Region 1 Ilocos Region
Region 1 Ilocos Region
Region 1 Ilocos Region
Region 1 or the Ilocos Region comprises Four Provinces, namely Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La
Union, and Pangasinan. The majority of the population speaks Ilocano. The third-largest spoken
language in the Philippines, although a significant number also speak Pangasinense. Through
their dialects maybe be different, they can understand each other reasonably enough.
Region I was formed on September 24, 1972, when provinces of the Philippines were organized
into 11 regions by Presidential Decree No. 1 of the Integrated Plan of President Ferdinand Marcos.
The cities that makeup Ilocos Region are Batac City, Laoag City, Candon City, Vigan City, San
Fernando City, Alaminos City, Dagupan City, San Carlos City, and Urdaneta City.
PEOPLE
Ilocanos – The 3rd Largest Filipino Ethnolinguistic group
- Ilocanos- from “I”-from and “looc”-Bay they also refer themselves as SAMTOY
from the Ilocano phrase “sao mi ditoy” meaning our language here.
FESTIVALS
Viva Vigan Festival – Every first week of May, Vigan plays host to visitors for this festival
featuring painting and product exhibits, a Calesa parade, and other cultural activities.
Longaniza Festival – held every January 22 in Vigan City, this festival features the
longest longaniza with the hope of entering the Guinness Book of Records as the longest
longaniza in the world. The longaniza plays a significant role in promoting the city’s
identity as the primary producer of longaniza, famous locally and abroad.
Dagupan Bangus Festival is considered one of the most exciting festivals in the
Philippines and celebrated for a little over two weeks in April and towards the first few
days of May, with the grilling of bangus in the streets highlighting the occasion
Pamulinawen Festival is held every first week of February. The festival corresponds with
the Feast Day of Saint William the Hermit, the cities Patron Saint. It started from a simple
celebration of the Feast Day of Saint William, and then it has grown into a more spectacular
festival featuring the culture and heritage of the city through a variety of social-civic
activities, civic-military parade, a parade of floats, and its centerpiece, the Street
Dancing Competition.
FOOD / DELICACIES
Bagnet is an authentic delicacy from Ilocos. It's a pork belly dish similar to lechon kawali;
both are boiled before deep-fried until crispy.
Empanada is a typical snack that originated from Spain and its former Latin American
colonies. An empanada is made with wheat flour stuffed with meat, carrots, corn, cheese,
and peppers. There’s a lot of variation with the stuffings, depending on the ingredients
available in the area.
Pinakbet is an indigenous Filipino dish from the northern regions of the Philippines.
Pinakbet is made from mixed vegetables steamed in fish or shrimp sauce. The word is the
Ilokano word pinakbet's contracted form, meaning "shrunk" or "shriveled."
Dinengdeng or inabraw is a Filipino vegetable dish that originated from the Ilocos region
in the Philippines. It is composed of different vegetables that are usually grown in one's
backyard. This dish is similar to bulanglang and laswa; the apparent difference between
Dinengdeng is fried or grilled fish. Another notable difference is the addition of "bagoong
isda."
Pigar-pigar is one of the most popular delicacies of Pangasinan. It’s traditionally cooked
with thin slices of carabao meat, sauteed with spices, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.