Feast of Our Lady of Candles

      Feast of Our Lady of Candles held in Jara, Iloilo City every 2nd day of February. Most abundant religious pageanty and the biggest in Western Visayas. The town blessing of candles and the yearly procession patroness, Nuestra Senora de Candelaria, is followed by the fiesta queen and her escort walking around the town.

http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Feast_of_Our_Lady_of_Candles

Sandugo

     The Sandugo Festival is an annual historical celebration that takes place every year in Tagbilaran City on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. This festival commemorates the Treaty of Friendship between Datu Sikatuna, a chieftain in Bohol, and Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi. This 16th Century peace treaty occurred on March 16, 1565 through a blood compact or "sandugo".
The Sandugo Festival is held every July. The Tagbilaran City Charter Day on July 1 kicks-off the month-long festival with a holy mass, diana, motorcade and program sponsored by the City Government of Tagbilaran. Among the major activities during the month is the Miss Bohol Sandugo Beauty Pageant, and the Sandugo Street Dancing Competition which is usually held on the 3rd or 4th Sunday of July, and organized by the Bohol Sandugo Foundation, Inc. (BSFI).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandugo_Festival

Misa De Gallo

      Misa del Gallo or Missa do Galo (literally rooster's mass) are the names given in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively, to the mass celebrated at midnight (or a bit before) on Christmas Eve. It is also known as "Misa de los Pastores" (Shepherd's Mass in Spanish).
Pope Sixtus III (5th century AD), introduced the custom of celebrating Christmas in a night vigil to Rome. At midnight "just after the cockcrow", ad praesepium (before the crib), in a small oratory located behind the high altar of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The discrepancy with today's time for the cockcrow is due to the fact that ancient Romans set the cockcrow at the start of the day, i.e. midnight.
Some television channels broadcast the Pope conducting the midnight mass in Rome. In Spanish-speaking countries the custom is still upheld, specially in Latin America. In Venezuela it is also known as "Misa de Aguinaldo", referring to the traditional Christmas music known by that name. Other regions, such as the Philippines, the prayer is done early in the morning on Christmas Eve, and it is the last day of a nine-day ritual known as Simbang Gabi. Completing the nine days culminating with the Misa de Gallo is said to make a wish come true, and many Filipinos believe this centuries-old promise to this day. One of the customs related to the Philippine Misa de Gallo is the selling of traditional Philippine food, such as puto bumbong (a purple colored rice pastry, seasoned with grated--coconut and brown sugar), tsokolate (a hot chocolate drink), bibingka (flour and egg cakes cooked on top and under), and salabat, or ginger tea, which are sold by vendors to the faithful outside churches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misa_de_Gallo

Higantes Festival, Angono Rizal

      Higantes Festival, also known as the Feast of San Clemente, is celebrated every November 23 in the town of Angono, Rizal his is a major festival in honor of San Clemente, the patron saint of fishermen. His image is carried by male devotees during a procession accompanied by "pahadores" (devotees dressed in colorful local costumes or fishermen's clothes, wearing wooden shoes and carrying boat paddles, fish nets, traps, etc.) and "higantes" (paper-mâché giants measuring 10-12 feet in height and 4-5 feet in diameter). This street event ends in a procession to Laguna De Bay in the mage is brought back to its sanctuary.

Lanzones Festival, Camiguin Island

The Lanzones Festival celebrates the annual harvest of the lanzones fruit. Houses, carriages, street poles and even people are decorated with lanzones and lanzones leaves. Townsfolk dance in joy, abandon in commemoration of the legend that a beautiful, unknown maiden took from lanzones fruit its former bitter flavor to leave only its luscious, sweet taste.

http://www.silent-gardens.com/lanzones.php

Masskara Festival

The MassKara Festival is a festival held each year in Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental province in the Philippines every third weekend of October nearest October 19, the city's Charter Inauguration Anniversary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MassKara_Festival

Penafrancia Fluvial Parade

     The feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia is celebrated on the third Saturday of September in Naga City, Bicol. The feast day is preceded by a novena, nine days of prayer, in honor of theVirgin. On the first day, the image of the Virgin, a copy of the Madonna in Peñafrancia, Spain, is brought from its shrine to the Naga Cathedral where the novena is held. On the last day, the image is returned to her shrine following the Naga River route. The colorful evening procession is lit by thousands of candles from devotees in boats escorting the image. When the barge reaches its destination, the devotees shout "Viva la Virgen" (Long live the Virgin!) and the image is brought back in a procession to the cathedral.

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Cynthia/festivals/penafrancia_festival.htm

Kadayawan Festival

        The Kadayawan Festival is an annual festival in the city of Davao in the Philippines. Its name derives from the friendly greeting "Madayaw", from the Dabawenyo word "dayaw", meaning good, valuable, superior or beautiful. The festival is a celebration of life, a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest and serenity of living.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadayawan_Festival

Pintados Festival, Tacloban

        The Pintados Festival is a cultural-religious celebration in Tacloban based on the body-painting traditions of the ancient tattooed "pintados" warriors.  In 1986, the Pintados Foundation, Inc. was formed by the people of Tacloban to organized this festival in honor of Sr. Santo Niño. Years later, it was merged with theKasadyaan Festival which is always held on JUNE 30.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pintados-Kasadyaan

Moriones Festival, Marinduque

       The Moriones is an annual festival held on Holy Week on the island of Marinduwue, Philippines. The "Moriones" are men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as interpreted by local folks. The Moriones or Moryonan tradition has inspired the creation of other festivals in the Philippines where cultural practices or folk history is turned into street festivals.

colorful festivals celebrated on the island of Marinduque and the Philippines. Morion means "mask" or "visor," a part of the medieval Roman armor which covers the face. Moriones, on the other hand, refers to the masked and costumed penitents who march around the town for seven days searching for Longinus. Morions roam the streets in town from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday scaring the kids, or engaging in antics or surprises to draw attention. This is a folk-religious festival that re-enacts the story of Saint Longinus, a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriones_Festival

Dinagyang Festival, Iloilo City

      The Dinagyang is a religious and cultural festivall in Iloilo City, Philippines held on the fourth Sunday of January, or right after the Sinulog In Cebu and the Ati-Atihan in Aklan. It is held both to honor the Santo Nino and to celebrate the arrival on Panay of Malay settlers and the subsequent selling of the island to them by the Atis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinagyang_Festival.

Pagudpud Beach

Pagudpud (PAH GOOD POOD) is an enormous place to visit if you're looking for the comparatively perfect charms of the Philippines. Pagudpud is a wide and beautiful town on the northwest tip of Ilocos Norte, Luzon, bounded to the south by the town of Bangui and to the east by the Cordillera Mountain Range, the town of Adams and the province of Cagayan. The South China Sea lies to the west and north.

It is considered the largest island in the Philippines. The hills and mountains are luxuriant, the valleys productive. It lies 45 miles north of Laoag City, the provincial capital, and about 350 miles north of Manila -- about the equal distance between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area Creeks, streams and waterfalls splash the landscape and spill into the South China Sea. All around, the ocean and sky are awash in varying shades of blue.

Pagudpud Beach, 2 hours north of Laoag City, has powder-white sand, but it's hard to tell which is bluer: the sky or the sea. While you are making up your mind, you might also consider a stop in Pasuquin, where the famous biscocho (Ilocos biscuit) is a favorite take-home delicacy for local visitors. But don't forget to check your watch, for while you play in the waters of Pagudpud, you may not notice how much time you have spent on these delightful shores, which are at the very tip of Luzon Island

Ati-Atihan Festival, Kalibo Aklan 

       The Ati-Atihan Festival is a feast held annually in January in honor of the Santo Nino (Infant Jesus), concluding on the third Sunday, in the island and town of Kalibo, Aklan in the Philippines

Ati-atihan means "to be like aetas"or "make believe ati's." Aetas were the primary settlers in the islands according to history books. They too are the earliest settlers of Panay Island where the province of Aklan is.

The festival consists of tribal dance, music, accompanied by indigenous costumes and weapons, and parade along the street. Christians, and non-Christians observe this day with religious processions. It is the mother of all Philippine Festivals because Sinulog Festival of Cebu and Dinagyang of Iloilo are adaptations of the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ati-Atihan_Festival

Sinulog Festival, Cebu City

         Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, Philippines. The festival commemorates the Cebuano people's pagan origin, and their acceptance of Roman Catholicism.

The features a street parade with participants in bright coloured costumes dancing to the rhythm of drums, trumpets and native gongs. Smaller versions of the festival are held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate and honor the Santo Niño. There is also a "Sinulog sa Kabataan" performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the parade. Recently, the festival has been promoted as a tourist attraction, with a contest featuring contingents from various parts of the country. The Sinulog Contest is usually held in the Cebu City Sports Comkplex.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinulog_festival

Pahiyas Festival, Lucban Quezon

          Lucban celebrates the Pahiyas Festival every 15 May in honour of the patron saint of farmers,St Isidore the Labourer. This festival showcases a street of houses which are adorned with fruits, vegetables, agricultural products, handicrafts and kiping, a rice-made decoration, which afterwards can be eaten grilled or fried. The houses are judged and the best one is proclaimed the winner. Every year, tourists roam the municipality to witness the decoration of houses.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucban,_Quezon

Apo Island

    Apo Island is a volcanic island covering 12 hectares in land area, 7 kilometers off the southeastern tip of Negros Island and 30 kilometers south of the Negros Oriental capital of Dumaguete Cityb in the Philippines.
The marine habitat around the island is a marine reserve, protected by the National Integrated Protected Area Act (NIPA) and under the jurisdiction of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB). It has become a popular dive site and snorkeling destination with tourists. There are two resorts on Apo Island, both of which have their own dive centers: Apo Island Beach Resort and Liberty's Lodge.
The island is under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Dauin, Negros Oriental, and is one of the municipality's 23 barangays. As of the 2007 census, the island has a population of 745.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apo_Island

                              

Callao Cave

     Callao Cave is a cave with seven chambers located on the Province of Cagayan, in the Philippines. It is one of the best known tourist attractions of the province. It is located in Barangays Magdalo and Quibal, Peñablanca, near Tuguegarao City, the capital city of the Province of Cagayan.
It has a natural cathedral located at the first chamber, which was turned into a chapel by the local people. The conditions inside the cave cause stalactites and stalagmites, particularly in the deeper chambers.
Every chamber has natural crevices, which let light get into the cave, serving as illumination for the otherwise dark areas of the place

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callao_Cave

Caramoan Island, Camarines Sur

    The name Caramoan has been officially adapted since 1619, the year it was founded by a Spanish missionary friar, Francisco de la Cruz Y Oropesa. Fr. Oropesa penetrated the thick virgin forest of the Caramoan Peninsula and founded a small settlement in a place called Baluarte. This settlement was subsequently turned over to the administration of the Holy Bishopric in 1696.

    The small town of Caramoan is located at the tip of Caramoan Peninsula, a rugged place of land extending into the waters of the Maqueda Channel on the North and East and Lagonoy Gulf on the South.

    Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, it was determined that the place was once called Guta de Leche, which was given by Dutch traders who operated a gold mine in Lahuy Island and who frequented the area to trade with the natives. The name was perhaps derived from the milkdrop stalagmites found among the rocks of Guta Port. Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, the place came to be called "Carahan" for the sea turtle, which was at that time to be found in great number along the shores of the Peninsula.

    Caramoan is one of the thirty-five municipalities of the Province of Camarines Sur and is situated at the heart of the Caramoan Peninsula at the southernmost tip of Luzon. It occupies the lower eastern portion of the Province of Camarines Sur. It is bounded on the north by the town of Garchitorena and the Pacific Ocean; on the northeast by the island province of Catanduanes; on the south by Lagonoy Gulf; on the east by the Maqueda Channel and on the west by the municipality of Presentacion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caramoan,_Camarines_Sur

Malapascua Island

        Malapascua Island is a Filipino island situated in the Visayan Sea, located across a shallow strait from the northernmost tip of Cebu Island. Administratively, it is part of the insular barangay of Logon, Daanbantayan Municipality, Cebu Province, the Philippines. Malapascua is a tiny island, only about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) long and 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) wide, and has eight hamlets.

As a diving destination, Malapascua was "discovered" fairly recently, only in the early 90s. The island was first known for its wide white sand beach, known as Bounty Beach; it has also become known for its beautiful coral gardens and excellent local dive spots, as well as further-out sites including Gato Island, Monad Shoal, and Kemod Shoal. Monad Shoal is an underwater plateau where thresher sharks and manta rays can be sighted on a regular basis.

Most of the islanders derive their livelihood from tourism, while some still rely on subsistence fishing and farming.

There are no licensed physicians present on the island, with the closest hospital situated several hours away. The name “Malapascua” is said to have been given by some Spaniards whose ship happened to get stranded in the island on Christmas Day, December 25, 1520, due to bad weather. Because of their misfortune of having to spend Christmas away from their comrades and family stuck in a desolate island, the Spaniards called the island Mala Pascua, which literally means “Bad Easter”. From then on the Spaniards and the non-locals would refer to the island as Malapascua, while the local residents insist that their place is called Logon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapascua_Island

Coron Palawan 

                                                  

      Coron is a first class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it had a population of 32,243 people in 6,264 households.

 

       The municipality covers part of Busuanga Island and all of the nearby Coron Island. Both islands are part of the Calamian Group of Islands in northern Palawan. The main industries of Coron are fishing and tourism, being a popular diving location.

The aquatic views from the sunken Japanese warships off Coron Island are listed in Forbes Traveler Magazine’s top 10 best scuba diving sites in the world.

In 1950 the town of Busuanga was created from the barrios of Concepcion, Salvacion, Busuanga, New Busuanga, Buluang, Quezon, Calawit, and Cheey which used to belong to Coron.

In 1954, the islands of Linapacan, Cabunlaoan, Niangalao, Decabayotot, Calibanbangan, Pical, and Barangonan were separated from Coron to form the town of Linapacan, Palawan.

Manila Bay 

     Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and its neighbouring countries, becoming the gateway for socio-economic development even prior to Spanish occupation. With an area of 1,994 km² (769.9 sq mi), and a coastline of 190 km (118.1 mi), Manila Bay is situated in the western part of Luzon and is bounded by Cavite and Metro Manila on the east, Bulacan and Pampanga on the north, and Bataan on the west and northwest. Manila Bay drains approximately 17,000 km² (6,563.7 sq mi) of watershed area, with the Pampanga River contributing about 49% of the freshwater influx. With an average depth of 17 m (55.8 ft), it is estimated to have a total volume of 28.9 billion cubic meters (28.9 cubic km). Entrance to the bay is 19 km (11.8 mi) wide and expands to a width of 48 km (29.8 mi). However, width of the bay varies from 22 km (13.7 mi) at its mouth and expanding to 60 km (37.3 mi) at its widest point.
The islands of Corregidor and Caballo divides the entrance into two channels,^[about 2 miles (3.2 km) towards the North and 6.5 miles (10.5 km) wide on the South side. Mariveles, in the province of Bataan, is an anchorage just inside the northern entrance and Sangley Point is the former location of Cavite Naval Base. On either side of the bay are volcanic peaks topped with tropical foliage: 40 km to the north is the Bataan Peninsula and to the south is the province of Cavite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Bay