ILOILO CITY – The island province of Guimaras has revived the Maggahan Festival, hoping to pump up its economy after two years of disastrous pandemic and to help it recover too from the ill-effects of typhoon Odette that struck Eastern and Western Visayas and neighboring provinces in 2021.

Not to be confused with the Mango Festival of Zambales province, the Manggahan Festival is a commemoration of independence of Guimaras which used to be a sub-province of Iloilo until it was made an independent province in May 22, 1992.

“We are celebrating the province’s 30th anniversary on May 22,” said Liberty Ferrer, Guimaras provincial tourism officer.

“Most of our events will be on May 20 to 22,” she added.

The festival kicked off with the much-awaited mango eat-all-you-can at the capitol grounds in Jordan town, which is literally meant to emphasize the promotion of the province as the ‘mango country’ of Western Visayas. Guimaras is known for its sweet mango variety.

The Guimaras folks also consider the weeklong celebration as a way to help the province recover from the shock of the pandemic and the destruction left by typhoon Odette.

“We are trying to bounce back,” said Elena Vilches Quezon, chief of the Guimaras Provincial Economic Development Office.

Vilches-Quezon stressed that indeed the province suffered so much as Odette ravaged the Visayas region in 2021, with the cost of damage to the fisheries sector estimated to be P210 million.

But life must go on, and Guimaras just would not want to be left behind.

“Guimaras should not be left behind in Region 6 ,” said Vilches-Quezon.

Aside from the mango-eat-all-you-can, the festival also opened the agri-trade fair.