The Ilocanos (/), Ilokanos, or Iloko people are the third largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. They mostly reside within the Ilocos Region, in the northwestern seaboard of Luzon, Philippines. The native language of the Ilocano people is the Ilocano (or Ilokano) language.
Historically, Ilocanos have an elaborate network of beliefs and social practices.
The Ilocano diaspora spans nearly all parts of the Philippines, as well as places in the Western world, particularly Hawaii and California. Emigration was caused by dense population pressures in a region with limited agricultural potential. The Ilocos Region is one of the most densely populated regions in the Philippines. Agricultural production is not sufficient to meet local needs, thus, much of the population historically went into the labor market and interregional trade. Tobacco is the leading cash crop of the Ilocano people. The textile industry in the area has a long tradition, while fishing is second only to agricultural production.
Etymology
The word Ilocano or Ilokano originates from the word Iloko/Iloco (archaic Spanish form, ), the conjugation of (meaning 'of') and (meaning 'bay'), which means 'from the bay' in Ilocano. Alternatively, according to some records, the name is derived from ('originating from') and or (a valley or depression in land, hence 'lowland') located between the ('mountains') and the ('sea' or 'bay').
One of the Spanish language's effects on the demonym is grammatical gender. Ilocano or Ilokano is used to refer to males, while Ilocana or Ilokana is used to refer to females.
History
Pre-history
The Ilocano people are one of the Austronesian peoples of Northern Luzon. The prevailing theory nowadays about the spread of the Austronesian peoples is the "Out of Taiwan" hypothesis, which proposes that the Neolithic-era migrations from Taiwan gave rise to the ancestors of present-day Austronesian populations. According to a 2021 genetic study, Austronesians, either from Southern China or Taiwan, were found to have come to the Philippines in at least two distinct waves. The first, occurring perhaps between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, brought the ancestors of indigenous groups that today live around the Cordillera Central mountain range. Later migrations brought other Austronesian groups, along with agriculture; the languages of these later migrants effectively replaced those of the existing populations.
Spanish Era to the Philippine Republic
The Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo explored the northern regions of the Philippines in 1571, where he traveled to the Ilocos Region (among other places), colonizing the north, and establishing several Spanish municipalities, including Villa Fernandina (present-day Vigan) and Tagudin.
Fray Andres Carro later wrote in his 1792 manuscript, that when Juan de Salcedo conquered Ilocos in 1572,
According to Carro, because of this, the Spanish learned the Ilocano language, and through its application by the Spanish, and the traffic and trade of the natives (which Carro claims they did not have before the Spanish arrival), the Ilocano language became common and popular in the entire province of Ilocos from Bangui to Agoo.
War with Zambales and Pangasinan (1660) Andres Malong, who was a leader in San Carlos, Pangasinan (then known as Binalatongan), formed an alliance with the inhabitants of Zambales in 1660. Their objective was to overthrow the Spanish colonizers and suppress those who were sympathetic to Spain. Previously, Malong had been working for the Spanish to facilitate the colonization of non-Christian communities in Pangasinan. But as he conquered more territories, he came to the realization that he could also defeat the outnumbered Spanish forces.
With his Zambales allies, Malong crowned himself the king of Pangasinan and sent out letters to all the chiefs of the Ilocos Region, Pampanga, and Cagayan Valley and demanded that they too align and recognize Malong as their king and kill any Spaniards among them. If they did not, Malong warned that he would invade and punish them for not joining his cause.