Panagbenga Festival

It's flower season in the city of Pines - perfect timing for an all-out fiesta in the streets. The Baguio folk take a break on these days to revel in the cool climate and the unique culture of the city. Multi-hued costumes are worn, mimicking the various blooms of the highland region (or any of its 11 ethnic tribes). These are flowerbeds - masked, of course, as the Panagbenga parade floats.

The Panagbenga Festival is held yearly during the month of February. The celebrations are held for over a month and peak periods are the weekends. The Panagbenga Festival showcases the many floral floats and native dances. The fragrant smells that could be presently teasing olfactory senses are probably less from the now-dried flowers from Valentine's Day than air floating all the way from Baguio City. At this time of year, the City of Pines is almost surely in flower fury over Panagbenga festival, the city's biggest festival.

Dinagyang Festival

Merry mayhem breaks loose in Iloilo City during this weekend, when Ilonggos leave everything behind to join in the fiesta of the year. All shyness are dropped: boring everyday clothes are exchanged for "Ati" warrior costumes and black body paint. Shields and "weapons" are held amidst the pounding rhythm of drums, the costumed Ilonggos put their best feet forward in celebration of Dinagyang!

The Dinagyang Festival is celebrated every fourth weekend of January to honor the Christianization of the natives and to respect the Holy Child Jesus. On this day, streets of Iloilo City will once again come alive as the Ilonggos celebrate the annual festivity. It is a very colorful parade coupled with a dramatization in honor of the patron Saint Sto. Niño as the object of performs offerings and prayers amidst the cracking of drums and shouts of "Viva Señor Santo Niño." The thundering of "Hala Bira" by the tribe members makes the celebration a lively one. It is also a very popular tagline used by Ilonggos to express their warm participation during the "Dinagyang" celebration. A tribute in honor of Señor Sto. Niño whom Ilonggos believe was very miraculous in times of famine and drought.

Lake Lanao, Lanao del Sur

The lake was formed by the tectonic-volcanic damming of a basin between two mountain ranges and the collapse of a large volcano. It has a maximum depth of 112 meters, and a mean depth of 60.3 meters. The basin is shallowest towards the north and gets progressively deeper towards the south. The lake is fed by four rivers. Its only outlet is the Agus River, which flows southwest into Iligan Bay via two channels, one over the Maria Cristina Falls and the other over the Linamon Falls. A hydroelectric plant installed on the Lanao Lake and Agus River system generates 70% of the electricity used by the people of Mindanao.

A Maranao myth describes the formation of the lake. It is said that a group of angels under the command of Gabriel removed the vast population of Mantapoli to prevent the world from tipping over. The hole that was left was filled with water and threatened to drown the rest of the world. In response, the angels enlisted the help of the Four Winds to gouge out an outlet. The hole became Lake Lanao and the outlet became the Agus river.