12.Southern Mindanao

Southern Mindanao is composed of Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental.
Compostela Valley
Compostela Valley is mainly agricultural while the eastern part is mostly mountainous. Natural attractions include cold springs, cascading falls, butterflies and exotic wildlife. White sand beaches include Copiat Island. The Mansakas, the indigenous natives in Compostela Valley, are known for their native dances, tribal jewelry, and unique musical instruments.
Davao del Norte
Davao del Norte has 32 rivers including the Agusan River. It is home to various cultural minorities including the Mandaya, Nansaka and Dibabaon Tribes, the Maragusan Mansaka at San Mariano, the Dunggas Muslim Village and Aeta settlements at Kapalong. Natural sites include the islands of Talicud, Ligid and Palma Gil, and the Caliclic and Talicud Caves.
Davao City is the center of travel and trade in the Southern Philippines, known for the exotic fruit 'durian', the Waling-Waling orchid, the Philippine Eagle and Mt. Apo, the highest peak in the country. Natural attractions include caves, waterfalls, rapids and mountains. Cultural sites include the Davao Museum, UP Mindanao Cultural Center, General Luna Art Gallery, and the T'Boli Weaving Center. Shopping malls and department stores include Shoe Mart, Gaisano Mall of Davao, Victoria Plaza, J.S. Gaisano Citimall, University Mall, New City Commercial Center and Aldevinco Shopping Center.
Davao del Sur
Davao del Sur is rich in agriculture and farms which include fish farms at Kiblawan and Santa Maria, a prawn farm and cocoa plantation in Malita, a sugar mill in Magonoy, a coconut desiccating plant in Santa Cruz and a fruit farm in Mt. Carmel nursery in Bansalan. Natural attractions include Balut Island, Tudaya Falls, Mariscal Beach, Mt. Apo and the Sibulan River.
Davao Oriental
Davao Oriental has both historical and natural sites. Historical sites include Ballestic Island, a fortress built by the Spanish Conquistador Villalobos, and the 17th Century Caraga Catholic Church. Natural attractions include the hot springs at Kalapagan and Pangyan, the islands of Sigaboy, Waniban and Cabugao and Aliwagwag Falls. The 'Tinagong Dagat' or Hidden Sea in San Isidro is a unique natural formation situated 1,000 feet above sea level. Sigaboy Floating in Governor Generosa is an island with the shape of a giant whale. White, gray and black sand beaches include Aroma, Bakayan, Bitoon, Manay and Taragona.

11.Northern Mindanao

Northern Mindanao Region X

Northern Mindanao or Region X is one region in the Philippines that has five provinces ; Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, and Lanao del Norte.
The people living here are mostly migrants from Cebu and IloIlo, but there are some tagalogs whose living here.
The popular Del Monte Pineapple plantation is in this region. it is the largest plantation in East Asia.

10.Western Mindanao

Mindanao (/mɪndəˈnaʊ/ min-də-now) is the second largest and southernmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country (the other two being Luzon and the Visayas), which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. Davao City is the largest city in Mindanao. Of the island's 22 million population, according to the 2010 census, 10 percent is Muslim.^[1]

Mindanao is the only area of the Philippines with a significant Muslim presence. Due to widespread poverty and religious differences, the island has been the site of a separatist movement by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Fighting between MILF and Philippine forces has displaced more than 100,000 people.

Mindanao is considered the agricultural basin of the Philippines, where eight out of top 10 export agri-commodities come from.^[

9.Eastern Visayas

Eastern Visayas or Region VIII is one of the two regions of the Philippines having no land border with another region, MIMAROPA being the other. It is composed of two main islands, Leyte and Samar, connected by the famous San Juanico Bridge. It consists of six provinces and seven cities, namely, Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Southern Leyte, the cities of Ormoc City, Baybay City, Maasin City,Calbayog City, Catbalogan City, Borongan City and the highly-urbanized city of Tacloban, the regional center. These provinces and cities occupy the easternmost islands of Visayas: Samar, Leyte and Biliran.

Eastern Visayas directly faces the Pacific Ocean. The land area of the region is 2,156,285 hectares. As of 2010, it has a population of 3,912,936.

Geography 

Political map of Eastern Visayas

Eastern Visayas lies on the east central part of the Philippines archipelago. It is composed of two main islands, Leyte and Samar, which formed the eastern most coast of the archipelago. It is bounded by Philippine sea on the east and north with San Bernardo Strait separating Samar island from southeastern Luzon: Camotes sea and Visayas sea on the west: Bohol sea on the south with Surigao Strait separating Leyte island from northwestern Mindanao. It has a total land area of 2,156,285 hectares or 7.2% of the country’s total land area.^]

Climate 

There are two types of climate prevailing in the region under the Corona system of classification: Type II and Type IV. Type II climate is characterizes by having no dry season but a pronounced maximum rainfall from November to January. Samar Island and the eastern part of Leyte Island fall under this type of climate. Type IV on the other hand has an even distribution of rainfall the year round and a short period of dry season that can be observed starting February up to May. This type of climate is well exhibited the western half of Leyte island and some portion of Samar which covers the municipality of Motiong up to San Isidro of Northern Samar.

Land 

Eastern Visayas is primarily an agricultural region with rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane and banana as its major crops. Its total land area is 21,431.7 km². 52% of its total land area are classified as forestland and 48% as alienable and disposable land.

Natural Resources 

The region's sea and inland waters are rich sources of salt and fresh water fish and other marine products. It is one of the fish exporting regions of the country. There are substantial forest reserves in the interiors of the islands. Its mineral deposits include chromite, uranium(in Samar), gold,silver, manganese, magnesium, bronze, nickel, clay, coal, limestone, pyrite and sand and gravel. It has abundant geothermal energy and water resources to support the needs of medium and heavy industries.

Languages

Waray-Waray is spoken on the island of Samar, Biliran and north-eastern Leyte. A Sama language, distantly related to the languages of the region, called Abaknon is spoken in the island of Capul in Northern Samar. Cebuano is spoken in western, central, and southern parts of Leyte and in Southern Leyte.

Dances

Tinikling, the Philippines' national dance is folkdance that originated from the region. But the most popular cultural dance among Warays is theCuracha, danced during feast celebrations and special gatherings. The Leyte Kalipayan Dance Company, a local cultural group, held highly successful performances around the world.

Music [edit]

Waray people are music lovers whose folkloric music are mostly ballads in form, famous of which is "Dandansoy" while "Iroy nga Tuna" (Motherland) is a patriotic song.

Economy 

Float exhibiting products of Eastern Visayas

Primary sources of revenue are manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and services. Mining, farming, fishing and tourism contribute significantly to the economy Manufacturing firms include mining companies, fertilizer plants, sugar central, rice and corn mills and other food processing plants. Tacloban is the hub of investment, trade and development in the region.

Other industries include mining, rice, corn and sugar milling, coconut oil extraction, alcohol distilling, beverage manufacture and forest products. Home industries include hat and basket weaving, metal craft, needlecraft, pottery, ceramics, woodcraft, shell craft and bamboo craft.

Education

Eastern Visayas is home to several state universities, including the prominent University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV Tacloban College). The region is also home to the University of Eastern Philippines (UEP), located in Catarman, Northern Samar, which holds the most number of baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate courses among universities in the region.

The Zonal Agricultural University for the Visayas under the National Agriculture Education System concept, Visayas State University (VSU) is also in the region, located in Baybay City. Also, the region is home to Palompon Institute of Technology, a maritime school in the Philippines providing deck and engine cadet. Its main campus is located in the municipality of Palompon, Leyte province.

The Eastern Visayas State University is Leyte's state university with five extension campuses. Southern Leyte State University with five extension campuses, is the only state university in the province of Southern Leyte. In Biliran, Naval State University is the province state university. For Eastern Samar, the Eastern Samar State University is the only state university of the province with a single extension campus while Samar State University is Western Samar's state university with two extension campuses. For normal education, the Leyte Normal University specializes in education courses.

Transportation

The region's Leyte and Samar islands serve as main link between Luzon and Mindanao by land transport. A total of nine airports, are strategically located in different parts of the six provinces that comprise the region. Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City is the main gateway by air to the region. There are seaports in Tacloban, Catbalogan, Calbayog, Borongan, Ormoc, Bato,Maasin, Sogod and Naval.

Power and Energy 

The region is the top producer of geothermal energy supply in the country. The province of Leyte hosts the biggest geothermal plant in the Philippines. Still, geothermal exploration is ongoing in the nearby province of Biliran. With abundance of river system, the region has potential in hydroelectric production. Being coastal facing Pacific Ocean, the region have location being eyed for wind power generation. The strait of San Juanico between Leyte and Samar islands has been declared as potential source for water current and tidal energy sources.

Points of Interest 

Photo	Name
	San Juanico Bridge is the longest and the most beautifully designed bridge in the Philippines. It features the picturesque San Juanico Strait with a thousand whirlpools, lovely islets and view.
	Agas-Agas Bridge, the highest bridge in the country, located at Barangay Kahupian, Sogod, Southern Leyte as part of the Maharlika Highway. Original article >> Agas-Agas Bridge
	Lake Danao is a guitar-shaped lake on the hills of Ormoc City in the province of Leyte. Original article >> Lake Danao (Leyte)
	Sto. Nino Shrine, It displays the fortune and previous properties of the first dicatator of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos

8.Central Visayas

VISAYAN POETRY AND LITERATURE

Philippines, being an archipelago composed of 7, 107 islands, is a country that celebrates cultural diversity as its pride and identity as a sovereign nation. One of the unique cultural features of the country is its wide variety of dialects which further differ in accent from one place to another. Such linguistic feature adds to the richness of culture of the archipelago.

Cebuano is one of the dialects spoken by majority of the Filipinos especially in the Visayas group of islands and in some parts of Mindanao region. The dialect varies in accent, intonation and pronunciation as used in the different parts of the archipelago. Some parts in Southern Luzon also speak the dialect with distinct variation.  Visayas with Cebuano as the widely spoken dialect has a very rich set of lexis and literature which range from prose to poetry. The Visayan people with their rich and unique literary heritage has great contribution in the Philippine literature with their lovely and infamous songs, poems, short stories and other forms of literature.


VISAYAN LITERATURE


In the annotation of the national hero Dr. Jose Rizal of Dr. Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas which narrates the Filipino civilization before the coming of the Spaniards the indications of early Filipino civilization were exposed as opposed to the Spaniard's claim that Filipinos were uncivilized people before they came. Some of them were the early Filipino-Chinese trade, the early written laws of the Philippines, its early forms of government and literature.

In that annotation, it was mentioned that Filipinos had their own distinct literature even before the coming of the Spaniards. The first known Filipino poet was Karyapa who happened to be from the Visayas and so a Bisaya. Aside from that, the Bisayas have lots of poets and writers who can be proud of. Cebuano, the dialect spoken by most of the natives in the area, could be a very figurative language if you would only try to explore. And so, in this section of my blog, I would like you to experience the beauty of Visayan literature through some of my Visayan poems and articles.
______________________________________________________________

IKAW ANG TANAN
Sa dihang ako gipakatawo niining maong kalibutan,
Wala ko damha nga sa kalit ikaw akong makaplagan!
Diha sa nagdagitom nga panganod ug sa baybayon nga masuk-anon
Imo akong gihapuhap ug sa matag takilid sa kalibutan ikaw anaa kanako mitapion.

Tungod kanimo nahimong mabulokon ang mga bulak nga dugay nang nawad-an sa ilang kaanyag,
Ang imong mga pahiyom mihatod ug dakong kahimuot sa akong kalag,
Mikanaog ang mga bituon ug sa akong mga lakang milamdag;
Unya mikuyanap ang siga sa adlaw nga dugay na'ng wala makasinati ug buntag…

Sa imong pag-abot kalit natapakan ang haw-ang sa akong dughan,
Ug sa wala damha, kalit naaalim ang samad nga dugay nang gihambin niining balatian…
Gihatagan mo ug paglaom ang dughan ko nga sa gugma nawad-an
Alang kanako, ikaw ang tanan…
___________________________________________________

CHIKS TIRADA
Chiks tirada!…
Ug imong pasultihon olitawo pa,
Apan hala ukaya di ba kay lima na ang asawa.
Gihikling lang ang kamatuoran aron hatagan ug katagbawan ang kaulagan.

Chiks tirada!…
Basta chiks hala bira…
Bahalag mabuslot ang bulsa basta lang makatira
Sa chiks magpatisoy bisan ug pusoy.

Chiks tirada!…
Bahalag mapusgay ang alkansiya ni nanay
Basta kay sa chiks makalipay…
Kwartahan kunohay pero nanguot lang sa bulsa ni tatay

Chiksa tirada!...
Maayo modala ug istorya
Bisan ug bakak makatoo ka
Istoryang walay unod moahat na lang ug katinood

Mao nga tambag lang kanimo Inday
Sa chiks tirada ayaw gyud pagpalumay
Kay ang ilang mga istorya maayu lang sa kiay
Apan diay, kanimo maghatag lang ug dakong pagmahay.
________________________________________________________

NGANONG GIHIKAW MO MAN?
Wala ko pagadamha nga ikaw moabot sa akong kiliran.
Arom mohapuhap ug mo alim sa samaran ko nga dughan.
Imong giwakli ang nag dagitum nga panganud sa akong panumdoman,
Nga kanunayng naga babag sa dalan nga akong gi lakwan.

Gikalipay ko man ang imong paghiabot
Apan mas subo ang imong paghikalimot
Nagtoo ako nga ang kalipay ko dili na matapos
Apan sa usa mo lang ka kidhat imong gipakyas kining pagbating nag uros- uros.

Abi ko ba ug ikaw nagpakatakus sa imong mga saad!
Nga ako imong unungan sa kasakit ug himaya.
Apan diay usa ikaw ka bakakon!
Imong gi samaran ang dughan niining bol-anong mapinanggaon.

Sa imong pagbiya, imong gihikaw kanako ang tanan!
Kay sa imong paglakaw imong gidala ang adlaw ug ang bulan.
Nawad-an sa kahayag ang nag kilum-kilum kong balatian.
Karon ako ania niining ngitngit nga suok ug nag bangutan,
NGANONG GIHIKAW MO MAN?
_______________________________________________________


HUBAG
Karong panahona uso na ang hubag,
Dili nang hubag nga mo tubo, mo buto.
Kun dili kining hubag nga walay buthanan
Hubag nga galakaw ug wala mag pundo

Kung gusto ka makakita naay daghan sa kanto.
Hubag ba nga murag si Ara Mina,
Hamis, lumoy, puwa-puwa apil paa
Bus-ok apan insakto sa pamayhon
Nagadani sa mga matang maibugon.

Kung makakita ka ug hubag kalma lang bay!
Ayaw ka diretso ug pabuhagay...
Kung dili makaya, piyunga ang mata
Ug dili mada hala duola, ila-ilaha
Apan ang aping sa laparo andama.

Hinay-hinay lang sa duha ka klase sa hubag.
Kay adunay hubag nga lumoy ug aduna sa'y luag-luag
Luag-luag buot ipasabot nangunot na.
Maghinay ka kay basin ka napulo na na tudlisa
Mibalik lang paghubag kay wa ma tudlis ang mata.

7.Western Visayas

Western Visayas, Region 6, one of the regions of the Philippines, is designated as Region VI. It consists of six provinces; Aklan, Antique, Negros Occidental, Capiz, Guimaras and Iloilo and 17 cities making it the region with the highest number of cities. Iloilo City is the regional center.

The Region has a total land area of 20,223.2 sq km, which is approximately 6.74 percent of the total land area of the Philippines. Forty-three percent of the region’s land resources is devoted to agricultural purposes. Sugar cane covers the majority of area in Negros Occidental and rainfed or irrigated palay in Panay. The region’s fishing grounds produce a large variety of marine, fishery and aquaculture products. It is one of the country’s major exporters of prawn, tuna, and other fish products.

Western Visayas is rich in mineral and non-mineral resources. Metallic ore reserves found in the region include primary copper, iron (lump ore) and pyrite. The region is a good place for investment. Its foremost resource is its rich, fertile soil which can grow a wide variety and abundant supply of agricultural crops throughout the year.

Natural attractions like Boracay and Guimaras Islands make the region a major tourist destination. Its rich cultural heritage provides a microcosm of Philippine culture and heritage.

The region’s ports and airports are well-kept to facilitate and accommodate the inflow and outflow of commodities in the region. The deep natural harbor in the city of Iloilo has the potential of becoming a major gateway for the region’s produce.

The region’s skilled manpower resource is also due of its greatest potential. With proper training and capability building, the people of the region can pave the way for the industrial growth and expansion of Western Visayas.

6.Bicol

Bicol Region, as Region V is more popularly known, is situated at the southernmost tip of the Luzon landmass. It is straddled between 11 - 30' to 14 - 20' North latitude and 122 - 20' to 124 - 30' East longitude. Bicol is inhabited by hospitable, smiling and fun-loving people.

The province of Albay, which is strategically located in the center of the region, is home to the world famous Mount Mayon with its perfect cone shape. Legazpi City, also in Albay and is called the Gateway City of Bicol, is the regional center.On the northernmost part of the region is the province ofCamarines Norte whose capital, Daet, holds the distinction of being the town to erect the first monument of the country's national hero, Jose Rizal. Naga City in the province of Camarines Sur is host to Colegio de Sta. Isabel, the first known normal school for girls in the Orient. The province ofCatanduanes boasts of white beaches and resorts is an island paradise in the Pacific. The province ofMasbate, which lies exactly at the center of the Philippine archipelago, is known for its mining and cattle industry while Sorsogon, the province known for its historic and panoramic places, shelters the world's largest fish - the whale shark locally known as Butanding.