Negros Island

On May 29,
2015, President  Benigno Aquino  III signed  Executive Order  183 creating the  Negros Island  Region (NIR)
Executive Order 183
Negros Occidental was carved from Region VI  (Western Visayas), and Negros Oriental from Region  VII (Central Visayas) to form the new region.

It is located  between the  islands of Panay  and Guimaras to  the west and Cebu  to the east, with  Siquijor located on  the toe of the  island and  Bantayan Island to  the north.

Negros is an Island of  the Philippines located  in the Visayas. It is the  fourth largest island in  the country , with a land  area of 13, 309.6  square kilometers.

Negros Island Region has the least number of provinces in  the Philippines (only 2). It has 19 cities (including the highly  urbanized city of Bacolod) in total, making it the region  with the most cities, tying alongside with CALABARZON,  which also has 19 cities.

Negros Occidental has the most chartered cities among all  the provinces in the Philippines. The province comprises 13  cities and 19 municipalities, which are further subdivided  into 601 barangays. Although Bacolod serves as the capital,  it is governed independently from the province as a highly  urbanized city. Negros Oriental comprises 6 cities and 19  municipalities, with 557 barangays.

Inhabitants of the island  region are called Negrenses  (and less often  Negrosanons), the name of  the Filipino island means  Blacks in the Spanish  language.

Why is it named Negros?

Negros Island was originally known to the  natives as "Buglas", meaning "cut off" in  old Hiligaynon. When the Spaniards  arrived in April 1565, they named it  "Negros" because of the dark-skinned  natives they found.

Language:

The primary spoken language is  Hiligaynon (also known as Ilonggo) and  the predominant religious  denomination is Roman Catholicism.

The Masskara Festival (Hiligaynon: Pista sang  MassKara, Filipino: Fiesta ng MassKara) is a  festival held each year in Bacolod, Philippines. It  is held every third weekend of October or on the  closest weekend to October 19.

The word "Masskara" is a portmanteau, coined by  the late artist Ely Santiago from mass (a  multitude of people), and the Spanish word cara  (face), thus forming MassKara (a multitude of  faces). The word is also a pun on maskara,  Filipino for "mask" (itself from Spanish máscara),  since a prominent feature of the festival are the  masks worn by participants, which are always  adorned with smiling faces.

Pasalamat Festival is a thanksgiving  celebration held on Sunday nearest to  the month of May.

Pasalamat brings together the La  Carloteños in unity and thanksgiving to  God Almighty for providing the people  with gift of life and perseverance  despite life’s difficulties.

San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, Philippines  highlights its annual festival celebration every  November 3-5. Pintaflores derived from the two  words Pintados (painted ones), and Flores,  Spanish for “flower”. It’s also known as Dances of  Flowers. The street dancing competition is one of  the highlights.

Sports
Negros Occidental has produced a  large number of athletes that have  achieved success in both national  and international circuits. The  province is also well known for  hosting national and international  athletic events, which has given it a  reputation as the sports capital of  the Philippines.

The Panaad Stadium (also spelled as Pana-ad) is  a multi-purpose stadium located inside the Panaad  Park and Sports Complex in Bacolod, Philippines.

Owned by the Negros Occidental provincial  government, it is used for football matches, and is the  adopted home of the Philippines national football  team. It played host to football at the 2005 Southeast  Asian Games and was later the venue of

the qualifiers of the 2007 ASEAN Football  Championship or ASEAN Cup, in which  the Philippines,Cambodia, Timor

Leste, Brunei and Laos participated. The stadium has  a seating capacity of 15,500.

The Capitol Park and Lagoon is a provincial park located in  Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines. One of  the landmarks of the park is the statue of a carabao (water  buffalo) being pulled by a woman. This statue is located at  the northern end of the lagoon. On the other end, there is  also another carabao sculpture but the figure is being  pulled by a man. These sculptures are located at the  northern and southern ends of the lagoon. These figures  were executed by Italian sculpture Francesco Riccardo  Monti who also did the sculptures of the Metropolitan  Manila Theater and the University of the Philippines -  Visayas Iloilo campus. Guillermo Tolentino also contributed  as a sculptor of the figures.

The Fountain of Justice is a historic landmark in  Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. It  marks the location where the house of Jose Ruiz  de Luzurriaga used to stand. It was in this house  that the surrender of Bacolod by Spanish  authorities to the Filipino forces of General  Aniceto Lacson took place on November 6, 1898,  during the Negros Revolution.

The Bacolod Public Plaza is one of the notable  landmarks of Bacolod City, the capital of Negros  Occidental, Philippines. It is located in the heart of  the downtown area, near the city hall and across  from the San Sebastian Cathedral. The plaza is a  trapezoidal park with a belt of trees around the  periphery and a gazebo at the center. Scattered  within the trees are four circular fountains.

The plaza was constructed in 1927 as a place for  recreation, political, spiritual and cultural activities. It  is quite a popular site for outdoor picnics and  concerts. The gazebo is often used to house a  bandstand.

Silay City, to the north of the capital of  Bacolod City, nicknamed the "Paris of  Negros", is the cultural and artistic center of  Negros Island Region. It has 30 heritage  houses declared by the national historical  institute, most notable of which is Balay  Negrense; it is also the hometown of  National Artist of the Philippines for  Architecture Leandro Locsin and  international mezzo-soprano Conchita  Gaston.

Gora na sa Negros mga kapatid :)

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