This year’s 30th Manggahan Festival of Guimaras coincided with the release of the country’s first registration for geographical indication (GI) for Guimaras mangoes.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) noted in its website that it approved on May 13, 2023 the application of the Guimaras mangoes for GI registration.
Filed in November 2022, the application by Guimaras Mango Growers and Producers Development Cooperative (GMGPDC) was approved by IPOPHL after passing the Bureau of Trademarks’ thorough examination process.
During the month-long publication period that followed to allow for third-party protests, the association also did not face any concerns of possible damage to an existing trademark.
A GI seal certifies a link between the quality, characteristics and reputation of a product and its geographical source. It helps consumers differentiate between products by leveraging the reputation of the geographic location as a production site for goods that have particular desirable qualities such as a particular taste, smell, texture, and longevity.
A GI right enables those who have the right to use the indication to prevent its use by a third party whose product does not conform to the applicable standards. However, a protected GI does not enable the holder to prevent someone from making a product using the same techniques as those set out in the standards for that indication.
GIs are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, wine and spirit drinks, handicrafts, and industrial products.
The GMGPDC describes their fruit as a typical “Carabao” mango variety in its Manual of Specifications (MOP) for Guimaras Mangoes.
It is shaped like an ellipsoid with a rounded crown and an oblong end that features a distinct broad shoulder and full cheek weighing an average of 160 grams or more. Its flesh is meaty, smooth, firm, juicy and non-fibrous. It is also thin-seeded, making over 80 percent of the fruit edible.
Under the 2015 Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement, GIs also enjoy an indefinite duration of protection as long as the main geographically attributed qualities are preserved. Hence, unlike with the collective and certification mark systems, which require renewal after 10 years, GIs registered under the Geneva Act won’t need renewal, saving on both time and costs. To date, about 1,130 GIs are registered under the Geneva Act.
IPOPHIL has identified over 30 potential GIs, which are being assisted for domestic registration, and later international protection once the Philippines accedes to the Act.
There are proposed legislations that will make violation of GI a crime against the economic and cultural interests of the State, which means it can be enforced by the latter without private stakeholders initiating the process.
Guimaras’ mango production comprises 21 percent of Western Visayas’ total production.
About 60 percent is contributed by backyard growers while 40 percent by orchard. About 70 percent of the production is sold fresh while 30 percent is sold to local processors.
Mango is the Philippine national fruit, locally known as “mangga” and scientifically named Mangifera indica L.
It is the third most important fruit crop in the Philippines, next to banana and pineapple.
There are three well-known variety of mango in the Philippines: Carabao mango, Pico and Katchamita (Indian mango).
The Philippines ranks 10th among the top producers of mango in the world, with a 2.5 percent share in production. Asia accounts for approximately 77 percent of global mango production.
The Philippines exports fresh mango fruits to China, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea, while processed mango products are exported to Canada, France, and Germany.
Guimaras, formerly known as Himal-os, was a sub-province of Iloilo until it was made an independent province on May 22, 1992.
Since 1993, the month-long Manggahan Festival is a yearly cultural, agricultural, and food festivity held in May as a celebration of the mango fruit and agriculture.
A prevailing legend has it that two of its inhabitants called Guima and Aras, who were lovers, went swimming and never returned. Thus, in their honor, Himal-us was changed to Guimaras by the pre-Spanish Ilonggos.
In the 1960s, Dr. Ramon Barba, a Filipino horticulturalist from the University of the Philippines, developed a simple method for inducing early flowering in mango plants. His invention, widely used today, revolutionized the Philippine mango industry, making the crop one of the country’s top export earners.
I was in Guimaras during this year’s Manggahan festival, highlighted by a cultural dance contest among the five towns—Buenavista, Jordan, Nueva Valencia, San Lorenzo, and Sibunag—depicting the abundance of mangoes and the rich fishing community in the island-province.
Peyups is the moniker of University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0917-5025808 or 0908-8665786.