HISTORY
In 1521, after the defeat of Ferdinand
Magellan, the Spanish survivors aboard
three vessels went to Leyte to undergo
some repairs. Later they abandoned
one of the vessels named Concepcion in
Bohol for being unseaworthy and sailed
towards the nearby islands of Negros
and Panay.
R. Morales, an author of the book The
Augustinians in Panay published in
1987, believed that the Spaniards must
have cruised close to the southern
coasts of Negros and Panay. The utterly
homesick Portuguese mariner could
have given the name Guimaraez to that
small island lying very near to Panays
southeast shores, in order to
immortalize in this part of the world the
first capital of the country and the
birthplace of Portuguese nationality:
Guimaraez..
FOODS
The Guimaras mangoes or the mango
variety produced in Guimaras are also
best for jams, dried mangoes and other
food products. One establishment has
discovered another use of mangoes, on
pizzas! Yes, mango pizza, a fruity and
tangy twist for pizzas. Its not prepared
like the usual Hawaiian pizzas where
we find pineapples so expect a totally
different one.
LANGUAGE
The people of Guimaras
are considered as Ilonggo
and their Dialect
is Hiligaynonand Kinaray-a
as it was once a sub-
province of
Iloilo. Hiligaynon is the
major language spoken
although the people can
understand and
speak Tagalog and
English.
LIVELIHOOD
Guimarasnons derive their livelihood
from the bounties of the land and its
surrounding seas. Palay, coconut,
mango, cashew, calamansi, camote,
corn, vegetables, livestock, poultry and
fishery products are the major produce
of the province. Meanwhile, small scale
CAPITAL
Jordan which is the capital town
comprises 21 percent or almost the
same area with that of Buenavista;
while Nueva Valencia has the
largest, 137 sq km or 23 percent,
Sibunag has 20 percent and San
Lorenzo gets the smallest, 93 sq km
or 15 percent of the provinces land
area.