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I am reasonably sure there are many articles written about the Ilocos region in the island of Luzon, Philippines. You can find them in travel books, travel magazines, travel brochures, Philippine history books, Philippine geography books and even in so many travel articles in the internet. The Ilocos region had well received an intense promotion by the country’s ministry of tourism. To state a fact, the region is not hard to visit as traveling has become more easy and convenient. My goal for this article is to provide information about the Ilocos region that I always craved to visit to since I was a child. Even though I had first gotten there when I was only 5 years old, the craving and the nostalgia of being there again and again never dies. So the result is I have unraveled a different view of Ilocos based on facts and tradition as well as my own personal touch on it. Let me offer you in this article a tangy, spicy, exotic and sumptuous taste of Ilocandia.
Ilocos Region: The Facts
My grandmother was hailed from a barrio in Santa Lucia, Ilocos Sur and my mother was born there. She was only born there but grew up in Manila. I once asked my grandmother what was the common transportation used during her younger years. There had been buses at those times going to and fro from Manila she told me. Air-conditioned buses were not common. The North Expressway had not yet developed. Only until the Marcos regime so many things had started to change.
Former late President Ferdinand Marcos partitioned all the provinces consisting the Philippines into 11 regions as a part of his Integrated Reorganization plan on September 24, 1972. During the years followed, other regions came to be in existence and some provinces were juggled from one region to another. The end result now is 17 regions of the Philippines. This now will take us to Region I known as the Ilocos region.
Ilocanos refer to their region as Deppaar Ti Ilokos while the Pangasinenses Rihiyon na Sagor na Baybay na Luzon. The Ilocos region is located on the northwestern part of the island of Luzon. Surrounded by the South China Sea to the west, bounded by the Cordillera Administrative Region and Cagayan Valley to the east, and bordered by the Central Luzon to the south. Driving from Manila, when you reach the Pangasinan border arch you are already in the Ilocos Region.
The Ilocos region consists of four provinces which are Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan. Urdaneta, Alaminos, San Carlos, San Fernando, Candon, Vigan, Batac, and Laoag are considered to be the component cities in the region with San Fernando in La Union as its regional center. Statistics says 66% of the region are Ilocanos, 27% are Pangasinan people or Pangasinenses, and 3% are Tagalogs.
The Ilocos region is home to many prominent people in the history of the Philippines such as late Former President Ferdinand Marcos, Former President Fidel Ramos, Gabriela Silang, Fr. Jose Burgos, etc. No wonder there are many historical venues that abound the region. Strong Roman Catholic heritage is also evident in the region. From the ancient Roman Catholic churches to the municipality names, one can see how enduring the Spaniards in the past centuries had been in proliferating the Roman Catholic religion.
Getting to the region is not an arduous task. You can reach the region by air or by land. Visitors can go to the passenger bus line terminals in Manila bound for the region. Passenger bus lines like Partas, Farinas, and Florida offer a better traveling experience and fares are expectedly higher than other passenger bus lines bound also for the region. Non-air-conditioned passenger buses are also available and their fares are much cheaper than those of the air-conditioned passenger buses. Commuting from one place to another within the region is uncomplicated. There are smaller passenger bus lines, compared to the main passenger bus lines, available that operates at daytime. However, these small passenger buses often operate only within the vicinity of the region from the province of Ilocos Norte to the province of Pangasinan. Funny though, often times we had mistaken a utility truck for a passenger bus because they look just the same in a far view especially during nighttime. Traveling time varies depending on the speed of the passenger bus and the road traffic. Traveling by night can be faster than traveling by day. If you enjoy seeing places and you are not in a hurry, traveling by day can be convenient. For people who do not enjoy long tedious hours in a passenger bus, riding an airplane can be an alternative. Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines can fly you to Laoag City in Ilocos Norte in just less than an hour. The newly opened airport in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur already caters trips from Manila to Vigan City and vice-versa.
The Taste of Ilocandia
One can never have the full experience of Ilocandia without giving a chance its distinctive cuisine. Some may hate and some may like and even love the pungent smell of bagoong isda and bagoong alamang. The piquant odor of sukang iloko can rouse or exasperate one’s sense of smell. We never leave the region without having these things in our luggage as our baon to be pasalubong. Candon City’s kalamay is exceptionally good too along with tinubo and Ilocos suman. Tinubo is a glutinous rice delicacy cooked inside a chopped bamboo shaft. You need to crack open the bamboo shaft first before you can enjoy the delicacy inside. The tinubo is close to suman which is also a glutinous rice delicacy but wrapped in banana leaf. The region’s bibingka should also not to be missed. A bibingka is a mixture of ground glutinous rice and coconut milk cooked in a live coal which is on top of the mixture. It may seem odd for some people but it is one of the unique delicacies in the region. The vegetable medley, Pinakbet, is really sumptuous and tempting. Diningdeng with saluyot and kardis is delectable especially for vegans. The well-known longganisang Vigan of Ilocos region is also a must buy for pasalubong. A friend of ours who is a parish priest drove us off to Vigan City. He told us that we should never leave Vigan City without tasting empanadang Vigan and the rich noodle soup Vigan miki. We dined in a restaurant named Cafe Leona in Vigan City that offers an array of Ilocano dishes and delicacies. We ordered bagnet, pinakbet, sinigang na tanggigi, and empanadang Vigan. Bagnet is a crisp deep-fried pork usually served with bagoong alamang and sliced tomatoes. Truly, Ilocano cuisine is so unique and diverse and only the person who has an adventurous palate can savor the full nag imas exotic taste of Ilocandia.
My Ilocandia
Now that I have discoursed many details about the Ilocos region including its distinctive cuisine, though I have shared some of my personal experiences in the region in previous sections of this article, it is about time to recount the whole story in full details. I have been in many places in the Ilocos region particularly in Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte. As I have said ago, my grandmother’s hometown is in Arangin, Sta. Lucia, Ilocos Sur. I had a number of visits there. I remember one time we rode a kariton to bathe in a neighboring river called Carayan. Kariton is a water buffalo (carabao) driven vehicle used mostly by farmers to transport their goods from one place to another. It is made up of bamboo poles nailed and stuck together adjacently with two tires attached on their opposite sides. There is also called the pasagad which looks exactly the same as kariton but it lacks wheels. It does not have any tires attached into it. It too is driven by a water buffalo. My stay in Arangin brought me a skin burned under the intense heat of the sun.
Ilocano dialect is mystical yet amusing and even comical at times. I learned Ilocano words such as wen (yes), ha-an (no), mangan tayon (let us eat), ubing (child), agawidden (I am leaving), bassit (small), and dakkel (big). The discrete intonation and pronunciation of Ilocano words and phrases are outlandish.
I have visited a number of places in the Ilocos region and I am hoping for more visits soon. I had gone to many municipalities and towns in Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, and Ilocos Norte. I am hoping to write about them so soon in more details. In my experience, every visit to Ilocos is rejuvinating knowing the fact that I reside in Manila with all its pollution. The 8 to 9 hours of traveling time never exhausts me. It just gets me more and more excited and thrilled. I ask myself of what are the new things and new places will I get explored and acquainted to in this another journey. Once I am gone in Sta. Lucia again after the long hours of travel, the excitement never dies.
Article by Jayrald Ado
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