Municipality of Manapla

Manapla was originally inhabited by Negritoes, the aborigines in the island of Negros. Later on, people from neighboring places migrated to this town forcing the Negritoes to flee to the mountains where they settled permanently.Manapla is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 49,581 people in 9,512 households.Manapla became a town when the Island of Negros remained a military district up to the middle of the 19th Century. In 1856, Negros Occidental was raised to the category of politico-military “govierno”. It was in the later part of 1860, during Gov. Saravia’s term, that Manapla was proclaimed as a new municipality by the Vicar, who was at the same time the Acting Governor of Bacolod. Bernardo Gallo was appointed its first Capitan Municipal.

Manapla soon led other town as an integral part of the island in the production of sugar when North Negros Sugar Company, Inc. was established in 1917. Sugarcane milling started and the cultivation of sugarcane fields ushered in faster development. Large haciendas sprouted and sugar milling operation by steam machines was employed.

Famous Landmarks

Ancestral Home of the Gastons

Stands in the middle of the farm it is of early American colonial architecture and it is the ancestral home of the descendants of the first Frenchman to settle in Negros – Yves Leopold Germaine Gaston.

The Chapel of Cartwheels

Made of farm implements such as cartwheels, plows, mortar and pestle, margaha sand and broken pieces of glass of different colors. It was patterned like a “salakot” and it can be found inside the farm owned by the Gaston family.

Festivals

Pinta Puto Festival

Manapla is known all over the Philippines for its palatable delicacy “Puto”. Celebrated every 15th and 16th of August in honor of the of San Roque Dancers paint their bodies with white and green colors as they dance their way in the streets of the town.

How to get there

Manapla is approximately 55 minutes’ drive from Bacolod City by private car and over an hour by public utility vehicles that take off from Bacolod North Terminal. Air conditioned and non-airconditioned taxis, vans and buses for hire are also available from Bacolod.

Location

Manapla is bounded on the eastern and northern portion of Negros Occidental. Its eastern and southern boundaries are defined by Cadiz City and Victorias City respectively. The Guimaras Strait in the western and northern portion separates the town of Manapla from the island of Panay.