Guimaras

"Guimaras Island" redirects here. For other uses, see Guimaras (disambiguation).

Guimaras
Province
Province of Guimaras
Flag Seal
Nickname:  Mango Capital of the Philippines
Location in the Philippines
OpenStreetMap
Coordinates: 10°34′N 122°35′E
Country	Philippines
Region	Western Visayas
Founded	May 22, 1581
Capital	Jordan
Government
• Type	Sangguniang Panlalawigan
• Governor	Samuel Gumarin (PDP-LABAN)
• Vice Governor	John Edward Gando (LP)
• Congresswoman	Maria Lucille Nava (LP)
Area
• Total	604.57 km2 (233.43 sq mi)
• Rank	77th out of 81
Highest elevation (Mount Dinulman)	267 m (876 ft)
Population  (2020 census)
• Total	187,842
• Rank	74th out of 81
• Density	310/km2 (800/sq mi)
• Rank	28th out of 81
Divisions
• Independent cities	0
• Component cities	0
• Municipalities	5 Buenavista Jordan Nueva Valencia San Lorenzo Sibunag
• Barangays	98
• Districts	Lone district of Guimaras
Time zone	UTC+8 (PHT)
ZIP code	5044–5048
IDD : area code	+63 (0)33
ISO 3166 code	PH-GUI
Spoken languages	Hiligaynon Kinaray-a Ati Filipino English
Income classification	4th class
Website	guimaras.gov.ph

Guimaras [ɡimaˈɾas] (Hiligaynon: Kapuoran sang Guimaras; Kinaray-a: Probinsiya kang Guimaras; Tagalog: Lalawigan ng Guimaras) is an island province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is Jordan. The province is situated in the Panay Gulf, between the islands of Panay and Negros. To the northwest is the province of Iloilo and to the southeast is Negros Occidental. The whole island is part of the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras, one of the twelve metropolitan areas of the Philippines.

The province consists primarily of Guimaras Island, and also includes Inampulugan, Guiwanon (or Guiuanon), Panobolon, Natunga, Nadulao, and many surrounding islets. Geologists have concluded that the island once formed one landmass with Panay.

Guimaras, formerly known as Himal-us, was a sub-province of Iloilo until it was made an independent province on May 22, 1992.

History

Spanish era

About 1581, Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa, Spanish governor and Captain-General of the Philippine Islands, established a settlement in Guimaras for the purpose of Christianizing the island's natives. He and his subordinates organized the pueblicitos or villages of Nayup under the patronage of Saint Peter the Apostle, and Igang with Saint Anne as patroness.

Evangelization of Guimaras occurred around the same time the friars were making inroads in Panay. The Augustinians established the visitas (chapelries) of Nayup and Igang as subordinate to Oton, Iloilo. Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, the 7th Spanish Governor-General, noted in a 20 June 1591 report to King Philip II that the friars of Oton made regular visits to the island.

In 1742, the island came under the jurisdiction of Dumangas – now known as Iloilo, until 1751 when the Augustinian Order was replaced by the Jesuits, after which the Dominican order took over Guimaras. The Jesuits, who had established a school in Iloilo and had missions in Molo and Arevalo, took charge of the island. By 1755, it was organized into a regular parish. When the population increased considerably, the island was given its municipal status with a seat of government at Tilad (today Buenavista).

In 2019, three motor bancas flipped due to strong winds and waves. Some didn't make it. A similar accident happened years ago in 2015 where also a motor banca was flipped due to the same reason.

American era

Under American rule, the Guimarasnons were given the opportunity to elect their municipal president in 1908.

Douglas MacArthur, a fresh graduate from West Point as a Second Lieutenant at the age of 23, came to Iloilo as the head of the company of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They constructed roads and the Santo Rosario Wharf, presently named MacArthur's Wharf, which are still in use today. In November 1903, while working on Guimaras, he was ambushed by a pair of Filipino brigands or guerrillas; he shot and killed both with his pistol.

In 1942, Japanese Imperial forces landed on Guimaras Island as the Empire of Japan began its occupation of the country during the Second World War.

In 1945, the combined United States and Philippine Commonwealth forces landed on Guimaras Island, attacking the Japanese and defeating them in the Battle of Guimaras, which led to the liberation of the island.

Provincial status

Guimaras gained its status as a sub-province of Iloilo through Republic Act 4667, which was enacted by Congress on 18 June 1966. It was proclaimed as a regular and full-fledged province on 22 May 1992 after a plebiscite was conducted to ratify the approval of its conversion pursuant to Section 462 of R.A. 7160.

Shortly after Guimaras acquired its provincial status, President Fidel V. Ramos appointed Emily Relucio-López as its first Governor.

The province of Guimaras was originally composed of three municipalities: Buenavista, Jordan, and Nueva Valencia. In 1995, through Republic Act No. 7896 and Republic Act No. 7897, the municipalities of Sibunag and San Lorenzo were created. The two new municipalities officially acquired their municipal status after the May 8, 1995 plebiscite held simultaneously with the local election.

Ernesto L. Gedalanga was the first appointed mayor of Sibunag and Arsenio Zambarrano was also appointed mayor of San Lorenzo. The temporary seat of government of the Municipality of Sibunag is at Barangay Dasal while the temporary seat of Government of the Municipality of San Lorenzo is at Barangay Cabano.

Guimaras oil spill

In August 2006, the Guimaras oil spill occurred. The 998-ton MT Solar 1, chartered by Petron (the Philippines' largest oil refiner), carrying 2.4 million litres of bunker fuel, sank 17 kilometres (11 mi) off the island's southern coast, contaminating 24 square kilometres (9.3 sq mi). The Philippine Coast Guard called this the worst oil spill in the country's history. According to officials, 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) of mangroves were affected, including parts of the Taklong Island National Marine Reserve.

Geography

Guimaras comprises primarily of Guimaras Island, and the minor islets of Inampulugan, Guiwanon (or Guiuanon), Panobolon, Natunga, Nadulao and many more. The province covers a total area of 604.57 square kilometres (233.43 sq mi) occupying the southeastern section of the Western Visayas region.

The province has 5 municipalities. There is only one legislative district of Guimaras which encompasses all five towns.

	Municipality		Population			±% p.a.	Area		Density		Barangay
			(2015)		(2010)		km2	sq mi	/km2	/sq mi
	Buenavista		28.9%	50,437	46,703	+1.48%	128.26	49.52	390	1,000	36
	Jordan	†	20.7%	36,096	34,791	+0.70%	126.11	48.69	290	750	14
	Nueva Valencia		22.8%	39,810	37,852	+0.96%	137.12	52.94	290	750	22
	San Lorenzo		15.0%	26,112	24,032	+1.59%	93.04	35.92	280	730	12
	Sibunag		12.7%	22,158	19,565	+2.40%	120.04	46.35	180	470	14
	Total			174,613	162,943	+1.33%	604.57	233.43	290	750	98
		†  Provincial capital					Municipality

Demographics

Population census of
Guimaras

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1990 117,990 —     1995 126,470 +1.31% 2000 141,450 +2.43%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 2007 151,238 +0.93% 2010 162,943 +2.75% 2015 174,613 +1.33%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

The population of Guimaras in the 2020 census was 187,842 people, with a density of 310 inhabitants per square kilometre or 800 inhabitants per square mile.

The people of the province, called Guimarasnon, speak Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a as the primary languages, as it was once a sub-province of Iloilo. Filipino and English are widely spoken and understood.

Economy

Mangoes galore in the Guimaras Manggahan Festival

The province is basically agricultural with mangoes, palay, coconuts, livestock, poultry and fishing as major products. Its major industries are tourism, fruit processing, coconut processing, fish farming, handicrafts making, mining, quarrying and lime production.

Guimaras greenery

Guimaras is well known for its agricultural crops, particularly the mangoes, where some +50,000 of these trees are planted. The island province is famous for producing one of the sweetest mangoes in the world, thus earning the nickname "Mango Capital of the Philippines" from local and foreign tourists. Guimaras mangoes are reportedly served at the White House and Buckingham Palace. Guimaras' largest event of the year is the Manggahan Festival (the Mango Festival). The variety of mangoes produced are also best for making dried mangoes, jam and other special delicacies.

Transportation

From Guimaras, a view of Iloilo City across the Iloilo Strait.

Located southeast of Panay, Guimaras is separated from Iloilo by the Iloilo Strait, a narrow channel which takes about twenty to twenty-five minutes to cross by pump boat from Ortiz in Iloilo City to Jordan, Guimaras. Other ferries leave from the Parola wharf in Iloilo to Buenavista. The Parola wharf is used exclusively during rough weather conditions especially by ferries from Jordan-Ortiz. A roll-on/roll-off ferry travels around five times a day but is mostly used to transport cargoes such as sacks of charcoals and root crops from Guimaras to Iloilo.

There is also a pump boat service connecting the town of San Lorenzo to Pulupandan in Negros Occidental.

Government

• House of Representatives: Lucille Nava (Liberal Party)
• Governor: Samuel T. Gumarin (Liberal Party)
• Vice Governor: John Edward G. Gando (Liberal Party)

Tourism

• Manggahan Festival
• Taklong Island

See also

• List of islands of the Philippines
• Taklong Island National Marine Reserve

External links

• Media related to Guimaras at Wikimedia Commons
• Provincial Government of Guimaras
• Geographic data related to Guimaras at OpenStreetMap