“GUIMARAS” ULTIMATE PARTY RETURNS MAY 20-22, 2022”

30 YEARS OF MANGGAHAN, RISING, REVIVING, REBUILDING

Frankly, I was as happy as a skunk in a perfume factory when I checked the Guimaras Province Facebook page. For those of you that do not think skunks adore perfume factories, I present the irresistible French skunk Pepé Le Pew as Exhibit #1. Pepé regularly pursued a black cat, Penelope, whom he mistook for a female skunk.

Penelope would often end up with a white stripe on her back, for example, when she would run under a recently painted white picket fence. Many of the French skunk’s cartoon episodes involve perfume as Penelope would oftentimes find Pepé’s smell quite repugnant. The suave skunk would often try to mask his smell with perfume. (During the Renaissance period, perfumes were used primarily by royalty and the wealthy to mask body odors resulting from the sanitary practices of the day.)

My Filipina wife once asked some celebratory party goers at Manggahan to lower their arms. The trio of men (of course) were waving their arms as they listened to a local band. Their armpits were emitting offensive odors. My spouse refers to this armpit smell as “kilikili. The guys wisely complied with my spouse’s request.

However, being married to yours truly for over 22 years, one would think she would be used to obnoxious fumes, especially after I’ve indulged in a bowl of chili with beans. Who says the wearing of face masks began during the COVID-19 pandemic?

While Pepé Le Pew has absolutely nothing to do with the Pearl Anniversary of Manggahan 2022, regular readers know that “The Kano” often digresses from the main topic at hand. When you reach your Seventies, you, too, will find yourself oftentimes wandering off topic.

That said, the official Guimaras Province Facebook page rallies all residents with the following slogan for the 2022 Manggahan Festival: RISING. REVIVING. REBUILDING.

Graphic courtesy of the Guimaras Provincial Facebook page. Actual street dancers are more attractive in person (see photos below.)

The island province we call home is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the mango with a blended celebration in 2022. The Philippines exports more than $90 million worth of mangoes every year.
Thus, it’s one of the top 10 producers in the world. That’s reason enough to have a festival and celebrate. Guimaras’ Ultimate Party will be held May 20-22. Guimaras broke off from the rascally inhabitants of Iloilo on May 22, 1992, and became a full-fledged province. Therefore, Manggahan has been ending on the 22nd in the past several years to celebrate its provincehood.

Guimaras had previously gained its status as a sub-province of Iloilo on 18 June 1966. According to Wikipedia, around 1581, the Spanish established a settlement in Guimaras for the purpose of Christianizing the island’s natives

But enough chatter here’s a look at some of the past Manggahan Festivals we’ve attended over the years.

chicken dancers from manggahan
they love to dance at Manggahan
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