Guimaras Governor JC Rahman Nava has explained why the island province “does not produce much mangoes”
In a press conference, Nava said mango farmers in the province focus on producing quality products rather than on quantity.
“I am trying to emphasize that we have the sweetest mangoes, but we don’t produce much. In fact, we are less than 10 percent share sa production,” the governor told reporters.
Compared to mangoes from other parts of the country, Guimaras-produced mangoes — touted as the sweetest in the world — cost a little bit higher.
According to Nava, their mango farmers follow quality control measures throughout the production process.
The mangoes were also granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2017. Based on the new rules issued by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), GI is defined as “any indication which identifies a good as originating in a territory, region or locality, where a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and/or human factors.”
Meanwhile, Vice Governor John Edward Gando noted that the province has an existing ordinance that prohibits farmers from harvesting mangoes below 115 days to assure the quality of their produce.
“We have local ordinance nga nagabawal sa pagharvest sang mangga nga below siya 115 days. Therefore, ang aton pajo, umpisa sa start asta sa pagharvest, 115 days siya nga exposed, so that’s how risky ang aton mango production sa Guimaras,” he said.
Gando attributed the decline in mango production to climate change, but he stressed that the quality remains the best.
“Last December asta first week sang January, daw almost naga-ulan di sa Guimaras, which affected the usual season sang mangga diri but we are assuring that the supply of mangoes for this year’s Manggahan Festival is enough,” he said.
This year, the Manggahan Festival returns to a face-to-face celebration after three years of restrictions due the COVID-19 pandemic.IMT
