GUIMARAS – Hubon Palayag of Buenavista emerged as the grand champion of the Manggahan Festival 2026 Cultural Competition, besting four other competing tribes during the grand showdown held on the evening of May 24 at the Guimaras Provincial Capitol Grounds.
The winning performance highlighted Buenavista’s rich cultural identity, focusing on the municipality’s leading abaca industry and its fishing tradition called palayag, which serves as a primary source of livelihood for many residents. The presentation also paid tribute to the victims of the Iloilo-Guimaras Strait sea tragedy on August 3, 2019, which claimed 31 lives.
Managed by Buenavista Mayor Samuel Gumarin, Hubon Palayag dominated the competition by also winning the awards for Best in Choreography, Best in Performance, and Best Theme and Concept. The group received a cash prize of P1.5 million.
The tribe’s choreographer, Steven Jacosalem, has also gained recognition for leading the Tultulgan Festival of Maasin to victory in the Kasadyahan sa Kabanwahanan 2026 and guiding Tribu Salognon of Jaro National High School to the championship title in the Dinagyang Tribes Competition 2026.
Meanwhile, Hubon Bulantihan of Jordan was named first runner-up and earned the Best in Production Design award along with a P1 million cash prize.
Hubon Balsahan of Sibunag finished as second runner-up, winning Best in Music and receiving P500,000 in prize money.
The remaining contenders, Tribu Sadsaran of Nueva Valencia and Tribu Panugday of San Lorenzo, each received P250,000 as consolation prizes.
Aside from the competition prizes, Cong. JC Rahman Nava announced that each of the province’s five municipalities that participated in this year’s cultural competition would receive P20 million worth of development projects to be implemented next year.
Nava and Gov. Ma. Lucille Nava expressed gratitude to the participating local government units for their unwavering support of their respective tribes, noting that such commitment has helped raise the quality of performances showcased during the festival.
The Manggahan Festival 2026 Cultural Competition served as the culminating event of the provincial government’s celebration of the 34th Manggahan Festival, which ran from May 15 to 25./PN
