The island province of Guimaras has a new government center costing some half a billion pesos and counting, built in phases since April 2, 2019 with an initial bank loan of P300 million and an additional funding of P200 million supposedly to include fixtures and furniture.
The inaugural ceremonies held on June 30, 2025 were aptly timed. Governor JC Rahman Nava starts his term as comebacking representative of the lone congressional district. Incidentally, Rep. Ma. Lucille Ledesma-Nava assumes as the duly elected governor after completing 3 consecutive terms in Congress.
The imposing structure stands on the same location of the old capitol at San Miguel (“Alibhon”), Jordan town. By its sheer size alone the new capitol reflects a commensurate evolution in growth of local governance in the island.
Guimaras was a subprovince of Iloilo under lieutenant governor Antonio Ortiz until he passed away in 1984. Since then, and even after Guimaras became a full-fledged province in 1992 the old capitol remained.
The Department of Finance recently upgraded Guimaras into a second class province for having reached the P1 billion annual budget average in the last 3 years.*
