The Ancestral House of Pres. Manuel A. Roxas

The birthplace of Pres. Manuel A. Roxas. First President of the Philippines Republic and Roxas City’s most illustrious son in whose honor the city got its name. The original house still stands at its original site at corner Rizal-Zamora Streets, a few minutes walk from the city hall and the city plaza.

Capiz History

The City of Roxas, once known as the municipality of Capiz is the capital of the province of Capiz.

In 1569, Captain Diego de Artieda who was sent by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi from Cebu, landed on the town of Pan-ay and proclaimed it as the capital. Later the capital was moved to its present site upon discovering that the town of Capiz was near the sea where they can have better docking facilities. The Spaniards saw the long coastal cover and envisioned a trading and shipping center. Ports were constructed in Libas and later in Culasi.

A river meanders across the town, cuts it at the heart and divides it almost equally into two. Tributaries from the mountains flowed into the head of Panay River through settlements formed along its shores, irrigating and fertilizing the land to provide food to the people. Following its course into the sea, it provides water to fishponds during high tide.

In 1590, the Navy of Acapulco, Mexico made Capiz port its arsenal (naval yard) where they can seek shelter when the sea was rough. Capiz then eventually grew into a bustling port and several houses of stones were built. The social and political status enjoyed by the native chieftains of Capiz often resulted in mixed marriages with the Spaniards. The mestizo descendants became the base of the principalia or influential citizens. Their privileged positions allowed them to build houses around the favored square of the poblacion - around the church and the government complex.

Their children became the beneficiaries of the Augustinian mission in 1593.

In 1746, Capiz was made the seat of the politico-military government, although it was ecclesiastically controlled by the Bishopric of Cebu. In the latter part of 1795, under Gobernadorcillo Miguel Bautista, the old road to Baybay Beach was built as an extension of San Roque Street.

The town of Capiz was frequently attacked by Muslims that in 1814, stone forts at Baybay Beach (Baluarte) were built through the initiative of Gobernadorcillo Jose Consolacion.

In 1870, the ground was broken for the foundation of the Cathedral of Capiz under the guidance of Reverend Apolonio Alvarez. It was built by sturdy hands, sweat and blood of Capizeños who were victims of forced labor.

In 1876, the diocese of Jaro in Iloilo was erected and Capiz came under its jurisdiction. In 1877, the cathedral was finally finished. Prior to its construction, a chapel was built in Burgos Street beside the municipal building.

In August 1899, the Spanish colonial government represented by Governor Juan Herrero formally surrendered to General Ananias Diokno in Baybay Beach.

Economic debacle hit the town of Capiz in 1914 when the Ayala Distillery grounded to a halt. What could have been an ambitious forerunner of nationalized industrialization became the victim of the Internal Revenue Law under American control.

In 1917, Division Superintendent of Schools F.E. Hemingway founded Capiz Trade School for intermediate pupils and offered woodworking as the only vocational course. The next division superintendent opened Capiz High School.

In 1926, Division Superintendent Arthur Wittman authorized teaching of complete secondary curriculum in the Capiz Trade School. In the same year, Culasi Port was built to accommodate inter-island ships.

On February 15, 1951 the diocese of Capiz became a separate ecclesiastical jurisdiction from Jaro. Its first bishop was Msgr. Manuel Yap. In the same year, former Vice Mayor Libertad Conlu became the first female mayor of Capiz.

Capiz became a chartered city on May 12, 1951 through House Bill 1528 sponsored by Ramon Acuña Arnaldo, the representative of the First District of Capiz. It was approved by President Elpidio Quirino on April 11, 1951 as Republic Act 608. Consequently, the town was named Roxas City after her greatest son, President Manuel Acuña Roxas, the last president of the Commonwealth and the first president of the Philippine Republic.

The first appointed mayor was Lorenzo Acuña Arnaldo followed by Ramon Berjamin Blanco, Jose Dorado and Juliano Alovera Alba. In 1959, Lorenzo Acuña Arnaldo again became the head of the city as the first elected mayor. The next mayor was Teodoro Roxas Arcenas who was succeeded by Juliano Alovera Alba who was also the representative of the First District of Capiz at the House of Congress when Martial Law was declared.

Hon. Antonio A. Del Rosario, who is now the Congressman of the 1st District of Capiz, was elected to three terms as mayor of Roxas City, serving from 1998 to 2007.

Hon. Vicente B. Bermejo, who is the former governor of the province of Capiz, was elected mayor and served for three years, from 2007 to 2010.

The incumbent mayor of Roxas City is Hon. Angel Alan B. Celino, who also served as Vice Mayor of the city from 2004 to 2007.

The most notable people of Roxas include:

• Manuel Acuña Roxas - First president of the independent Republic of the Philippines
• Josefa Abiertas - The first woman bar topnotcher and proponent of the Women's Suffrage Bill
• General Esteban Contreras - Fought for the freedom of the Capiznons, was never captured by the Americans.
• Jose "Tabai" Altavas - Municipal Councilor of Capiz (1903 – 1906); member of the provincial board of Capiz (1906 - 1907); Delegate to the First Philippine Assembly (1907 – 1909); Provincial Governor of Capiz for two terms (1910 – 1916); Senator from Iloilo, Capiz and Romblon (1916 – 1922); and Representative from the second district of Capiz (1925 – 1928). He was a member of the “goodwill” Legislative Delegation to Japan in 1917 and was elected Delegate, from the first district of Capiz, to the constitutional convention in 1934.

Colegio dela purisima concepcion

Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion (CPC) was previously an all-boys school. It is being run by the Archdiocesan of Roxas City.

OLUTAYAN ISLAND

An hour’s travel from the city proper, this island barangay is blessed with white sand beach and serene shores that fits everyone’s dream for a honeymoon or a place to run away from the hassles of the city life. A boat ride can be arranged at the Banica wharf for a certain fee.

ROBINSONS PLACE ROXAS

Robinsons Place Roxas is a shopping mall located at Immaculate Heart of Mary Avenue, Brgy. Lawa-an, Roxas City, Capiz . It is the 36th operating mall of Robinsons Mall. it is the first full service mall, 2nd mall and the largest in Northern Panay island. because of Typhoon Haiyan

Roxas Airport

Roxas Airport is an airport serving the general area of Roxas City, the capital of the province of Capiz, in the Philippines. The airport is classified as a Class 1 principal airport, by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a body of the Department of Transportation and Communications that is responsible for the operations of not only this airport but also of all other airports in the Philippines except the major international airports.

Roxas, Capiz

Roxas City is a medium-sized city in the province of Capiz, Philippines. It is considered as one of Panay Island's center of education, trade, economic activity and logistics. Once known as the Municipality of Capiz, the origin of the present name of the province, was renamed into Roxas City in honor of native Manuel Roxas, the First President of the Philippine Third Republic, after it became a chartered city on May 12, 1951.

Languages spoken in Roxas City are Capiznon and Hiligaynon.