GUIMARAS – Mango lovers trooped to the provincial capitol field yesterday to feast on unlimited mangoes as the famous Mango Eat-All-You-Can of the Manggahan Festival kicked off.
One of the highlights of the festival, it will run until Monday, May 22.
The provincial government prepared around 10 tons of ripe mangoes for the four-day event.
“For 30 minutes they can eat as much mangoes as they want. Takeout of unconsumed mango is not allowed,” said supervising agriculturist Rosalie Dela Cruz.
Participants can feast on unlimited mangoes for 30 minutes for only P150.
Those who want their Mango Eat-All-You-Can experience extra special may avail themselves of the “gold card” or “VIP fast past”. Aside from a guaranteed slot or priority access to the Mango Eat-All-You-Can event, it also comes with other perks such ferry transport fares, transportation to the venue, registration fee, bottled water, and a folded fan.
There are eight batches of mango eat-all-you-can eaters each day for four days.
According to the organizer, each participant can devour an average of four to five mangoes.
Meanwhile, Gov. JC Rahman Nava, along with Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, Guimaras’ Rep. Lucille Nava, Uswag Ilonggo party-list’s Rep. James “Jojo” Ang, Vice Gov. John Edward Gando, and actor Philip Salvador, joined the mango eaters on the first day of the event.
Go couldn’t help but praise the sweetness of Guimaras mangoes.
“Sobrang tamis. Sobrang sarap ng Guimaras mango,” he said.
Tourist Darwin Garche who joined the unlimited mango eating echoed the same.
“Nakita namon sa Facebook nga may eat-all-you-can diri nga manga. Ti, nagkadto kami diri. Tam-is siya, namit gid,” he said.
Nava, for his part, invited the public to come to this year’s Manggahan Festival and enjoy several lined-up activities like the Mango Eat-All-You-Can.
“Gina-imbitar gid naton ang tanan nga magkari sa Guimaras kag mag-eksperyensya sang ginatawag nila sweetest mango in the world,” Nava said./PN
