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Capiz is famous for...
Sinadya sa Halaran
Literally meaning “Joy in Sharing and Thanksgiving,“ it fused two major festivals of Capiz – Sinadya and Halaran, which were previously celebrated separately.
Sinadya marks the fiesta of Roxas City in honor of the Patroness of the Capiceños, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Halaran festival depicts the rich cultural heritage of the Capiceños through sharing and thanksgiving, which the province and the city are celebrating together. The twin festival is celebrated in a show of unity that speaks of their determined quest for a better life.
Seafoods
The abundance of marine life makes Capiz the Seafood Capital of the Philippines. Home to one of the richest fishing grounds of the country, its water teem with the best that the sea has to offer – blue marlin, tuna, prawns and shrimps, seaweed, crabs ells, shellfish such as oysters and mussels, squid and other marine species. Prawns and milkfish are shipped by tons to Manila and other places.
Birthplace of President Manuel Roxas
It was here in Capiz that the First President of the Philippines was born. Located in the city proper, the two-storey hardwood and stone house of President Manuel Acuña Roxas is now a historical shrine.
Biggest Bell
The Sta. Monica Church in Pa-nay, Capiz houses the biggest bell in Southeast Asia. The church’s five-storey belfry shelters a huge antique bell surrounded by 8 smaller bells. Shrouded with many enchanting tales, the huge bell holds more fascinating truth. It was cast from 76 sacks of coins believed to have been contributed by the citizens of the town. Its mammoth size holds a staggering record - seven feet in diameter and weighs 10.4 tons.
Caves
Spelunking or simply cave exploration in just one of the many caves that can be found in Capiz is a delight to explorers and spelunkers. Getting into these nature-built dungeons, seeing the wonders that were hidden for centuries, creates a grand feeling of fulfillment as one views the grandeur of the chambers as big as the present-day cathedrals. Flaked tools and fossilized bones of Stone Age Man were recovered in some archeological caves.
Capiz Shells
Considered as the most versatile of sea shells, which are so plentiful in the province, called “pi-os” by Capiceños, but known as capiz throughout the world. Capiz shell products, admired for their beauty and transluscent quality, are in such great demand abroad that sometimes local exporters can hardly supply the needs of the market. The deft fingers of the Capiceños turn these shells into flowers and souvenir items of unsurpassed beauty.
Cutflower Growing
Farms of various ornamental plants and different varieties of heliconia supply a thriving cut-flower business that is carving a niche in Southern Philippines’ provinces.
Sulod Tribe
Located in Tapaz, Capiz, it is a cultural minority of Indonesian stock that worships spirits, practice secondary burial, and hunt with blowguns. The Sulod love personal ornaments. The necklace worn is not only an ornament and a status symbol but also an anting-anting or amulet.
Mussel Farms
Ten kilometers north of the town of Sapian, Capiz are the mussel farms that patiently lie like a silent picture of a thousand bamboo stilts arrayed six feet apart. Each bamboo pole stuck through the sea floor six to seven feet deep yields hundreds of fat dark green mussels neatly arranged like dark distended leaves sprouting heavily on top of each other. Get here by means of motorized banca, dugouts, or rafts.
Baybay Beach
The pride of Roxas City, located around 3 km. from the city proper of Roxas. This clean black sand beach is a favorite excursion/picnic area of the Capiceños.
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