CEBU vs NEGROS OCCIDENTAL

Rissa and Val
Jul 5, 2015
2 min read

The island of Cebu is home to the Queen City of the South, Cebu City. The home of dried mangoes, "buwad" or "danggit" , chicharon, and lechon! And it also an island abundant with beautiful white sand beaches. The people of Cebu are called Cebuanos or Bisaya. But Bisaya is a general term for anyone who hails from the Visayas or Mindanao region and speaks any of the dialects in those regions.

The island of Negros is made up of two major areas - Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental. The latter is the sugar capital of the Philippines. It is also home to piyaya, kansi, and chicken inasal! People in Occidental (as well as those from Iloilo) are called Illongos. They speak the dialect Hiligaynon. It comes with a sweet and soft tone, in other words "malambing".

Rissa: I'v spent majority of my life in Cebu. I was born, raised, educated in Cebu. I worked for 5 years there before moving to Manila. Back then I've always had the impression that the Ilonggos and Ilonggas are proud and haughty, "mayabang". Well, the people around me also had that impression. I guess it is the abundance of sugar they had that made them proud people. They were hacienderos and hacienderas. I've never had close friends who were Ilonggos back then so it was just an impression, or a myth.

Then I moved to Manila in late 2007. And I met a number of fellow Filipinos from different provinces in the country. I've forged friendships with some Ilonggos. And surprisingly, they are not "mayabang". They are nice people! Eventually, I met more of them when I went to Bacolod to join in the fun of the Maskara Festival. Then again went back to attend the wedding of my friend, and that was that fateful day when I met Val. Now since that day, I've travelled to Bacolod 4 times. One of those times, I was brought by Val's family to Sipalay. It's about 3 to 4 hour drive from Bacolod. It is also home to pristine white beaches like the ones we have in Cebu! =)

Know more about Sipalay here http://www.sipalaycity.gov.ph/about-the-city/physical-characteristics/

So now, I love and call two islands as my home - Cebu and Negros. =)

Val: