13/08/2026
THROWBACK: THE ROXAS AVENUE CENTER ISLAND, CIRCA 1960s
As early as the 1960s, the center island along Roxas Avenue in Kalibo, Aklan was already an established feature of the town’s streetscape.
In 1973, the Roxas Avenue center island was redeveloped through the initiative of the Rotary Club of Kalibo, during the term of its president, Engr. Sammy Fadullon. For decades, it remained a familiar landmark in the heart of Kalibo and part of the everyday visual experience of generations of Akeanons.
After approximately six decades, the center island was demolished in 2023 to give way to a biking-lane project of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) as part of the expansion of active-transport infrastructure in Kalibo.
Its disappearance is particularly significant when viewed within the broader changes to Kalibo’s historic townscape in recent years.
Since 2016, several familiar landmarks and structures have disappeared, including the Golden Sarok Rotonda in 2016, Aloha in 2017, and now the Roxas Avenue Center Island in 2023.
Each had a different history, function, and character. Yet together, their disappearance raises an important question:
As Kalibo modernizes, how do we ensure that progress does not come at the expense of our collective memory?
Heritage is not limited to grand ancestral houses or officially declared monuments. The character of a town is also shaped by its streets, plazas, public spaces, buildings, monuments, and everyday landmarks—the places that generations come to recognize as part of home.
Development and heritage conservation do not necessarily have to be opposing goals. With thoughtful planning, documentation, adaptive reuse, and public consultation, communities can pursue modern infrastructure while preserving meaningful elements of their historical identity.
The old Roxas Avenue center island is gone. But photographs such as this allow us to remember what once stood there—and remind us that the ordinary landscape of today may become the heritage memory of tomorrow.
Do you remember the Roxas Avenue Center Island? What other Kalibo landmarks have disappeared that you believe should be documented before they are forgotten?
Ro Akeanon | Documenting the History, Heritage, and Memories of Aklan
