Region II

Cagayan Valley

for future pueblo sites and thus making a

name for himself in the process.

Regions:
Batanes
Cagayan
Isabela
Nueva Vizcaya
Quirino
The name is derived from the famous Sagayan
River, the longest and the biggest river in the
Philippines. The Cagayan Valley comprises the
northern part of LuzonBatanes, Cagayan, Isabela,
Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino. It is bordered on the
west by the Central Cordillera, on the east by the
Sierra Madre Mountains and on the south by the
Carballo Mountain.It is the second biggest region in
the country. Region 2 constitutes significant ethnic
groups: Ivatan(Batanes); Ibanag(Cagayan and
Isabela); Itaves, Malueg, Aeta(Cagayan); Gaddang
and Isinai(Nueva Vizcaya); and Ilongot(Nueva
Vizcaya and Quirino).

Tourist Spots in Region 2

The most important event in the history of

Cagayan Valley took place in 1572 when
Spanish Conquistador Don Juan de Salcedo
traced the northern coast and landed at the
mouth of the Pamplona River. Before his
visit, early Cagayanos reveled in a
civilization of their own.

The Spanish occupation in Cagayan

was recorded to have started in 1581 when
Gobernador Gonzalo Ronquillo de Penaloza
sent Juan Pablo Carreon to the north to
drive away a Japanese fleet under the
command of Taifusa. Carreon succeeded in
his mission and proceeded upriver to look

Lal-lo-c(old name of Lallo), one of

the first four (4) cities in the
Philippines(others: Manila-I571;Cebu-1565;
Naga-1575) was named Ciudad Nueva
Segovia in 1581 by Carreon. It was chosen
as capital of Cagayan Valley Region
because of its favorable location and
navigable river. It was also the seat of the
Diocese created by Pope Clement VII on
August 15, 1595 until the seat was
transferred to Vigan, Ilocos Sur in 1755.
Very famous among the missionaries at
that time was Bishop Miguel de Benavidez,
OP, the first bishop elected to the Diocesan
home in Ciudad Nueva Segovia. He later
founded the University of Sto. Tomas.

It was from Lallo that authorities

governed the province and was the capital
of Cagayan up to 1839 when Cagayan
Valley Region was subdivided. On May 24,
1839 the province of lsabela was created
comprising the towns of Cordon to Ilagan,
including the sitio of Palanan. Nueva
Vizcaya comprised the region from Aritao
to Bayombong and later to Diadi. Cagayan
comprised that part of the valley from
Tuguegarao to Aparri and the Babuyanes.
And the provincial government was moved
to Tuguegarao from Lal-lo.

Cagayan Valley abounds with

natural resources and exudes with
development potentials that consist of rich
agricultural areas, forestland and
grasslands, inland and marine resources.

Geographically, the valley is located

at the northeastern part of mainland Luzon
covering an area of about 26,858.79 square
kilometers making it the 2nd largest region
in the country. Bounded with the Pacific
Ocean in the east and the protective
mountain range of Cordillera on the west

and Caraballo Mountain, the provinces of

Nueva Ecija and Aurora on the south.
Between the ranges is the valley where
most of the population live and is crisscrossed by the mighty Cagayan River, the
longest and widest in the country and its
tributaries, which flow into the Babuyan
Channel in Aparri. The Pacific Ocean on the
east cost and the Babuyan Channel on the
north also skirt the mainland.The Batanes
group of island is located at the
northernmost tip of the Philippine
Archipelago surrounded by Bashi Channel
on the north, Pacific Ocean on the east,
Balintang Channel on the south and China
Sea on the west.

It has more than 890 kilometers of

coastline and rich fishing grounds,
particularly with the Babuyan and
Balintang Channels on the north and the
Palanan and Divilacan Bays on the east
including its territorial seas within the 200
kilometer Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The region has four (4) minor volcanoes
with several inactive fault lines, which
include the Digdig Fault. The climate in the
valley falls under Type 3 characterized by
not very pronounced seasons - relatively
dry from November to June and wet during
the rest of the year.

Cagayan Valley Region is composed

of five provinces - Batanes, Cagayan,
Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino and
three cities - Cauayan, Santiago and
Tuguegarao. The region's population based
on the year 2000 census of the population
was 2,813,159.

Thelalenut(proverbs)teachthevaluesthatthe
Gaddangshoulddevelopinlife,
sothattheymayachievepeaceandprosperity
bothforthemselvesandthe

community.Fortheindividual,stressisoften
laidonapersonssubstancewhich
leadstohumility(LumicaoLora1984:5865)

Literary Works
Gaddangs Proverbs (Lalenut)

Angadanan,auayan, and Reina Mercedes on the

Cagayan River for Christianed groups; and
western Isabela, along the edges of Kalinga and
Bontoc, in the towns of Antatet, Dalig, and the
barrios of Gamu and Tumauini for the nonChristianed gcommun

Isinay Baliwayway

Ino pakay a naddawa naddumug.

The rice stalk full of grain is bent.

Baliwaway, Baliwaway
ta meyo mos di ana uwar,
ta asan elan bumungan,
ya oras te pangan si ehawan.

Mapia quepay a mattangit ca sito aggaw abao Eh

maccataua ca si uddi
Mah so maccataua ca toya eh mattangit
daddaramat.
T is better to cry now and laugh later,
Than laugh now and mourn the day after.

Bawi, bawi, bawing,

bawing, bawing, baway,
ta asan bumangun,
mu oras mot si pangan,
ta mahanun masi-on,
ta amoy miikwila.

Metappol nu you atawn Baccan si guinatan.

You can throw your wife or husband out; But never
your own parents.

Wawing, wawing, wawing, waway,

baliwawing baliwaway,
ta mahinun masi-on,
ta mahanun mot amoy miikwila.

Gaddangs Riddles
Ana tata bafay, ivarac na ino anacna. (Kalabasa)
A woman scatters her children.(Squash)
Appat a mauauahi sinumallang so simban
Naddadaruma color na sinnun da
Allawan da, tata lamang a libaga. (Mamman)
Four sisters went to church
Wearing clothes of varied hues,
Whan they came home, they all wore red. (Betel
Chew)
"Gaddang," also "Gadang" or "Ga'dang," derives
from "ga" meaning "heat" or "fire," and "dang"
meaning "burn," and means "burned by heat." The
name probably alludes to the skin color of the
Gaddang, which is darker than any of the native
peoples of the old Mountain Province. The
Gaddang are found in northern Nueva Vizcaya,
especially Bayombong, Solano, and Bagabag on
the western bank of the Magat River, and santiago,

Baliwawing, baliwawing, baliwaway,

ta mahanu mot masi-on,
ta mahanun pinabanga.

Isinay Baliwayway (English Translation)

Baliwaway, Baliwaway
so that my child will go to sleep now
so that when he or she wakes up
it is time to eat lunch.
Bawi, bawi, bawing,
bawing, bawing, baway,
so that when he or she gets up
it is already time to eat,
so that he or she will grow up fast,
and he or she will go to school.
Wawing, wawing, wawing, waway,
baliwawing baliwaway,

so that he or she will grow up fast,

and he or she will go to school.
Baliwawing, baliwawing, baliwaway,
so that he or she will grow up fast,
so that he or she will be of help soon.

The Isinay language is a Central

Cordilleran language spoken by
around 6,000 speakers. 1975 Census
data lists 4,851 speakers in Nueva
Vizcaya, 2865 in Dupax del Sur, 1769
in Bambang, and 217 in Aritao. The
Isinay are greatly outnumbered by
Ilocano speakers in the municipalities
in which they live, and in Aritao they
no longer have a community of their
own.
Formal Isinay is based on the Dupax
dialect. Other dialects include Aritao
and Bambang. All three dialects share
the same phonemic inventory (18
consonants and 4 vowels) **Note
Constantino has five vowels in his
inventory but says there are only four.
Isinay is derived from the prefix i
meaning native, resident, people of
and sinai, a place believed to have
been inhabited by the early people of
northern Luzon. Isinay refers to a
group of people who in the preSpanish period were considered
homogenous and who occupied the
present-day area of Nueva Vizcaya.

Baliwayway. The lullabies of Isinay are called

baliwayway. Isinay is a group of people who
occupied northern Luzon in the pre-spanish period.

Ilongot Baliwayway

Ay os song bukod nito ta uc kit capa,

Taan ca pa no be dac
Du bucud si gudu to simican capo
Sigudu agcapo andan ge;
Do an gen isipel con lagem
Ta alim bawa we maduken bilay mo
Sicapo ma manalima di ke.
I say ma ibigec dimo ay nongo capo,
Ta inki taac pud uma antala baco.
Ta we panaga gaan ta no biayta,
Ta camuem pon sumi can
Atembawa sumican capo Ossong,
Sica ma mangoma,
Ancayab ca mad kio
Tan de gan moy di,
Ta we poy paguen co,
Pangagaan ta no canan ta.

The Ilongots (or Ibilao) are a tribe who inhabit

the southern Sierra Madre and Caraballo
Mountains, on the east side of Luzon Island in the
Philippines, primarily in the provinces of Nueva
Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija and along the mountain
border between the provinces of Quirino and
Aurora.

Ilongot Baliwayway(English Translation)

My son, now that you are still young,
I compare you to a blooming flower,
But, when you grow to be a big man,
Maybe you will be a naughty youth;
But, though my suspecions are like that,
I just bear them all
Because, if you will grow, and have a long life,
You shall take care of me when i grow old.
I am then urging you to sleep,
So that I can go out to the field and work,
To plant; so we may have something to reap,
to sustain our life:
So that you will grow easily.
And if you will grow to be a man, my son,
You shall take my place on the farm.
You shall climb the tall trees in my stead;
Cut the branches and the trunk,

So that we shall have some place to plant rice

To sustain us, while we are still alive.

Ivatans Laji

members of the local choir. After hearing

the mass of Fr. Maliglig, they let me listen
to the song with the accompaniment of a
guitar. Its so admirable that this young
people are familiar with the song.

As anu madiman aku, nia ivuyunn mo yaken

This song was featured in the movie Kadin.

There should be preservation efforts to
make this song live in the hearts of people
one generation to the next. The other
popular folk song is the Kalusan which
many are familiar to it. It is being sung
during work. The kanta is another folk song
of the Ivatans.

du kurus di San Pilis, as ivuvun mo yaken

The Ivatans are a Filipino ethnolinguistic

du asked nu kuku mo ta pachisuvsuvway ko

group predominant in the Batanes Islands of

du kanen mo a mahutu as pachidiludilupay

untraced among scholars. Ivatans were free before

Muyin, paru ninu si tauri a manianinu

du chinuhat ko a danum, nia di ko s '
di pachilupa ta pakaynay koa mavuya?

the Philippines. The origins of the Ivatans remained

ko du inumin a danum

they were colonized by the Spaniards.

English Translation

The culture of the Ivatans is partly influenced by the

Whose face I do behold, mirrored

type nipa huts common in the Philippines, Ivatans

Upon the water I have to boiled to drink?

have adopted their now-famous stone houses made

I do not dare drink to prolong the vision.

environmental condition of Batanes. Unlike the old-

of limestone, designed to protect against the hostile

climate.

If I die, bury me not

ate the cross of San Felix, bury me

Ibanag Proverbs

under your fingernails, that I may be eaten Along

with every food you eat, that I may be drunk along
with every cup of water you drink.

Awan tu umune ta uton ng ari umulak ta davvun.

Laji: An Ivatan Folk Song

Laji is the oldest traditional music of the
Ivatans in the islands of Batanes. The laji
are ancient lyrical songs that are supposed
to be sung when they are merry or just
finished work. There are only few people
nowadays who could sing this song. I was
lucky to find young girls in the sitio of Itbud
in the town of Uyugan to sing for me this
Ivatan folk song. They were actually

Nobody goes up who does not come down.

>> An advice to those who upon reaching the peak
of their success look down, and even insult and
oppress the poor and the lowly.

Mamatugo ka ta gayan nga manututu ta matam.

You rear a crow that pecks your eyes.
>> Reflects the abhorrence and loathe against those
who are ungrateful.

Mammula ka ta mapia, gataban nu noka.

He who sows goodness, reaps gratitude.

If you really in love Come and carry me in your arm

Never leave me alone For many crave for me to be
their own.

I buruasi nga inijkao, nu ari atazzi, alawa nikaw.

Borrowed clothes are either loose or tight.

The ybanags are an ethnolinguistic

>> A sequel and an anthesis

minority numbering a little more than half a million

Awat tu serbi na ru nga kukua, nu marake i

pinangngapangngua.
Wealth is uselss if character is worthless.

people, who inhabit the provinces

ofCagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya. They are
one of the largest ethnolinguistic minorities in
the Philippines. Ibanags speak the same language
under the same name. However, due to the

Ari ka maniguru Ta sinaddad na kayu Ta egge

laman Y minafun A kutu-kutu ngadavvun.
Trust not in the appearance of tree As one sound
and healthy For who knows if it is infested With
very harmful pests.

Philippine government's attempts at displacing

minority languages and imposing Filipino as a
lingua franca, the use of Ibanag language has now
diminished but remain strong with Ibanags living
overseas. Thus while there may still be Ibanags
around, the language is slowly being displaced. In
addition to this, many if not most Ibanags

Mas napia Y mattadday Anne ta mevulun to

marake nga tolay.
It is better to be alone Than to be with a bad
companion.

speak Ilocano, which has over the years,

supplanted Ibanag as the more dominant language
in the region.
Ibanag is also known as "Ybanag" and "Ybanak" or
"Ibanak".
Their names come from the words "I"- which means
"The" and "Bannag"- meaning river.

Maski attannang Y balay nga ekku unekam

Sangaw nu amuluga Siyempre tu mappagukuba.

Nu Nunuk Du Tukun

No matter how high you ascend Sooner or later you

will descend.

Nu Nunuk Du Tukun, minuhung as kadisi

na;

Awan tu serbi na aru nga kukua Nu marake y

pangpangapan na.

Ichapungpung diya am yaken u nilangan

na.

Wealth is useless When you get it from a bad source.

Kapatalamaran ava su avang di idaud

Sikaw kurug a maya Kataw ta gabbayan na

Ariammu tum Ta ammum tu aru y lalung.

Ta miyan du inayebngan na, ta miyan du

inayebngan na.

Nu itanis ko an nu an didien ko;

could raise their child,...... well as long as you

know now the story of the poem.... it may give
you some clue to the other lines..

Ta nu taw aya u suminbang diyaken;

Na maliliyak a pahung as maheheyet a
riyes.
U minahey niya diyaken.

WHAT CAUSES EARTHQUAKES

English Translation

(Y Paggafuanan na Lunig)

(The Nunuk on the Hill)

(Translated by Florentino H. Hornedo)

The Nunuk on the hill short forth the leaves

and twigs;
Then suddenly all its branches fell and I
under it.
On what is left I cannot watch the boats on
the sea
For I stand on the side from the sea.

I weep in my grief?
It was the sea that made me an orphan;
The sad news came to me in the roar of the
breakers,
From the voice of the mighty sea currents.

nagsimula ito sa isang trahedya noong 1908,

isang sasakyang pandagat ang lumubog ng
dahil sa malakas na bagyo,... walang nakaligtas
na pasahero nun, tapos yung isang pasahero
dun ay ang asawa ng kumanta ng nu nunuk du
tukun.... nunuk is a kind of a tree, and it was
refering to the deceased husband. the poem
says that suddenly the branches fell and i under
it, it means that she is the only one now who

Once upon a time, there was a very

poor couple who had only one son. His
name was Bernard Carpio. Since this family
led only a hand to mouth existence, both
husband and wife had to work for living.
Whenever the mother went out to work,
she would lock up the baby in the house.
She would just give him something to play
with. Upon coming home, she would find all
the toys of the baby broken into small
pieces. This happened everyday until the
mother could no longer give the baby
anything to play with. So the baby was lest
in the house without any toy, when she
came home to feed him, the mother was
surprised that the walls and studs of their
house were either destroy or broken. She
remains silent but observant. As soon as
these parts of the house had been repaired,
she again left Bernardo Carpio alone. When
she came home, she found the same in
shambles. Next time, the mother
deliberately gave her son an iron rod to
play with. Again he broke rod into pieces.
Now the parents were growing alarmed
over the extraordinary strength of
Bernardo. News of it also spread in the
neighborhood.

As a child grew up, he was

recognized as the strongest boy in the
village. He challenged to fight those who
dared him and defeated them all. As man,
hid prowess was also acclaimed in the
whole country. This popularity made him
very proud. He was so proud that even he
dared challenged God. At first, God gave
him the upper hand. But on the third trial,

when God asked him to stop the quarrel

between the two big mountains, Bernardo
failed. In a conceited gesture, he
impulsively went between the warring
mountains. He extended his arms to stop
them but instead, he got between the two
mountains and was buried alive with his
head out.

Today, it was believed that

whenever Bernardo Carpio struggles to free
himself from the grip of the mountains, the
earth quakes. The old folks also say that
when he finally frees himself, that will be
the end of the world.

Stillanothermyth,YPaggafuanannaLunig
(WhatCausesEarthquakes)attributes
theoriginofearthquakestothelegendary
BernardoCarpio,who,asachild,already
exhibitsextraordinarystrength.BernardoCarpio
istheonlysonofaverypoorcouple.
Wheneverthecouplegoouttowork,theyleave
thebabyinthehouse.Uponreturning
home,theyfindallthebabystoysbrokeninto
pieces.Whentherearenomoretoysto
break,thechildbreaksthewallsandstudsofthe
house.Ashegrowsup,Bernardo
Carpioisrecognizedasthestrongestmannotonly
inthevillagebutinthewhole
country.Thispopularitymakeshimsoproudthat
hechallengesGodhimself.God
giveshimseveraltrials,thelastofwhichisfor
himtostopthequarrelbetweentwobig
mountains.Toprovehisstrength,hegoes
betweenthewarringmountains,extendshis
armstopartthembutgetscrushedbythem.Heis
buriedaliveandonlyhisheadisleft
stickingoutofthemountains.WheneverBernardo
Carpioattemptstofreehimself
fromthetwomountains,theearthshakes