Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Province of Guimaras and Guimaras Small Coconut Farmers Federation conducted the 19th Kalubihan Festival.
The activity supports the National Coconut Week Celebration as mandated through the Presidential Proclamation No. 142 dated August 1987.
The Proclamation was issued by the former president Corazon C. Aquino, declaring Aug. 24-30, 1987 and every period thereafter as “National Coconut Week.”
The Provincial Government of Guimaras through Executive Order No. 012 series of 2002 issued by former governor JC Rahman Nava declared every 4th week of August as “Kalubihan Festival.”
During the festival on Aug. 22, 2019 at the Provincial Covered Gym in San Miguel, PCA Region 6 regional manager 3 Jeffrey A. de los Reyes encouraged coconut farmers to build their own coconut-related businesses.
“Guimaras group is a very potent group, amu ni ang ginahikot namon, because ako nagapati nga ang human capital is a very potent capital,” de los Reyes said.
“Siyempre ang kinanlanon ta sa capital kwarta, tawo, duta. Pero ang pinakaimportante sa tanan tawo and that is you,” he added. “Tani ining pwersa naton should result into something more potent, tani ining pwersa naton maconvert naton into something bala nga naga kita kamo.”
The festival lasted the entire day. It commenced with a thanksgiving mass and with activities including the Hataw sa Kalubihan games, cultural presentation and food festival.
The festival aims to give due recognition to the coconut stakeholders for their continuous support to the development and sustainability of the coconut farmers and of the coconut industry in the province.
Moreover, the festivals are held and are aimed to sustain awareness on the importance of the industry to the local economy.
Coconut farmer attendees were proud to present their coconut products ready for tasting as their support to the Kalubihan festival with the theme: “Niyog Arugain, Produkto Tangkilikin” and with over 600 coconut farmer participants all over the province./PN
