City of Ilagan Mammangi Festival 2024: Dedicated to each Ilagueno and their journey towards a Liveable City for 2030

Mammangi is known to be an Ybanag term for harvest and cultivation of corn. The City of Ilagan in Isabela is known to be the corn capital of the Philippines, standing at a vast 33,500 hectares of production areas for corn. Mammangi Festival is named the official festival in 2011. The grand corn harvest festival for this year happened on April 26 to May 11, 2024, and was aptly themed “City of Ilagan 2030: Isinasapuso Ng Bawat Ilagueño.” 

Feeding off the energy and ideals of their previous year, this year's theme of Mammangi Festival takes things a step further for it celebrates not just their corn harvest their farmers, but celebrates each and every Ilagueno present- whatever their profession and aspirations may be. 

While the festival is primarily to honor mammangi (corn farmers) and their heroic hard work in the fields, there are a couple of things that shake up this year's to be more exciting than the last. It is also about diving deep into their culture and history, and from there creating a clear path of where the citizens of Ilagan want to be, come their 2030 goals. 

Baranggay Night and Inter Cluster Cultural Dance Contest

This is evident with the Baranggay Night as a part of the weeks long festival. This is the night wherein contributions and dedication of the barangays in creating a peaceful and a better future for Ilagan was recognized. 

The event was attended as well by the Vice Governor of Isabela, Faustino "Bojie" Dy III. And aside from giving recognition to baranggays for their collective efforts, they also invested in their time to showcase their talents, with the Inter Cluster Cultural Dance Contest. The contest was judged by people that is well versed in the cultural dance craft here in the Philippines, Ms. Lisa Jane Guanco, Mr. Randy Carlos Guevarra, and Mr. Robert Medina.

The clusters of baranggays gave their best. First dance is inspired from Ifugao, Banga Salidsid from San Antonio Cluster, The next was from the Western Cluster, which took inspiration from our spanish occupation time. North Eastern Cluster reflected their number on how fiestas are celebrated here in our country, and took time to try sayaw sa bangko and tinikling. 

Poblacion Cluster gave it their all with the dance Mangalay, a dance from our people in Mindanao, and they took home the winnings with this dance, as they executed it flawlessly.   

The following barangays were awarded Outstanding Barangay Awards for their exemplary performance in various areas: 

Brgy. Lullutan for Disaster Preparedness

Brgy. Osmena for Financial Management

Brgy. Alibagu for Safety, Peace, and Order

Brgy. Alinguigan 2nd for Health Compliance and Responsiveness

Brgy. Bliss Village for Environmental Management and Sanitation

Brgy. Calamangui 1st for Sustainable Education

Brgy. Cabisera 3 for Social Protection

Brgy. Sta Isabel Sur for Youth Development

Brgy. Cabisera 10 for Tourism Development

Brgy. Baligatan for Business Friendliness and Competitiveness

Everyone was amazed by the dazzling barangay night. But it was made even more joyful by guest artists Wally Bayola and Allan K from GMA Kapuso. 

Binibining Ilagan 2024

They also held a search for the Binibining Ilagan 2024. It was a grand gala represented by 20 beauties from different baranggays of Ilagan, which expressed their elegance, wit and love for their city. The ladies had quite the shoes to fill, with last year's winner Ms. Kristine Joy Guzman from Marana 1st bagging not just this but also the Queen Isabela Crown from the last Bambanti Festival. 

This year's special guest was the Asia’s Multimedia Star and Box Office King. Alden Richards, who serenaded not just the wonderful ladies, but the people present at the Complex as well. After a grueling question and answer portion, it was a back to back win for Baranggay Alibagu, with her two queens crowned as Bb. Ilagan and Bb. Turismo, Sining at Kultura.

This year's winners were: 

Bb. Ilagan 2024 #9 Johnlene Ariola of Brgy Alibagu

Bb. Turismo, Sining, at Kultura #6 Claire Arce of Brgy Alibagu

Bb. Agrikultura #18 Lalaine Bulan of Brgy Bangag

1st Runner up #12 Justine Molly Asis of Brgy Alinguigan 1st

2nd Runner up #15 Valerie Ann May delos Santos of Brgy Sindon Bayabo.

Agri Ecotourism Tienda Ilagan and Mammangi Festival Street Dance and Showdown Competition

The Tienda Ilagan Agri Ecotourism booths are one of the main attractions. It looked splendid by day, and even more regal at night. The booths are there to unite the communities despite it being a competition, as one of the goals is to promote the City of Ilagan's locally made products. 

 

Which in turn meant increased employment opportunities and revenue. Each booth showcased the spirit of barangay ingenuity, which brought to life the unique stories of each barangay through their creative displays.

The main number of the whole festival is the Mammangi Festival Street Dance and Showdown Competition. 

The atmosphere was electric, charged with the excitement from over 800 Streetdancers from 4 Cluster Regions of the City, alongside 1,200 Dancers from Isabela National Highschool participants. These eight contingents,(Poblacion 1, Poblacion 2, Western 1, Western 2, Northeastern 1, Northeastern 2, San Antonio 1, and San Antonio 2) danced gracefully and full of passion, donned in their colorful props and costumes that highlighted the corn harvest and cultural heritage of the city. 

Certain safety measures were taken to account the fact that the weather has been too hot lately, with medics present all around the Sports Complex, making sure participants are well hydrated, spacing out the dances and making sure to start the parades a bit later, at around 5PM this time to account for the massive heat index. 

Every participating barangay was bestowed with the treasure of project prizes, with Poblacion 2 claiming the grand prize of P1 million in infra and development projects from the city government. 

Winners list:

Agri Eco Tourism Booth

Category A

Champion – Western 1

1st Runner Up – San Antonio 1

2nd Runner Up – Poblacion 2

Category B

Champion – ISELCO 2

1st Runner Up – Sagittarian

2nd Runner Up – Dept. of Agriculture

Street Dance Competition

Some photos taken during the Streetdance and Showdown Competition

Champion – Poblacion 2

1st Runner Up – San Antonio 2

2nd Runner Up – Western 1

3rd  Runner Up – Poblacion 1

Showdown Competition

Champion – Poblacion 2

1st Runner Up – Poblacion 1

2nd Runner Up – San Antonio 2

3rd Runner Up – San Antonio 1

Overall Winner

Champion – Poblacion 2

1st Runner Up – San Antonio 2/Western 2

2nd Runner Up – Western 1

Mammangi Festival is not just about the harvest, entertainment and having fun, but it is also a time for reflection and gratitude. 

Gratitude that the City of Ilagan government officers leading the people stated they were fortunate to have anticipated the negative effects of the El Niño phenomenon, resulting in only a minimal number of farmers being affected by the harsh dry season. The local government devised a mitigation strategy by aiding farmers in planting their corn and rice harvests between November and December 2023. This method enabled farmers to reap ample crops four months into the planting season, preceding the onset of the phenomenon in March of the current year.

The reflection for gratitude is true especially after the dance showdown and concert happened. There was an opportunity for the community to come together and give thanks for the blessings they have received, as well as to pray for a prosperous future for themselves and their loved ones was evident. They even paid tribute up above despite having their church fall down and crumble to ashes by a fire that started a week or so before their city's festival.

Special Guests present during that night to serenade the City of Ilagan were Jona Viray, Jessica Villarubin and Tom Rex among others. 

Gawad Ilagueno and Grand Concert with December Avenue

The Gawad Ilagueno was what we witnessed last before we headed home.The Gawad Ilagueno awards is all about recognizing exceptional Ilagueño achievement. Fun fact: Ricci Paolo Rivero of Phoenix Fuel Masters in PBA (Philippine Basketball Assosciation) was also given this award for the field of sports. 

This is followed by the Grand Musical Concert at the City Sports Complex. The Grand Concert was performed by December Avenue. It was definitely a night for lots of deep feelings, with everyone raising their phones with flashlight on, akin to a billion stars within the crowd. There was also a proposal that happened while one of December Avenue's songs was playing.

The Mammangi Festival aims to promote and market the City of Ilagan through high-quality locally-made products, creating more employment opportunities. It seeks to foster unity among communities for greater socio-economic and cultural development, while showcasing, promoting, and preserving the rich cultural heritage, resilience, and industry of the Ilagueños.

Special thanks are due to City Councilor and Director General Jay Eveson C. Diaz, RN, DPA, for his exemplary leadership and dedication in heading the Mammangi Festival 2024. We also commend Sir Nilo Agustin, the festival director, for his exceptional organizational prowess and creativity in crafting such a memorable event. Additionally, we express our gratitude to Mayor Josemarie L. Diaz, DMD, MBA, known as "the Working Mayor," for his steadfast support and dependability throughout the festival.

Festivals bring out the vibrancy of one's history. This annual event, steeped in history and significance, is a celebration like no other, drawing in locals and visitors alike to partake in the vibrant festivities.