Region I

Ilocos region

LocationIt is located in the

nortwestern portion of Luzon. It is bounded on the

north by the Babuyan Channel, on the south by

Central Luzon, on the west by South China Sea and on the east by the Cordillera

Mountain Range.

ClimateThe region has a long dry

season because of the Cordillera Mountains that block the wind from the Pacific Ocean. It has two

distinct seasons:Dry from December to May

and wet from June to November.

Language

IlocanoPangasinense

Tagalog (Filipino)

The Ilocos Region has a total land area of 12, 840 km2. It is composed of four provinces situated along the seacoast.

Provinces

Ilocos Norte

Capital: Laoag City

It is situated in Northwest Luzon. It is

bounded on the north and west by South China Sea, on the east by Cagayan and Kalinga Apayao, on the southeast by Abra

and on the southwest by Ilocos Sur.

Landmarks

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

Balay Til Ili

Paoay Church

Home of Juan Luna and Ferdinand Marcos

Ilocos SurCapital: Vigan City

It is bounded on the north by Ilocos Norte,

on the south by Benguet and La Union,

on the west by the South China Sea and on the east by Abra

and Mountain Province.

Landmarks

Pinsal Falls

Sulvec Beach in Narvacan

Home province of Gabriela Silang, Fr.

Jose Burgos and Elpidio Quirino

La UnionCapital: San Fernando

City

It is located in the southwestern part of Ilocos Region. It is a hilly province

but the western part is a coastal plain and on the east are hills covering a

wide portion of the province.

It is famous for its white and gray

sand beaches andMarcos Bust.

Home of Diego Silang

PangasinanCapital: Lingayen

It lies on the western coast of Luzon. It is

bounded on the north by Lingayen Gulf, La Union

and Benguet; on the norteast by Nueva

Viscaya; on the east and southeast by Nueva Ecija;

on the south by Tarlac and Zambales and on the west by South China Sea.

The name of the province literally means “the place

where salt is made”

Landmarks

Hundred Islands in Alaminos

Shrine of Nuestra Senora de Manaoag

Region I –Literature

Pre-colonial Iloko literature were composed of folk songs,

riddles, proverbs, lamentations called dung-aw, and epic

stories in written or oral form. Ancient Ilokano poets

expressed themselves in folk and war songs as well as the

dallot, an improvised, versified and at times impromptu long poem delivered in a sing-song

manner.

Iloko Poetry in Spanish EraThe earliest known written Iloko poems

were the romances translated from Spanish by Francisco Lopez, an

Augustinian friar who, in 1621, published his own Iloko translation of the Doctrina

Cristiana by Cardinal Bellarmine, the first book to be printed in Iloko.

A study of Iloko poetry could be found in the Gramatica Ilokana, published in 1895, based on Lopez's Arte de la Lengua Iloca,

earlier published in 1627, but was probably written before 1606.

Pedro Bukan

egFather of Ilokano

Poetry and Literature

Pedro Bukaneg was said to have been thrown by his

parents down the Abra River while still an infant because he was blind. A woman who found him gave him away to

an Augustinian priest. He was christened Pedro

Bukaneg. He was cared for, and sent to school until he

became proficient in Spanish and Samtoy (Ilokano

dialect).

Summary of Biag ni Lam-angDon Juan and his wife Namongan lived in Nalbuan, now part of La Union in the northern part of the Philippines. They had a son named Lam-ang. Before Lam-ang was born, Don Juan went to the mountains in order to punish a group of their Igorot enemies. While he was away, his son Lam-ang was born. It took four people to help Namongan give birth. As soon as the baby boy popped out, he spoke and asked that he be given the name Lam-ang. He also chose his godparents and asked where his father was.

After nine months of waiting for his father to return, Lam-ang decided he would go look for him. Namongan thought Lam-ang was up to the challenge but she was sad to let him go. During his exhausting journey, he decided to rest for awhile. He fell asleep and had a dream about his father's head being stuck on a pole by the Igorot. Lam-ang was furious when he learned what had happened to his father. He rushed to their village and killed them all, except for one whom he let go so that he could tell other people about Lam-ang's greatness.

Upon returning to Nalbuan in triumph, he was bathed by women in the Amburayan river. All the fish died because of the dirt and odor from Lam-ang's body.

There was a young woman named Ines Kannoyan whom Lam-ang wanted to woo. She lived in Calanutian and he brought along his white rooster and gray dog to visit her. On the way, Lam-ang met his enemy Sumarang, another suitor of Ines whom he fought and readily defeated.

Lam-ang found the house of Ines surrounded by many suitors all of whom were trying to catch her attention. He had his rooster crow, which caused a nearby house to fall. This made Ines look out. He had his dog bark and in an instant the fallen house rose up again. The girl's parents witnessed this and called for him. The rooster expressed the love of Lam-ang. The parents agreed to a marriage with their daughter if Lam-ang would give them a dowry valued at double their wealth. Lam-ang had no problem fulfilling this condition and he and Ines were married.

It was a tradition to have a newly married man swim in the river for the rarang fish. Unfortunately, Lam-ang dove straight into the mouth of the water monster Berkakan. Ines had Marcos get his bones, which she covered with a piece of cloth. His rooster crowed and his dog barked and slowly the bones started to move. Back alive, Lam-ang and his wife lived happily ever after with his white rooster and gray dog.

Leona Florenti

noNational Poetess of

the Philippines

Born to a wealthy and prominent family in Vigan, Ilocos Sur,

Florentino began to write her first verses in Ilocano at a young age.

Despite her potential, she was not allowed to receive a university

education because of her gender. Florentino was instead tutored by her mother, and then a series of private teachers. An educated

Ilocano priest taught her advanced Spanish and encouraged her to

develop her voice in poetry.

Her poems appear to the modern reader as being too syrupy for comfort, too sentimental to the point of mawkishness, and utterly devoid of form.

Due to the feminist nature of her writings, Florentino was shunned by her husband and son, and so was forced to live alone in exile and separately from her family.

Florentino married a politician named Elias de los Reyes at the age of 14, and they had five children, including Isabelo de los Reyes, who would later become a Filipino writer, activist and senator. She died at the age of 35.

Moro-moro and Zarzuela

in the 19th century

What is Moro-moro?

Like the Cenaculo, the Moro-moro is presented also on a special

stage. This is performed during town fiestas to entertain the

people and to remind them of their Christian religion.

What is Zarzuela?

It is a musical comedy or melodrama in three acts which dealt with man's passions and

emotions like love, hate, revenge, cruelty or some social

or political problems.

Folk Songs

*dallot - versified exchange of wit between a man and a woman

*badeng - love song

*dung-aw - the death chant

Manang Biday

Manang Biday is a popular Ilocano folk song which is all about

courtship. The lyrics illustrate the courtship of a guy to a lady

who happens to be older than the former. The lyrics mostly decribe

the lady’s reaction to the courtship.

MANANG BIDAY

Manang Biday, ilukatmo man‘Ta bintana ikalumbabamTa kitaem ‘toy kinayawanAy, matayakon no dinak kaasian

Siasinnoka nga aglabaslabasDitoy hardinko pagay-ayamakAmmom ngarud a balasangakSabong ti lirio, di pay nagukrad

Denggem, ading, ta bilinenkaTa inkanto ‘diay sadi dayaAgalakanto’t bunga’t manggaLulukisen ken adu a kita

No nangato, dika sukdalenNo nababa, dimo gaw-atenNo naregreg, dika pidutenNgem labaslabasamto met laeng

Daytoy paniok no maregregkoTi makapidut isublinantoTa nagmarka iti nagankoNabordaan pay ti sinanpuso

Alaem dayta kutsilioTa abriem ‘toy barukongkoTapno maipapasmo ti guramKaniak ken sentimiento