From November 15 to 18, Mamburao, the capital city of Occidental Mindoro, became the center of activities of this year’s Mimaropa festival.
Celebrating the unity and progress of the five island-provinces of Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan (Mimaropa), the fourth edition of the annual festival gave opportunities for further economic, social and cultural development of the region.
Occidental Mindoro Gov. Mario Gene J. Mendiola said, “It is our honor to host the Fourth Mimaropa Festival. I believe this is the only regional festival in the country and we even have a unity dance for the celebration. We hope that all guests will bring home happy memories of the festival just like us. We are very happy to witness the customs, history, culture and traditional practices from other provinces. We would like to host the Mimaropa festival once again.”
The Fourth Mimaropa Festival held its grand opening at the Provincial Capitol compound in Mamburao. It was also marked by an investment forum that tackled the region’s requirements for a steady power supply, as well as the immediate improvement of accessibility within the provinces.
“We are also focusing on sustainable tourism,” said Maria Luisa S. Diploma, DOT Mimaropa regional director. She revealed that the regional tourism office will be promoting not just the provinces’ natural attractions, but destinations known for their green practices, as well. But, mostly, “we want to be remembered for our hospitality,” she added.
The highlights of the four-day festival included the agri-trade, tourism night, the coronation of Ginoo & Binibining Mimaropa 2018, and the grand street dance parade and competition.
This year’s Binibining Mimaropa title was bagged by Reyna Michelle Ruhen of Palawan while the Ginoong Mimaropa title went to Janvert Rodriguez of Occidental Mindoro.
For the street dance competition, defending champions Occidental Mindoro was judged as the grand winner with their depiction of the Mangyan culture in a snappy song-and-dance routine. The contingent won its third grand championship. The Palawan contingent was first runner-up while Puerto Princesa came in second, Calapan City in third, Oriental Mindoro in fourth and Romblon in fifth place.
The contingent from Palawan garnered the Best in Costume award, Occidental Mindoro the Best in Musicality and Puerto Princesa the Best in Street Dance.
The festival was capped by a fireworks display and send-off party featuring a mini concert by six Cyclemind.
In view of the concluded festival, Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Y. Ramirez-Sato said, “It’s great working with other provinces, we never felt so united before. We never experienced this kind of pride for Mimaropa, that’s the best thing that happened in the festival.” The representative also highly anticipates the region’s growth, particularly with the development of several tourism projects in Occidental Mindoro.
“There’s going to be a world-class hotel in Mamburao. We are also going to have [leisure] yacht cruises in routes connecting all the provinces. The plans are in place but we’re still finalizing details. We would like to address first the local market, improve and build on it, since we have a lot to offer.”
Occidental Mindoro is famous for its underwater paradise, the Apo Reef Natural Park, in the town of Sablayan. It is the largest atoll-like reef in Asia and the second largest in the world, next to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Next year, the Apo Reef Tuna sports fishing competition will be launched. Thus, infrastructure projects, such as fish ports, cold storage and blast freezing facilities, are being constructed and developed in the towns of Sablayan, Paluan, Rizal and San Jose.
The Rizal municipality is also known for the tamaraws, the wild buffaloes endemic to the island province of Mindoro. As the national symbol, tamaraws are considered attractions in their natural habitat, but due to their dwindling number, the 543 tamaraws are on the critically endangered list. To assist the townspeople in their effort to preserve and protect the tamaraws, an international conference was recently held and the creation of a national research center, in cooperation with the Department of Science and Technology, is under way.
“We would have implemented a tourism program earlier but we wanted to put in the necessary infrastructure [first]. That’s the reason why we went slow with our tourism projects. We want to attract the right tourists, so must offer the right kind of tourism. We want to give our best,” added Ramirez-Sato.
Ahead of the Mimaropa festival, the annual Arawatan festivities took place from November 8 to 14. Arawatan, a Mangyan Hanunoo word meaning “cooperation” and “helping each other,” is Occidental Mindoro’s province-wide festival that showcases the different municipalities’ rural way of life, and the culture and tradition of the Mangyan communities. Activities for this year’s Arawatan festival mainly took place at the Mamburao Capitol Plaza compound.
The province of Occidental Mindoro is composed of the municipalities of Lubang, Looc, Abra de Ilog, Paluan, Mamburao, Santa Cruz, Sablayan, Calintaan, Rizal, San Jose and Magsaysay.
Image credits: Teddy Pelaez