Mt.

Province

I. Name Origin

On June 18,1966, Republic Act No. 4695 divided the old Mountain Province into four provinces:
Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao, and the Mountain Province. The area that retained the old province’s
name was the former sub-province of Bontoc. The Spaniards called the territory “La Montanosa” because
it had more mountains than any other province. The rugged mountain peaks served as protection against
Spanish efforts to colonize and convert the tribes to Christianity. They preserve the tribes’ culture and
unique way of life to this day.

During the Filipino-American War, General Emilio Aguinaldo and his revolutionary force
crossed the Cordillera through the Mountain Province in December 1899. They proceeded to Sagada and
Bontoc to elude the American troops. They went on to Ifugao and Isabela, where they were eventually
captured. The Americans established a civil government in the province. In 1901, Catholic and Protestant
missionaries began evangelization work in the high lands. In 1908, the old Mountain Province was created
under Act No. 1876 of the Philippine Legislature.

II. Location
 Mt Province is bounded on the North by Kalinga, South by Benguet and Ifugao, East by Isabela
and West by Ilocos Sur and Abra. The Capital Town of Mt. Province is Bontoc.
 Land Area 2,239.9 square kilometres. 23% of which are classified as alienable and disposable, 77%
as forest land.
 Mt. Province was once a part of the Old Mt. Province under Phil. Commission Act No. 1876 that
compromised the BIBAK provinces. The sub-provinces are Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga,
Amburayan and Lepanto-Bontoc.
 Geo politically subdivided into 10 municipalities and 144 barangay.
 As of May 2010, the population in Mt. Province is 153,187.
 The first governor was Samuel Cane, and the town of Bontoc was made the capital. It was
originally composed of the sub-provinces of Amburayan, Apayao, Benguet, Lepanto-Bontoc,
Ifugao and Kalinga.
 Amburayan was later abolished in 1920 and its corresponding territories were transferred to the
provinces of Ilocos Sur and La Union. Lepanto was also reduced in size and its towns were
integrated into the sub-provinces of Bontoc and Benguet, and to the province of Ilocos Sur.


III. Languages

The Mountain Province is home to similar but distinct cultures and languages. Of the 185
languages of the Philippines recorded by Ethonologue, a web-based publication that contains statistics
for languages, eight of these are natively spoken in Mountain Province, namely: Balangaw, Central

Bontoc , Northern Bontoc, Southwestern Bontoc, Eastern Bontoc, Western Bontoc, and 2 Kankanaey
languages: that which is spoken in Southwestern Mountain Province (similar to the one spoken in

Northern Benguet and Ilocos Sur), and the one spoken in Sagada and Besao. Like other languages

that are geographically near each other, these eight are similar in many respects, however, they have

distinct features that make them individual languages. Except for Chavacano, all other languages

spoken in the Philippines belong to the Extra-Formosan (also known as the Malayo-Polynesian)

family of Austronesian languages.

 Balangaw is spoken in Natonin by some 21, 300 speakers. Compared to other MP languages that
use /b/, /d/ and /g/, these are changed to /f/, /ch/ and /kh/ respectively.

e.g. /ch/ayu (you) da/kh/ayu

And while the rest of the Philippine languages have 4 or 5 vowels, Balangaw has 7 reported vowels (Reid,
2006)

 Central Bontok is spoken in the Bontoc municipality, which includes: Bontoc ili, Caluttit, Dalican,
Guina-ang, Ma-init, Maligcong, Samoki, and Tocucan villages. There are 19,600 speakers of the
language. Just like the Balangaw, these changes may occur:

/b/ /f/ e.g. /b/aka (cow) becomes /f/aka

/d/ /ch/ or /ts/ /d/alit (eel) /ts/alit

/g/ /kh/ /g/apu (cause) /kh/apu

Mainit has the variants /v/ and /dz/ for /b/ and /d/ respectively, as in /vadzu/ for bado, which means

clothes.

 Eastern Bontok is spoken in the Barlig municipality, Kadaklan, and Lias villages. There are 6,170
speakers. Its alternate names are: Eastern Bontoc and Finallig. A distinctive feature of this
language is the use of /fi/ like fiarakkan (snake), fiaruy (house) and fiangel (other side). It follows
that some /b/ words in other languages are changed to /fi/ like “fiafoy” for “baboy”(pig),
“fiarasaŋ” or “farasaŋ” for “balasaŋ” (lady).
 Northern Bontok is spoken in the Sadanga municipality: Anabel, Bekigan, Belwang, Betwagan,
Demang, Sacasacan, Saclit, and the municipal center, Sadanga Poblacion. There are approximately
9,700 speakers of the languages. It is worth mentioning that various Sadanga municipality
residents do not identify their language as Bontok. They identify with their community dialect,
and label it distinctively. The /v/ variant is also predominant in Northern Bontoc as in /vutog/ for
futog (pig)
 Southern Bontok is spoken in Talubin, Bayyo, and Can-eo towns by 2,760 speakers. The Southern
Bontoc is internally identified with their intonation and the predominance of /dz/ and /h/ in most
words.

Examples: /dz/ “vadzuk” (clothes), “dzalit” (eel), “dzatuna” (these)

/h/ “hawis” (good), “hipan” (knife), “hachiw” (a variety of fresh-waterfish)

  Southwestern Bontok is spoken in the southwest of municipal capital Bontoc, along
HalsemaHighway, particularly: Alab, Balili and Gonogon by 2,470 speakers. Just like other Bontok
speakers, they do not identify their language as Bontok. They label theirs distinctively: Alab (Ina-
ab), Balili (Binalili), Gonogon (Ginonogon).
 Kankanaey is spoken in southwest Mountain Province (including north Benguet, southeast Ilocos
Sur, and northeast La Union provinces). The dialects include: Bauko(Binauko), Sabangan
(Sinabangan), and Tadian (Tinadian).
 Northern Kankanay/Kankanaey is spoken in western Mountain Province: Sagada and Besao as
well as Southeast Ilocos Sur provinces. An alternative name of the language is Applai/Applay.
 Bontoc on the other hand, decreased by

10.1 percent from 5,412 to 4,864 households within those 10 years. The influence of other

languages: English, Filipino and Ilocano as well as non-official languages like the gay linggo are

believed to have caused the decline of the Bontoc language.

IV. Practices
 Healing Practices

-Boni: an Igorot tribal healing ritual, still in use in the Mountain Province, performed by village elder
or "mambonong" for the treatment of a wide range of illnesses - including cancer, debility, or to counter
witchcraft and spells. After prayers invoking the gods and spirits, while partaking in the drinking of "tapoy"
or rice wine, the elder or mambonong orders the slaughter of a native "black" pig. The healer checks the
quality of the liver and if "healthy" looking, applies it to the ailing part. If the liver looks "unhealthy," it is
discarded and another pig -sometimes as many as four or five - is slaughtered until an appropriate healthy
looking liver is obtained. After the healing ritual, the healer, family and villagers divide the pig remains.
When the patient's family is unable to do an outright purchase for the pigs, payment is usually made as
barter of goods or labor.

 Entering a Newly Built House (segep di baey)

-Binangiyan: oldest type of compact dwellings under the southern strain of Mt. Province architecture.
The main part of the structure is a one room box-like compartment raised from the ground by four or
sometimes more wooden posts about five feet high with the roof, high pointed and pyramidal in shape
and derived from stalks of runo, called pudong, and cogon grass. The eaves hang low constructed to
extend downwards to about four feet from the ground.
-Attic : used mainly as granary, after the palay harvest, it is piled up in the attic; dried and ripened
further by heat and smoke that come continuously from the stove directly below.
-Overhanging eaves: for protection
-Space under the house: serve as general living room for gossip, storing of various tools and
remains of sacrificial pigs (skulls and jaw bones) for display enticing the visitors to notice them.

 Festival (Begnas)
-Begnas: also referred to as Rice Ritual, is a tradition that is celebrated 3-4 times annually patterned
on the cultural calendar of Sagada; mostly in 2nd week of March. The natives believe that through these
rituals, they will be blessed with good harvest. Men, women, the young and the old are all clad in
traditional Igorot tribal clothes, as they make their way to the Dap-ays, or cultural centers. As the men
march, they carry with them pieces of pork as offerings. The Sagadan women, meanwhile, would fall in
line to hand down their offerings from a person to another until they reach the center.

 Agricultural Cycle Practices in Tadian

-Terracing, Soil Erosion Control and Soil Enrichment Practices: to sustain and prolong productivity,
the sloping nature of upland landscapes requires soil and water conservation technology. This is done by
constructing stone-wall terraces and water impounding systems to create artificial pondfields.
Furthermore, traditional soil conservation methods include keeping animals (pig, chicken, carabao) for
manure. Other soil-enriching practices include composting and growing legume crops in rotation with
agricultural crops and mixing cereals with legumes. Stoned rice terraces are very common in the
Cordilleras and represent an ancient and sustainable system for communal rice production.

In field preparation, the people have to clean the rice paddies or do the slash and burn, lidas or
tengteng, decomposing of tonotong plants, repair of stone wall or rip rapping, and the legleg. Seed
selection is the next step to be done before sowing where they do the Kentan di Padog. After sowing, field
preparation is again to be done in preparation for the asi-toned. Other economic activities to be done are:
kentan di toned, padya, asi-sama, asi-danum, asi-bewew, the begnas, and the asi-ani or harvest time.

Other systems of preserving the rice terraces are: the tayan system of Bontoc, the bituwan system of
Barlig, and the lakun system of Sabangan. The contributions of the cultural practices are: sustainability of
the fertility of the soil, solidarity among the community folks, values enhancement, adherence by each
constituent of the value of Inayan, and conservation and preservation of the rice terraces.

 Festival (Odaya)
 Wedding Celebration (Dawak)

-A significant preparatory activity is the butchering of a carabao the day before the wedding. In the
course of sacrificing the animal, the elder leading the prayers offers tobacco and rice on the spot where
the animal died. The elder then extols the spirit of the carabao and asks that it spares from hardship or
sickness those who would partake of its meat. Instead of being part as celebratory meals, it is apportioned
as a form of acknowledgment to community members who helped in the wedding preparations or to
those who gave contributions to the couple in cash or in kind.

During the day of the wedding, “daw-es” and “senga” are performed for the spirits, with the elders
interceding for the couple’s prosperity and well-being. The daw-es is a ritual for cleansing and healing.
The senga is a ritual “that takes care of all contingencies,” according to Albert Bacdayan, a Cornell
University anthropologist and Sagada resident. This part of the ritual requires the obligatory sacrifice of
three pigs and two chickens. The “gido,” or the act of waking the spirits, requires the symbolic “feeding”
of the spirits first before the community can take part in meals.

 Festival (Sida)
 Child birth
-There are also some practical indigenous ways of taking care of pregnant women and women who
have just given birth. Umaming (2007) noted that in one community in the Mountain Province, an unborn
child is already counted as a member of the village. He or she already gets a share of village resources,
particularly food. When a family prepares a chicken meal, a choice chicken leg is reserved for the unborn
baby. It is given to the mother to eat and its nutrients passed on to the baby in her womb. One should
always be willing to forgo his “etag” (salted meat) and green papaya in favor of lactating mother. He
further stated that, tradition dictates that a pregnant mother should be prevented from carrying heavy
loads, and the husband is required to do most of the work and the village elders sees to it that the husband
goes home before sunset lest the wife might be tempted to do heavy chores. After giving birth, “the
mother is obliged to wear a traditional belt. She is regularly given a warm massage by the grandmothers
of the village before and after giving birth. The husband s also trained in the art of massaging.
Palaganas (2000) also cited some practices among the people of Badeo, “if a mother is experiencing
difficult labor, a mambunong is called to perform the dawdawak, a ritual where a pig is butchered, if the
dawdawak performed was not successful, they then call a mansip-ok who, in turn, tries to determine the
causes of the difficult labor being experienced by the woman. The mansip-ok is believed to know how to
identify the possible reasons for the difficult situation. Moreover, during pregnancy, women go to a
trusted hilot who possess the ability to determine a difficult delivery caused by suni, (breech position),
through careful and skillful massage techniques, the hilot will then massage the pregnant woman’s
abdomen to reposition the child.

**Lang-ay Festival: Tribal folks clad in their colorful ethnic regalia perform a traditional dance during the
provincial festival celebration held in Bontoc, Mountain Province (APR 1-10). The Lang-ay festival is a
celebration of merriment, kinship, music, dances and a bountiful harvest in Mountain Province.

**Ayyoweng Festival: Ayyoweng is a kankanaey term that refers to indigenous melodies like the native
chants and any rhythmical sound produced by indigenous musical instruments like the takik. It also
denotes the enchanting characteristics or “ganges” of any music and the movements that go with it that
captures the appreciation of a listener and onlooker. The day-eng, da-ing, yoga, oggayam, salidummay,
liw-liwa, luglogammits, and rhythmical sounds produced by the use of the gangsa and other native musical
instruments are essential parts of ayyoweng. Festival is usually celebrated in the 1st Friday and Saturday
of March in Tadian.

V. Rituals

RITUALS FOR COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

-for courtship and marriage they have ceremonial platforms called “dap-ay”

BABAYAS- indigenous marriage rite

BASKANG- rituals celebrated by the newly married couple

RITUALS ON HEALING

SIBISIB- is a ritual done when sharp objects wound a certain person.

LIBLIBAYAN- is a helaing method used when one has stomachache and nausea.
KADKADANG/SIBLOT- it is done when one visiy a certainplace or a grave or death vigil and suddenly fells
sick.

SIDA- is a ritual performed by the manbunong by butchering animals to appease the spirit that may cause
the illness.

RITUALS FOR THE DEAD

-the first to be done is the clenasing rite

-seconf dat after the burial rites, men go to the river for the “cachiw” (fish found in the chico river).

-the third day is called “alis” (transfer).

-fourth day is a rest day. All relatives of the dead must remain in the ir houses abstaining from hard work.

-fifth day is the “tipi”. Canao for the spirit.

-sixth day is again “tengao” rest day.

-seventh day is the “cachiw”, again men go to the river to catch fish while the women go to the field to
gey “ku-ti” shells.

-the eight day is “sang-po” (anti climaxe of the burial custom)

CANAO (kanyaw) - is a socio-religious rituals where chickens, pigs, and or carabaos are butchered or
feasted on.

CANAO RELATE TO ILLNESS:

SEPADAKAN - to cure those who get sick because of sapiloy-a spell cast on plants to guard them from
being stolen.

NABAO-IT - to cure sicknes causr by the timmengao(ghost inhabiting the mountain).

AKLUP AND PAYPAY- one's spirit may left in the place causing him some illness.

AWIL- it is believed that the spirits of dead soldiers and other well-being known person from other olaces
are capable of making a person sick.

SAKUP DI BAEY- it is believed that a house just like other object has spirit. If any part of the house is taken
from a tree hiy by lightning or if anything happens around the house, it's spirit can make anu member of
the house sick.

SAOK- in this type of canao, the family of the sick person performs "wedwed", a ceremony transferring
the illness temporarilly into a jat of tapey(rice wine)

VI. Ethnic Attire

TAPIS - wrap around skirt for women

WAKES - ladies belt

LAM-MA - ladies topper

WANES - bahag/g-string for men

TATTOO ART - part of clothing that signifies rite of passage from youth to adult life, heroism, status in the
community & bravery

•REPRESENTATIONAL DESIGNS

HUMAN - symbolizes an igorot warrior or epitome of bravery

DIAMOND - represents a fern, an oldest plant that symbolizes the forgotten past or the time of their
ancestors

STAR PATTERNS - it was believed to be the child of the sun and moon therefore reveal as a God

LIZARD - symbol of wealth & good fortune.

VII. Religion
 Animism (popularly referred to by majority Filipinos as paganism) is the indigenous religion of
Igorots. It finds its way in how some practice their syncretic Christianity. The religion continues to
pervade in the community rituals in prayer, dances, music, sacrifice and offerings.
 Anglicanism predominates in the province with approximately 60% adherence with the
other religions such as Roman Catholicism, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Iglesia Filipina
Indepiendente, Iglesia ni Cristo and Free Believers. Mountain Province is the only predominate
Protestant province in the Philippines.

VIII. Local Heroes

The local heroes of Mt. Province are Macliin Dulag, Pedro Dungoc Sr., and Lumbaya Gayudan
because they are the people who have the courage to led the opposition against the project of Ferdinand
Marcos (mega dams) that is going to be built at Malinga and Mt. Province during that time. Even though
they are all from Kalinga, they are hailed by the people of Mt. Province because of their bravery. So every
23rd day of April, we celebrate “Cordillera Day” to honor Macliing Dulag and the heroes of Cordillera
peoplepeople's defense against what they call “development aggression”.

IX. Tourist Attractions

Mountain province is an Eco-Tourism center next to Baguio City. Being located at the center of the
Cordillera, it is being considered as the sub-regional center for the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
in the next Millennium.

SUMAGUING CAVE

 Deepest cave in the Philippines

 More than 500 feet
  The cave was once part of large body of water millions of years ago

KILTEPAN “SAGADA BEST SUNRISE”

 Worth seeing the view of the golden sun as it is rises behind the mountains of cordillera and over
the horizon of the sea of clouds

LAKE DANUM

 Is a small lake which means kankana-ey word or prevalent in Ilocano which means water

LUMIANG CAVE

 More than 100 coffins are stacked at the entrance the oldest coffin is believed to be about 500
years old
 Many carves with images of lizards symbols of long life and fertility
 The gods demand sacrifice of more than 20 pigs and 3 times as many chicken for the privilege of
being buried in the caves

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF SAINT MARY THE VIRGIN

 The church of Saint Mary Virgin in Sagada known as Anglican Church in Poblacion it is said to be
the oldest church in Cordillera
 It was originally built under the direction of Rev. John Staunton year 1904 under the American
Regime and became a parish year 1962.
 This church was survived world war 2 and was just repaired

X. Food

Mt. Province is not just rich in nature but also in their food.

1. Etag/kiniing/innasin - this is a salted meat that's preserved by drying it under the sun.

2. Tapey- most popular igorot alcoholic beverage. They say it tastes like whiskey.

3. Cinafay's Fanias- Roasted monitor Lizard. Tastes like chicken they say.

4. Tsu-om / Du-om- roast rice crunch ( pinipig in tagalog)

XI. Products

Rice – Mt. Province has several rice terraces in seven at it’s different towns: Ambasing, Bangaan, Bangnen,
Barlig, Bayyo, Besao and Bontoc Poblacion rice terraces.

Woven Products – Mt Province is a Weaver’s Paradise. Finely woven products include the traditional tapis
for women’s apparel and the traditional wanes for the males (G-string). Other woven products are are
bags, purses, pouches, wallets, blazers, skirts and wall decors.