REGION 1: The ILOCOS REGION

The region comprises four provinces: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La

Union and Pangasinan. Its regional center is San Fernando, La Union.

• The region was first inhabited by the aboriginal Negritos.

• Elpidio Quirino, Ferdinand Marcos, and Fidel V. Ramos.
• The province of Pangasinan was transferred by Ferdinand Marcos from Region III
into Region I in 1973
• He also included Abra, Mountain Province, and Benguet in the Ilocos region in a
bid to expand Ilokano influence amongst the ethnic peoples of the Cordilleras.
• When the Cordillera Administrative Region was established under Corazon
Aquino, the indigenous provinces of Abra, Mountain Province,
and Benguet were transferred into the newly-formed region.
Native Ilocano songs
The Ilocanos have a handful of meaningful ethnic songs.
These songs narrate life stories of the native Ilocanos,
which are mostly about courtship, marriage, occupation
and life.

Pamulinawen (Hardened Heart)—this is the most popular

Ilocano love song, which portrays a girl who does not
heed the pleading of her lover. It compares the heart of a
girl to a hardened flint.
Other folksongs of Region 1:
• Osi-osi this ethnic song portrays the traditional ways of courtship.
• Ayat ti Ina (Love of a Mother) is a song that expresses how a mother
loves and takes care of her child.
• Duayya ni Ayat (Love’s Lullaby) is a song that expresses a man’s love
for his lady. The man asks the lady to be careful in changing her mind
and choosing another man.
• Dinak Kad Dildilawen (Do Not Criticize Me) is an Ilocano song that
expresses patriotism. This song conveys service to love of country.
• Other popular ethnic songs are Agdamili (Pot Making), which is an
occupational song; and Kanaganan, which is a birthday song.
Native Ilocano Dances
The Ilocano ethnic dances are mostly performed during rituals and
celebrations.
• Manang Biday is a courtship dance usually performed by young
people.
• Manang Biday is an ethnic song in Ilocos. This song implies the
courtship of a young maiden named in Manang Biday
Oasiwas Dance
• A dance in which an oil lamp is balanced on the dancer's
head as he swings around lighted lamps wrapped in porous
cloth or fishnet. The name of the dance comes from
the Pangasinense word for swinging.
• The dance is performed by fishermen of Lingayen when
celebrating a good catch. It is accompanied by waltz-like
music.
Kuratsa Pasuquiña
• it is a dance during birthday parties and festivities.
• The Kuratsa is a Filipino traditional Dance of Courtship where
the male approaches and courts a lady in a form of a dance.
It depicts the courtship between the rooster and the hen.
Ilocana a Nasudi (Chaste Ilocano)
• it is a dance that portrays a chaste and virtuous Ilocana. This
dance may be performed by four pairs
Rabong (Bamboo Shoot)
• it is a dance glorifying the bamboo shoot as a delicacy of the Ilocanos.
In Rabong, the participants sing the lyrics themselves.

Vintareña—it is a dance performed by one or two couples in

social gatherings like baptismal, wedding, birthday, or
thanksgiving parties.

Surtido Norte (Assorted Dances from the North) this dance is a

combination of different Ilocano dance steps manifesting thrift
as a trait of the people.
FESTIVALS IN ILOCOS REGION
• Pamulinawen festival- Laoag City February 10. Our Lady of
Peace. Pamulinawen is the name of a woman made popular in
the classic Ilocano song titled... Pamulinawen.

• Pamulinawen is a Filipino folk song (in the Ilocano language)

that tells about courting a girl with a heart of stone.
Pamulinawen is her name.
Pinakbet Festival
• It is being held in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur every 23rd of April
• it features street dances and cooking competitions and honours the
Sta. Maria’s farmers’ industry and their housewives’ cooking skills.
Pinakbet came from the contracted Ilokano word 'pinakebbet' which
means "shrunk" or "shriveled."

Bangus Festival
• The Bangus Festival is the brainchild of former Dagupan mayor Benjamin Lim,
seeking to promote the city as the Bangus (milkfish) Capital of the World. 2003
saw the festival featured in the Guiness Book of World Records when it secured
the record for Longest Barbeque in the World (later taken by the town of
Bayambang, Pangasinan in 2014).
Other festivals
BAC-BACARRA FESTIVAL
• Bacarra, Ilocos Norte Farmers Festival
• November 30
• The legendary word “bac-bacarra” is a specie of freshwater fish abundant in the
river during the 15th century which gave birth to the town’s name.

GULING-GULING FESTIVAL
• Paoay, Ilocos Norte. Guling-Guling aims to commemorate the 16th century old
practice of the Spanish friars for the religious sector to interact with its
parishioners. It has always been celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash
Wednesday
• EMPANADA FESTIVAL • Batac, Ilocos Norte • December 8 - 30
• BATAC EMPANADA is made of savory filling of grated green
papaya, mongo, longganisa and egg. The dough that serves as
its thin and crisp wrapper is made of rice flour.

• Sigay Festival • January 15 to February 2 • Binmaley

Pangasinan • It serves as the main highlight of the fiesta
celebration of Binmaley town, the “Seafood Capital of the
North.” • Sigay is a Pangasinan dialect word which means to
harvest.
VISUAL ARTS
• Visual Arts" is a modern but imprecise umbrella term for a
broad category of art which includes a number of artistic
disciplines from various sub-categories. Ilocano Heroes - Juan
Luna, The Great Filipino Painter

• Juan Luna was a patriot, but he was more known as the great
Filipino painter if not the greatest. He was born on October
23, 1857 in Badoc, Ilocos Norte.
LITERATURE OF ILOCOS REGION
• Most of the earliest works were epic poems. Epic poems are long stories
or myths about adventures.

• Example of Literature in Ilocos Region

• BIAG NI LAM-ANG (Life of Lam-ang)
• This is an epic poem from Ilokano people from ilocos region. It is believed that it
was recited and written iloko originally thru the priceless efforts of various
poets, and believed that it was passed on through the generations. It was
transcribed around 1640 by blind ilokano bard named Pedro Bucaneg(1592 –
1640). Mr. Bucaneg, inspite of his blindness, was considered as the “Father of
Ilokano Literature”.

• “The moral of the story of Biag Ni Lam Ang is that you must persevere through
the trials of life. Strength and bravery are major theme throughout the story.
Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino, also known as Don Belong (July 7, 1864 – October 10, 1938),
was a prominent Filipino politician, writer and labor activist in the 19th and 20th centuries. He
was the original founder of the Aglipayan Church, an independent Philippine national church. For
his writings and activism with labor unions, he was called the "Father of Filipino Socialism".

• Ang Singsing nang Dalagang Marmol ("The Ring of the Marble Maiden"), contemporarily
rendered as Ang Singsing ng Dalagang Marmol in the Tagalog language. It is one of the first
historical novels written in the Philippines during the first decade of the 20th century (1900 to
1910).
Carlos Bulosan was born to Ilocano parents in the Philippines
in Binalonan, Pangasinan
• (November 24, 1913 – September 11, 1956) was an English-
language Filipino novelist and poet who spent most of his life in the
United States. His best-known work today is the semi-
autobiographical America Is in the Heart, but he first gained fame for
his 1943 essay on The Freedom from Want.
Leona Florentino
(born Leona Josefa Florentina,
19 April 1849 - 4 October 1884)
was a Filipino poet in the
Spanish and Ilocano
languages. She is considered as
the "mother of Philippine
women's literature" and the
"bridge from oral to literary
tradition".
FILM AND BROADCAST
• Heneral Luna (lit. General Luna) is a 2015
Filipino historical biopic film depicting
General Antonio Luna's leadership of the Philippine
Revolutionary Army during the Philippine–
American War.

• It opens with the beginning of hostilities with the

American colonizers, and ends with the
assassination of Luna on June 5, 1899 - a period in
which Luna served as Supreme Chief of the Army
under the First Philippine Republic.
Architecture, Design and Allied
Arts
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES
ILOCOS
Some of the most notable examples of colonial
architecture in the Philippines are located in the
provinces of Ilocos, Luzon, north of the
archipelago.

It is a pleasure to visit Ilocos, because of its idyllic

scenery and its rich culture and history, expressed
in villages of clean and tidy streets that contrast
with the chaotic traffic jams in Manila.
• One of the most conspicuous examples of
the so-called earthquake
baroque architecture in the Philippines,
which is the Church of San Agustin in
Paoay (1704-1894), declared a World
Heritage Site by UNESCO .

• Built of coral blocks and stucco-plastered

bricks, the architecture is a unique
combination of Gothic, Baroque and
Oriental. Construction of the church was
started in 1704 and completed in 1894.
Bell Tower
Adjacent to the facade is a three-storey
coral bell tower constructed separately
from the church building on the right
side resembling a pagoda. It was in
1793 when the cornerstone of the bell
tower was laid. It stands at some
distance from the church as a
protection against earthquake. It
served as observational post
for Filipino revolutionaries against the
Spaniards in 1898 and by
Filipino guerrillas against Japanese
soldiers during World War II.
• The charming town of Vigan in Ilocos
Sur, is the best-preserved example of
Spanish colonial architecture in Asia. Its
streets laid out in a gridiron pattern,
according to the Laws of the Indies,
housing a collection of well-preserved
colonial buildings, with white walls and
picturesque balconies

• Vigan was an important coastal trading

post in pre-colonial times long before
the Spanish galleons came.
Given its historical value, the quality of its factory, its urban scale and
the conservation of its monuments (one of the few places not affected
by war), Vigan has also been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage
site. Despite being significantly marketed for tourism, is quite an
experience traveling to the sleepy little streets that seem to be frozen in
time, whose cobbled stone pavement resound to the clatter of horses'
hooves.
Gawad Sa Manlilikhang bayan
• Magdalena Gamayo, Abel Weaving – Pinili, Ilocos
Norte, 2012
• Weaving since she was 16, Magdalena
Gamayo or “Lola Magdalena” is a master
weaver who not only weaves traditional
Ilocano textile but also designs new
patterns. One of her designs employs a
difficult weaving technique
called pinilian meaning partially.
• The weave produces a unique pattern
that resembles a string of flowers thus
its name, inubon a sabong. This aided in
her nomination to the GAMABA award
in 2012.
The Philippines aking of Burnay
• the people of Vigan also exert great
effort to preserve the tradition of
making “burnay”. Burnay is unglazed
earthen jars, an industry that dates
back to pre-colonial times when
immigrants from China came and
settled in Vigan. Burnay jars have small
openings, and its earlier use were for
tea drinking, storage for water, rice
grains and as container for salt, brown
sugar, local wine (basi) and bagoong
(fermented fish).
Last supper sculptures carving on wall, Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Philippines
• The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with
his Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper is
commemorated by Christians especially on Maundy Thursday. The Last Supper
provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "Holy Communion"
or "The Lord's Supper".