Friday, April 18, 2008

"MARINDUQUE RISING!"


“MARINDUQUE RISING!”


Marinduque as the heart of the Philippines is not a myth. The root of various expressions of Tagalog culture, traditions, indigenous arts, including a language that has evolved into today’s national form could be traced to Marinduque. In the vast expanse of time and history, this small island province (959 sq km.), became part of Batangas, Mindoro, the former Tayabas (Quezon), and a brief association with Romblon during the early American period.

The sounds and colors of the “Moriones” and “Putong” rituals, the fierce patriotism of our forefathers as expressed in the “Battle of Pulang Lupa” and many other battles, the renewed sense of identity and power to rise above man-made or nature-wrought conflicts - these today make up the true Marinduqueno character.

While coconut production and fishing remain the major industries, and livestock and poultry continue to be raised alongside production of rice and crops like bananas, rootcrops and mangoes, butterfly breeding in one of the region’s most natural habitats for butterflies has also attracted farmers as an additional income source. The churning of new entrepreneurial products like buntal handlooms, arrowroot flour and cookies, diverse softwood items, nito wares, virgin coconut-oil, fish paste and butterfly by-products are finding their way into the export market.

The laid-back ambience of the province set against rolling hills and forest mountains, rice and vegetable farms, pristine white sand, crushed coral or pebble beaches, over a hundred caves largely unexplored, (they once served as burial grounds for our forefathers), old churches and colonial houses, and a culture-bound people that have kept intact but are ready to share their unique cultural heritage to the new generation and to the rest of the world, are some of Marinduque’s natural wonders.

Today, the development of Marinduque, together with its outlying islands, as a major tourist destination is being pursued vigorously by the provincial government under the stewardship of Governor Jose Antonio N. Carrion. Marinduque rises, thus, as a new tourist destination in south Luzon.

Carrion’s advocacy of a separate regional grouping for the south Luzon island provinces for tourism development and as a food basket has received wide support. Today MIMAROPA continues to make its presence felt in the national political mainstream.

With the Southern Tagalog Tourism Council Assembly, set in June this year - in Marinduque - the tale of the twin regions of CALABARZON and MIMAROPA, the cradle of national history and culture, are put into focus to further contribute to tourism’s growth. They meet at the very nation’s core where the heart pulsates with new life, where friendly arms reach out wide to a warm embrace to make you feel "you're back home, kapatid!"

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