This island province in Western Visayan region is known to produce the sweetest mangoes in the Philippines (and probably the world).

The annual festival highlights the culture and people of Guimaras through the Tribe Competitions featuring different festivals from all over the province on April 21 and the much talked about Mango Eat-All-You-Can from April 15 to 21, where you can enjoy a plethora of the sweetest mangoes all to your self.

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Read the rest of Guimaras Manggahan Festival 2013 Schedule

© 2013 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo - Iloilo Lifestyle Blog | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Festivals, Guimaras, Guimaras Island, Guimaras Manggahan, Guimaras Manggahan Festival, Guimaras Mangoes, Mangoes

The highlights of the weeklong celebration are the Tribe Competitions featuring the different festivals of the municipalities comprising the province and the Mango All-You-Can-Eat showcasing the sweetest mangoes in the Philippines!

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Read the rest of Manggahan Festival 2012 Schedule of Activities

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Post tags: Festivals, Guimaras Island, Guimaras Manggahan, Guimaras Manggahan Festival, Guimaras Manggahan Festival 2012, Guimaras Mangoes, Manggahan Festival 2012

Colorful streetdance competitions, agribusiness trade fairs and other exciting activities including the Mangga Eat-All-You-Can highlight the annual event.

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Read the rest of Guimaras Manggahan Festival 2011 Schedule of Activities

© 2011 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo - Iloilo Lifestyle Blog | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Festivals, Guimaras Island, Guimaras Manggahan, Guimaras Manggahan Festival, Manggahan Festival

The 39th edition of this sail-boat event is expected to draw tourists both local and foreign to Iloilo as it did in the previous years.

Next’s year’s theme “Philippine Seafaring Tradition Goes Worldwide” which embodies the strongly recognized maritime skills of the Ilonggos worldwide. The city government of Iloilo has already pledged support to Iloilo Paraw Regatta Foundation, Inc. (IPRFI) the managing body of the festival both in financial and other logistics.

Various events are added every year to complement the festival. Some of the much-awaited side events of Paraw Regatta is the Sinamba de Regatta, a street dancing competition.

The 36.5-kilometer sailboat race has its jump off point at Tatoy’s Manokan in Villa sailing to Sto. Rosario, Buenavista in Guimaras and back to the point of origin.

Iloilo Paraw Regatta Festival 2011 Schedule of Activities:

February 13, 2011 (Sunday)
	07:00 AM	Mass Offering	Villa Arevalo Parish Church
	09:00 AM	Fellowship Breakfast	Tatoy’s Manokan
	03:00 PM	Formal Opening Program: 2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta Festival	Robinsons Place Fountain Area
	04:00 PM	Presentationof Official Candidates: 2011 Miss Iloilo Paraw Regatta Festival
	05:00 PM	Opening of The Photo Exhibit (Feb 14 to 20, 2011)
	05:15:00 PM	Opening of The Miniature Paraw-Making Contest (Feb 14 to 20, 2011)
	05:30 PM	Opening of The Iloilo Watercraft Association Exhibit (Feb 13 to 19, 2011)
	06:00 PM	Cocktails
February 14, 2011 (Monday)
	10:00 AM	Start of The “Pinta Layag” Sail Painting Contest	Robinsons Car Park
	04:00 PM	2011 Miss Iloilo Paraw Regatta Pre-Pageant: Festival Costume & Swimsuit Pre-Judging Competitions	Robinsons Fountain Area
February 15, 2011 (Tuesday)
	04:00 PM	2011 Miss Iloilo Paraw Regatta Pre-Pageant: Evening Gown & “Darlingof The Press” Pre-Judging Competitions	Robinsons Fountain Area
February 16, 2011 (Wednesday)
	04:00 PM	2011 Miss Iloilo Paraw Regatta Pre-Pageant: Talent Competition	SM City
February 17, 2011 (Thursday)
	06:00 PM	2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta Festival Torch Parade	Major City Streets
	08:00 PM	“Sinamba Sa Paraw Regatta” Mardi Gras Semi-Finals	Freedom Grandstand
February 18, 2011 (Friday)
	12:00 NN	2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta Rowing & Paddling Competitions	Along Iloilo River
	07:00 PM	2011 Miss Iloilo Paraw Regatta Pageant Coronation Night	Freedom Grandstand
February 19, 2011 (Saturday)
	07:00 AM	Send-Off Mass of The Governor’s Cup Deep-Sea Fishing Competition	Fort San Pedro Drive Inn
	08:00 AM	2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta Invitational Women’s Beach Volleyball Eliminations	Villa Regatta Beach Front
	08:00 AM	1st Iloilo Paraw Regatta Airsoft Competition – Eliminations	Punta Villa Resort Hotel
	09:00 AM	2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta Invitational Men’s Beach Football Eliminations	Villa Regatta Beach Front
	10:00 AM	2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta Invitational Beach Ultimate Elimination S	Villa Regatta Beach Front
	09:00 AM	1st Iloilo Paraw Regatta Jet Ski Competition	Iloilo Fishing Port Complex
	06:00 PM	Gma Network’s “Reggae-Ta” & Kapuso Night Beach Party	Main Festival Stage Tatoy’s Villa
	06:00 PM	Abs-Cbn Beach Party	Breakthrough Restaurant Beach Front
	07:00 PM	The 1st Iloilo Paraw Regatta “Chairman’s Ball”	Consejo Hall, Tatoy’s Villa
	10:00 PM	Arevalo Pyrotechnics Association’s Fireworks Competition & “Luces By The Sea” Fireworks Display	Main Festival Stage Tatoy’s Manokan
February 20, 2011 (Sunday)
	06:00 AM	“Pinta Layag” Final Judging	Villa Beach Shoreline
	06:00 AM	Festival Photo Contest (Awarding On March 4 at Tatoy’s Manokan, Villa Beach, Arevalo, Iloilo City)	Villa Beach Shoreline
	06:00 AM	Main Paraw Regatta Event: Registration of Participants / Measurement of Participating Paraws	Villa Beach Shoreline
	07:00 AM	Opening Program & Opening Declaration of Race	Main Festival Stage Tatoy’s Manokan
	07:30 AM	2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta – 39th Edition Grand Take-Off
	08:00 AM	“Sinamba Sa Paraw Regatta” Mardi Gras Finals
	08:00 AM	“Pintawo” A Body-Painting Competition	Breakthrough Restaurant
	08:00 AM	Mini Paraw Beach Race	Villa Beach Shoreline
	08:00 AM	2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta Invitational Women’s Beach Volleyball Finals	Villa Regatta Beach Front
	08:00 AM	1st Iloilo Paraw Regatta Airsoft Competition – Finals	Punta Villa Resort
	08:00 AM	Sports Photo Contest	Villa Regatta Beach Front
	09:00 AM	2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta Invitational Men’s Beach Football Finals	Villa Regatta Beach Front
	10:00 AM	2011 Iloilo Paraw Regatta Invitational Women’s Beach Football Finals	Villa Regatta Beach Front
	10:00 AM	2011 Iloilo Beach Ultimate Finals	Villa Regatta Beach Front
	12:00 NN	Arrival of The Deep-Sea Fishing Competition Participants	Main Festival Stage Tatoy’s Manokan
	03:00 PM	Awarding Ceremonies

Take a glimpse of Paraw Regatta in its 2010 edition here.

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo - Iloilo Lifestyle Blog | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Guimaras Island, Iloilo, Iloilo Paraw Regatta, Iloilo Paraw Regatta Festival, Iloilo Strait, Paraw Regatta, Paraw Regatta 2011, Paraw Regatta Festival 2011, Samba de Regatta, Sinamba sa Paraw Regatta Mardi Gras, Tatoy's Manukan, Tatoy's Manukan Iloilo, Tatoy's Manukan Villa, Villa Arevalo, Villa Beach, Villa Beach Iloilo

Miss Western Visayas Tourism is the most prestigious battle of beauties  from all over the region. It consists of the reigning festival queens from all over the 6 provinces and several towns of Western Visayas.

This year’s pageant 9 contestants were: Miss Ibajay Tourism, Julie Ann Dionisio of Aklan Province; Miss Pahinis Festival Queen, Zyra Grace Vedad of Antique Province; Miss Maskara, Agnes Therese Chang of Bacolod City; Miss Halaran, Ivana Isidora Besa of Capiz Province; Mutya Ng Guimaras, Mary Rose Andaluz of Guimaras Province; Miss Paraw Regatta, Pauline Asegurado of Iloilo City; Miss Dinagyang, Angelie Joy Golingay of Iloilo City; Lin-ay Sang Negros, Kareen Ty of Negros Occidental and Binibining Leon Tourism, Nikki Beatingo of Iloilo Province.

The Winners:

Photo by: Felipe Uygongco

Miss Western Visayas Tourism 2010: Angelie Joy Golingay – Dinagyang Festival, Iloilo City

First Runner-up: Zyra Grace Vidad – Pahinis Festival, Antique

Second Runner-up: Agnes Marie Chang – Masskara Festival, Bacolod City

Third Runner-up: Pauline Asegurado – Paraw Regatta Festival, Iloilo City

Fourth Runner-up: Julie Ann Dionisio – Ati-Atihan Festival, Aklan

CONGRATULATIONS!

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo - Iloilo Lifestyle Blog | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Miss Dinagyang, Miss Western Visayas, Miss Western Visayas Tourism, Miss Western Visayas Tourism 2010

Navalas Church, Guimaras built in 1880

Navalas Church is made of coral rocks abundant in the area during the construction of this edifice. Don Miguel Jayme who has contributed much to the construction with Doña Carmen Javellana donated the piece of land where the Church lies.

It is fenced with old stone structures and has a watchtower that serves as the entrance gate. The watchtower was used to guard the Church from the Moro intruders. This structure also is the belfry of the church that once held a big bell made of an alloy of silver and gold. The history tells that Muslims once raided Navalas and took away the bell but threw it at the middle of the sea near the Siete Pecados Islands because it was too heavy. That bell played a major role and served as the warning device for the impending intruders’ attack as it can be heard even up to the town of Dumangas across the Iloilo Strait.

How to Get There:

Iloilo is the gateway to Guimaras. From Parola Port in Iloilo it is a 15-minute boat ride to McArthur’s Wharf in Buenavista, Guimaras. Upon getting there, you can directly go to the Tourist Assistance Center within the wharf compound and they will assist you on how to get to Navalas Church.

Just few minutes away from Navalas Church is another heritage attraction of Guimaras, Roca Encantada.

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo - Iloilo Lifestyle Blog | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Churches in Guimaras, Navalas Church, Navalas Church Guimaras

Guimaras Mangoes

It has been claimed that the sweetest mangoes in the world can be found in Guimaras. True enough this province has been exporting mangoes and by-products to different parts of the world. Some experts said that mangoes in Guimaras are sweet as a result of its naturally cultivated type of land very suitable for mango farming. As a precautionary measure the local government of Guimaras prohibits the entries of mangoes from outside the province to its territories to avoid cross breeding into their own seedlings.

Mangoes are widely sold in different parts of the island at a cheaper price of course. Most of the mango stalls are located at the Alibhon market (Guimaras’ main trading market) in the town of Jordan the province’s capital. There are also a lot of products that are made of mangoes being sold there such as dried mangos, mango ketchup, mangga piaya and many more.

The best time of the year to visit Guimaras is during their Manggahan Festival held in April. Mangoes and other Guimaras’ products are on a week-long one stop trade fair at the Capitol grounds.

Boxes of Guimaras Mangoes for Pasalubong

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo - Iloilo Lifestyle Blog | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Guimaras Manggahan, Guimaras Mangoes

Mangga Eat-All-You-Can

More photos at Gigs Ilonggo OVI

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo - Iloilo Lifestyle Blog | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Guimaras Manggahan, Guimaras Manggahan 2010, Guimaras Manggahan Festival, Manggahan Festival

Located in the borders of Cabatuan and Sta. Barbara towns, Iloilo Airport is some 19 km northwest of Iloilo City or approximately a 30-minute drive. It lies on a 188-hectare site in Barangay Duyan-Duyan, split between the municipalities of Cabatuan, where the airport proper is located, and Santa Barbara, where the airport entrance and access road are located. It boosts to have one of the most modern facilities in the country today and ready to serve international flights sooner. Furthermore, it inherited the spot of the old Airport in Mandurriao as the 4th busiest airport in the Philippines after Ninoy Aquino International Airport – Metro Manila, Mactan-Cebu International Airport – Cebu and Francisco Bangoy International Airport – Davao.

Currently there are at least five airlines servicing the flights from Iloilo to Manila, Cebu and Davao vice versa; namely, Cebu Pacific Air, Air Philippines, Philippine Airlines, Zest Air and PAL Express (operated by Air Phil). The airport is presently serving the travelers from the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras and Antique.

How to get there:

The Iloilo International Airport is a 30-minute drive away from Iloilo City through a wide and smoothly paved highways traversing the towns of Pavia and Sta. Barbara. There is an Airport Shuttle at SM City Iloilo travelers lounge area. Jeepneys and taxis are also available. For more details see: How to get to Iloilo

Watch the video below for the detailed tour of the Iloilo International Airport.

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo - Iloilo Lifestyle Blog | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cabatuan, Iloilo Airport, Iloilo International Airport, Sta. Barbara

This year’s edition is focused on the theme “Sustainable Agri-Eco Tourism: through Community-based Approach”. The two-week celebration is set on April 5th until the 18th this year with activities mostly held at the Capitol Grounds in San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras. Join Guimarasnons in there celebration and thanksgiving, enjoy the colorful street dance competitions and indulge yourself in the Manga Eat-All-You-Can during this event.

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Schedule of Guimaras Manggahan Festival 2010:

April 5, 2010
2:00 PM – Manggahan sa Robinsons Opening Ceremony – Robinsons Place Iloilo

April 8, 2010
4:00 PM – Casual Wear Competition Mutya sang Guimaras – Robinsons Place Iloilo

April 11, 2010
Sponsored Mass – St. Michael the Archangel Parish

6:00 PM – Soft Opening Food Festival and Agri-Trade Fair / Disco Derby – Food Court Area/ Agri Trade Fair Area

April 12, 2010
8:00 AM – Opening Salvo Drum Corps, Farmer’s Parade, Street Dancing Competition and Float Parade – Jordan Food Terminal Market to Rotonda (Old Site) to Trade Fair Area

10:00 AM – Opening of Food Festival and Trade Fair – Foodcourt Area/ Agri-Trade Fair Area

8:00 AM – 3:00 PM – Farmer’s Congress – GTIC Function Hall

7:00 PM – 10:00 PM – Caterer’s Night – Food Court Area

8:00 PM – 11:00 PM – Live Band – Food Court Area

April 13, 2010
8:30 PM – 3:00 PM – Children’s Day – Provincial Gym

7:00 PM – 10:00 PM – Mutya sang Guimaras Talent Competition – Food Court Area

10:00 Pm – Live Band – Food Court Area

April 14, 2010
9:00 PM – Guimaras Youth Day – Provincial Gym

Rico Blanco Concert – Museo de Guimaras grounds

April 15, 2010
DSWD Regional Conference
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Mango Inspired Recipe Contest – Food Court Area

2:30 PM – Nutri-Pan Project for Elementary School Children (Inauguration and Launching) – Jordan Nutrition Production Center (Poblacion, Jordan)

Guimaras State College (GSC) Night – Food Court Area

April 16, 2010
DSWD Regional Conference – SP Session Hall

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM Manggahan Eat-All-You-Can

8:00PM – Mutya sang Guimaras / Live Band

April 17, 2010
9:00AM – 2:00PM – Investment Forum – GTIC Function Hall

10:00AM – 2:00PM – Manggahan Eat-All-You-Can

1:30PM – Job Fair and One Stop Shop with NGA’s – Provincial Gym

7:00PM – 10:00PM DepEd Night / Live Band

April 18, 2010 – Manggahan Festival 2010 Highlights
8:00AM Cultural Competition Comm. Based Rural Tourism (CBRT) / Liga ng Mga Barangay Congress- Food Court Area

8:00AM – 4:00PM – Municipal Festival Competition – Provincial Gym

10:00AM – 2:00PM – Manggahan Eat-All-You-Can

2:00PM – Sinadya sa Capitol /Sadsad – Agri-Trade Fair Area

2nd Manggahan Pyro-Musical Contest (Fireworks Display)/ Live Band – Capitol Grounds

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo - Iloilo Lifestyle Blog | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Guimaras Manggahan Festival, Manggahan Festival, Manggahan Festival 2010, Robinsons Place Iloilo, Tourism