Lay witness to my so-called fundamental existence.

I looked above, to the second floor of the provincial capitol and stared for ages on the windows uniquely Filipino. These fenetres made of dark wood and translucent white flat shells adorned the building of deep flesh color, the structure was colonial,  providing an air of history, of centuries old events where Roxas City used to be called Capis and from which the Capiz shells were derived.

The yellow banner was still hanging between the two ionic columns at the entrance to the capitol. Yellow ribbons were tied on the columns as a respect for President Corazon Aquino, who lost in her fight against cancer.

I was drawn again to the beauty that the Capiz shells provide to the windows. They look like flattened pearls, with their white, shiny surfaces and semi-transparent frailty that glow when struck with sunlight.

These type of windows are echoed in several houses in Roxas City. Sets of Capiz windows were used in the house where Pres. Manuel Roxas was born. The picture above was taken from a folding partition at the tourism center fronting the city church.

Capis is the old name of Roxas City. It traced its history back before the Spanish conquistadores came to Panay. Capis was said to be a seat, not of mythical aswangs or witches but of some Indo-malay royal kingdom. It is said that in the 13th century, a Datu Bankaya and 10 other datus ruled over Capiz and Aklan.

Roxas City started out as a spanish settlement which eventually became an alcaldia and finally a chartered city in 1951. From Capis, the city was renamed Roxas in honor of the Pres Manuel Roxas. When the province of Aklan was split in 1956, the province assumed the name of Capiz.

I have always wanted to visit Roxas City. Like the island of Siquijor which is covered with stories of sorcery and witchcraft, Capiz is another province that continues to disprove that it is not. There may be stories and myths about Roxas and Capiz as a whole but one should not let fear and hesitation stop us from discovering the city.

I got a room at Halaran Plaza, an old hotel by the river and fronting the city plaza and the provincial capitol.  Add to the fact that the hotel is old, the room is just above a funeral parlor. The room is extremely big, with wooden floor and high ceiling and with large sets of windows with latticed iron grills.

A statue of President Manuel Roxas could be found across Halaran Plaza. Beside the monument, the Ang Panublion (Hiligaynon term for guardian of precious things), is a repository of culture, history and art of the people of Capiz.

The museum is now housed in an old water tank which for a time was obscured from view when municipal offices were erected around it after the world war.  When the building were taken down soon after a government building was erected, the water tank was made into a museum. Ang Panublion had several collections of photographs on the Roxas family, permanent exhibits of shells, currency and stamp collection, and artifacts and photo exhibits of various subjects.

Roxas City showcased an old Spanish set-up of an alcaldia or municipalia. The major components of the centro were the church, the school, the park, the municipio and the mercado.  In the city of Roxas, the focal point is the massive church of the Immaculate Conception, said to be one of the oldest churches in Panay.

Dare I say I’m bewitched (no pun intended) but the basic combination of an old church, a kitsch fountain, an arched bridge and a winding river provided a charming feel to the city.

At present, Roxas City is said to be the Seafood Capital of the Philippines, probably because a huge fish farm is located in the city. There are about 1,500 fish cages in the rivers of Roxas which cater to raising varieties of groupers, especially the species which we locally called as Lapu-lapu.

Add to the geographical set-up of the province, Capiz has also a long shoreline, about 80 kilometers of coastline and several swamps or bogs of which portions were converted into fishponds. The aquaculture industry is very much alive in Capiz.

Aside from groupers, Capiz is also a major producer or supplier of prawns and milkfish. Seaweeds, oysters, squid, shrimps and blue marlin are also produced in the province.

A few kilometers from Roxas City is a recent project undertaken by the local government. Roxas had its own version of Manila City’s Baywalk. The project was called La Playa, on Baybay Beach, facing the Jintotolo Chanel and the island of Sibuyan.

Works on the project were still to be completed. The LGU is very much committed to provide places to attract visitors and tourists. The park project was aimed to complement the already established eateries along Baybay Beach. It is at Baybay Beach where one could find strings of al-fresco restos offering the best of Roxas City seafood, mostly hot off the grill.

With the seafood industry attached so closely to Capiz and specifically to Roxas City, the label of being the land of the aswangs  is slowly being shed off.  Capiz is experiencing the favorable molting that it aspired.  Some may be bewitched by the stories of ethnic past, but the present-day charm of Capiz had slowly converted the fear of the curious into a desire to awaken the interest on its beauty.