47. LEGENDS: GUIMA & ARAS AND THE MANGG

LEGENDS: GUIMA & ARAS AND THE MANGGA

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

05 October 2017

While enjoying baked oyster at my favorite restaurant at seaside Iloilo City, the Stanley Talabahan located at Sto. Niño Sur, Villa Arevalo District, I can see clearly the island-province of Guimaras across the Iloilo Straight. My last visit on the island was on May 25 of this year right after the famous Manggahan Festival 2017 which lasted for twelve days from May 11 to 22. The festival connived with the 25^th founding anniversary of Guimaras as a regular province.

My impish mind prompted me to research the name origin of the Guimaras and our national fruit – the mango. Jahweh Huerta of the thedailyroar.com wrote: In the Philippines, we call it “Mangga”, a tagalong word for mango. Mangoes can be found anywhere in the country. You can even see mango trees on the backyard of most Filipinos. This is why Mango is considered as the national fruit of the Philippines.
There are varieties of mangga in the Philippines. The most famous is the “Kinalabaw” (carabao mango or champagne mango). This is considered as the sweetest mango in the world. Another kind of mango is “Pico”. I f you’re looking for a sour or rather say “extra-sour” mango, better eat this one raw, for sure “mapapa-mukhasim ka sa sarap!”, as what Filipinos say. Indian Mango is also a popular kind of mangga in the Philippines. This is a small mango usually eaten raw. And lastly, the “apple mango”, this one is a reddish mango. It has a different taste among all the other mangoes that makes it a very special mangga. Filipinos love eating “manggang hilaw” (green-raw mangoes) with rock salt, fish paste “bagoong” or the famous shrimp paste “alamang”.

There are many versions of the legend how the name and the fruit came to be. The version in shairaleasprd.wordpress.com narrates: There was a lovely young lady named Maria whose father Mang Ado was a very cruel man. Mang Ado wanted Maria to marry a rich young man named Pedro. But Maria was already in love with a handsome and kind young boy named Julio. Maria and Julio had been engaged secretly. Maria hated Pedro because he was arrogant just like her father. One day, Maria learned that her beloved was dead. Stricken with grief, she wanted to die also. She wrote a letter, put it under her pillow and went out of the house through the window. Maria’s mother Minda found the letter which was addressed to Mang Ado. When Mang Ado read the letter, he fell asleep and had a dream. When Mang Ado woke up, he found himself walking towards the stream where Julio died. He saw a tree which grew overnight with fruits shaped like a heart and in golden color. Mang Ado picked a fruit and brought it inside the house. He showed the fruit to Minda. When Minda held the fruit it seemed to grow warm and to beat just like Maria heart. Both parents started to cry. They realized that it was Maria who they earlier saw embracing the dead body of her lover, Julio, along a stream. The fruit was so good to eat and was called Mango after Mang Aldo. The fruit reminded parents never to break their children’s heart.

A famous Guimaras name origin folklore recounted the story of the ill-fated lovers Princess Guima and the slave Aras.  Princess Guima was betrothed by her father to a noble man but she and Aras escaped and disappeared in the raging seas. Princess Guima’s father regretted his daughter’s disappearance and in anguish would call for Guima and Aras, and his haunting voice would reverberate all over the seas. 

However, R. Morales Maza’s “The Augustinians in Panay” published in 1987 revealed another version how the island-province got its name. The Spaniards may have cruised close to the southern coasts of Negros and Panay Islands in 1521 and the Portuguese mariner Ferdinand Magellan could have given the name Guimaraez to the small island lying very near to Panay’s southeast shores to immortalize a locality in his homeland in Portugal. Guimaraez is a municipality located in northern Portugal in the district of Braga. Its historic town center is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved and authentic example of the evolution of a medieval settlement into a modern town" in Europe. Guimarães has a significant historical importance due to the role it played in the foundation of Portugal. The municipality is often referred to as the "birthplace of the Portuguese nationality" or "the cradle city" (Cidade Berço in Portuguese) because it is widely believed that Portugal's first king, Don Afonso Henriques (1109-1185) or Afonso I, was born there, and also due to the fact that the Battle of São Mamede on June 24, 1128 which is considered the seminal event for the foundation of the Kingdom of Portugal was fought in the vicinity of the city. The name Guimaraez later evolved to Guimaras.

Originally named Himal-us, Guimaras was colonized and Christianized by the Augustinians in 1581 through Oton town in southern Panay Island. In 1742, the island came under the jurisdiction of Dumangas, Iloilo until 1751 when the Augustinians was replaced by the Jesuits, after which the Dominican Order took over. On June 18, 1966, by virtue of of Republic Act 4667, Guimaras became a sub-province of Iloilo. On May 22, 1992, the sub-province of Guimaras became a regular and full-fledged province. The 604.57 square kilometer province is composed of minor islets of Inampulugan, Guiwanon (or Guiuanon), Panobolon, Natunga, Nadulao and the municipalities of Buenavista, the capital Jordan, Nueva Valencia, San Lorenzo and Sibunag. 

Home of the Manggahan Festival, Guimaras hovered with legends but filled with the fact that its mangoes are the best and sweetest in the world.