Bontoc, Mountain Province

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bontoc
Municipality
Municipality of Bontoc
Bontoc, Mountain Province (3299081695).jpg
Flag of Bontoc
Flag
Official seal of Bontoc
Seal
Map of Mountain Province with Bontoc highlighted
Map of Mountain Province with Bontoc highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Bontoc is located in Philippines
Bontoc
Bontoc
Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 17°05′14″N 120°58′32″E / 17.08722°N 120.97556°E / 17.08722; 120.97556Coordinates: 17°05′14″N 120°58′32″E / 17.08722°N 120.97556°E / 17.08722; 120.97556
CountryPhilippines
RegionCordillera Administrative Region
ProvinceMountain Province
District Lone district
Founded1908
Barangays16 (see Barangays)
Government
 [1]
 • TypeSangguniang Bayan
 • MayorFranklin C. Odsey
 • Vice MayorEusebio S. Kabluyen
 • RepresentativeMaximo Y. Dalog Jr.
 • Electorate16,040 voters (2019)
Area
[2]
 • Total396.10 km2 (152.94 sq mi)
Elevation
1,173 m (3,848 ft)
Highest elevation
1,833 m (6,014 ft)
Lowest elevation
804 m (2,638 ft)
Population
 (2020 census) [3]
 • Total24,104
 • Density61/km2 (160/sq mi)
 • Households
6,307
Economy
 • Income class2nd municipal income class
 • Poverty incidence15.43% (2015)[4]
 • Revenue₱123,441,548.36 (2016)
Service provider
 • ElectricityMountain Province Electric Cooperative (MOPRECO)
Time zoneUTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code
2616
PSGC
144404000
IDD : area code +63 (0)74
Climate typetropical rainforest climate
Native languagesBalangao
Bontoc
Ilocano
Tagalog
Websitelgubontoc.gov.ph

Bontoc, officially the Municipality of Bontoc (Ilocano: Ili ti Bontoc; Tagalog: Bayan ng Bontoc), is a 2nd class municipality and capital of the province of Mountain Province, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 24,104 people. [3]

Bontoc is the historical capital of the entire Cordillera region since the inception of governance in the Cordillera. The municipality celebrates the annual .[5]

Bontoc is home to the Bontoc tribe, a feared war-like group of indigenous people who actively indulged in tribal wars with its neighbors until the 1930s. Every Bontoc male had to undergo a rite of passage into manhood, which may include headhunting, where the male has to journey (sometimes with companions) and hunt for a human head. The Bontoc also used the jaw of the hunted head as a handle for gongs, and as late as the early 1990s, evidence of this practice can be seen from one of the gongs in Pukisan, Bontoc. The town also hosts the UNESCO tentatively-listed Alab petroglyphs.

History[]

Bontoc (left) and Bontoc Museum (right)

Samuel E. Kane, the American supervisor and then Governor, established the capital here after the Philippine Commission passed the Mountain Province Act in 1908,[6] building a provincial building, hospital, doctor's office, nurse's home, a school, and provincial prison.[7]:281–284 He also built the Tagudin-Bontoc trail, which by 1926, could accommodate a small car.[7]:329

Barangays[]

Bontoc is politically subdivided into 16 barangays.

  • Alab Oriente
  • Alab Proper
  • Balili
  • Bay-yo
  • Bontoc Ili
  • Caluttit
  • Can-eo
  • Dalican
  • Gonogon
  • Guinaang
  • Mainit
  • Maligcong
  • Poblacion (Bontoc)
  • Samoki
  • Talubin
  • Tocucan

Climate[]

hideClimate data for Bontoc, Mountain Province
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 23
(73) 		24
(75) 		25
(77) 		27
(81) 		27
(81) 		26
(79) 		25
(77) 		25
(77) 		25
(77) 		25
(77) 		24
(75) 		23
(73) 		25
(77)
Average low °C (°F) 16
(61) 		16
(61) 		17
(63) 		19
(66) 		20
(68) 		21
(70) 		21
(70) 		21
(70) 		20
(68) 		19
(66) 		18
(64) 		17
(63) 		19
(66)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 35
(1.4) 		46
(1.8) 		63
(2.5) 		117
(4.6) 		402
(15.8) 		400
(15.7) 		441
(17.4) 		471
(18.5) 		440
(17.3) 		258
(10.2) 		94
(3.7) 		68
(2.7) 		2,835
(111.6)
Average rainy days 9.9 9.5 13.9 18.9 26.0 27.3 28.9 28.5 26.1 19.7 14.5 12.8 236
Source: Meteoblue [8]

Demographics[]

Population census of Bontoc
YearPop.±% p.a.
1918 13,948—    
1939 14,284+0.11%
1948 15,005+0.55%
1960 16,301+0.69%
1970 16,901+0.36%
1975 17,476+0.67%
1980 17,091−0.44%
1990 17,716+0.36%
1995 21,192+3.41%
2000 22,308+1.11%
2007 24,798+1.47%
2010 23,980−1.21%
2015 24,643+0.52%
2020 24,104−0.43%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [9] [10] [11][12]

Most inhabitants speak the Bontoc language, with other major languages being Kankana-ey and Ilocano. Minor languages spoken include Tagalog, Pangasinan, Cuyonon and Butuanon.[13]

Economy[]

Rice terraces of Bontoc, Mountain Province
A group of Igorot pottery makers from Samoki, Mountain Province (c. 1910).

The local economy depends largely on small trades and agriculture. This capital town's biggest economic potential is tourism with its smaller rice terraces in Barangay Bay-yo, Maligcong and other areas.[20]

Culture[]

Bontoc woman with a snake skeleton in hair (a charm against lightning) and Bontoc man, c. 1903, (right)

The highland town of Bontoc is home to two National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines. These are the Stone Agricultural Calendar of Bontoc and Petroglyphs of Alab.[21]

The Alab petroglyphs are ancient figures carved on mountain walls by the prehistoric people of Bontoc.[22] The petroglyphs are the most important ancient rock art carvings in the Cordilleras and the second oldest in the entire country, second only to the Angono petroglyphs of Rizal. Due to its high significance, it was submitted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines to the UNESCO Tentative List of Heritage Sites in 2006, pending its inclusion in the World Heritage List along with the Singanapan charcoal-drawn petrographs of southern Palawan, Angono petroglyphs of Rizal province, charcoal-drawn Peñablanca petrographs of Cagayan, and the Anda red hermatite print petrographs of Bohol.

The Bontoc people have their own indigenous religion that has been preserved for centuries. They believe in a unique pantheon of deities, of which the supreme god is the cultural hero, Lumawig, son of Kabunian. There are many sacred sites associated with Lumawig and a variety of Bontoc deities. Oral tradition tells that Lumawig instilled five great lessons to the Bontoc people, namely: (1) a man must not steal; (2) one should not gossip; (3) men and women must not commit adultery; (4) one must be temperate in eating and in drinking alcoholic drinks; and (5) all people must live simple and industrious lives.[23]

Indigenous Bontok Religion[]

Main article: List of Philippine mythological figures

Immortals[]

  • Intutungcho (Kabunian): the supreme deity living above;[24] also referred to as Kabunian;[25] father of Lumawig and two other sons[26]
  • Lumawig: also referred as the supreme deity and the second son of Kabunian; an epic hero who taught the Bontoc their five core values for an egalitarian society[26]
  • First Son of Kabunian[26]
  • Third Son of Kabunian[26]
  • Chal-chal: the god of the sun whose son's head was cut off by Kabigat;[27] aided the god Lumawig in finding a spouse
  • Kabigat: the goddess of the moon who cut of the head of Chal-chal's son; her action is the origin of headhunting[27]
  • Son of Chal-chal: his head was cut off by Kabigat; revived by Chal-chal, who bear no ill will against Kabigat[27]
  • Ob-Obanan: a deity whose white hair is inhabited by insects, ants, centipedes, and all the vermins that bother mankind; punished a man for his rudeness by giving him a basket filled with all the insects and reptiles in the world[28]
  • Chacha’: the god of warriors[29]
  • Ked-Yem: the god of blacksmiths who cut off the heads of the two sons of Chacha’ because they were destroying his work; was later challenged by Chacha’, which eventually led into a pechen pact to stop the fighting[29]
  • Two Sons of Chacha’: beheaded by Ked-Yem, because they were destroying his work[29]

Mortals[]

  • Fucan: younger of the two girls met by Lumawig in Lanao; married to Lumawig; later adopted the name Cayapon; died after dancing in a taboo way, which led to death being the norm among mortals[26]
  • Two Sons of Cayapon: the two children of Lumawig and Fucan; helped the people of Caneo, who afterwards killed by the two brothers[26]
  • Batanga: father of the two girls met by Lumawig in Lanao[26]

Education[]

Secondary education[]

Institution Location
ALBAGO National High School Balili
Dalican National High School Dalican
Guina-ang National High School Guina-ang
Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School Poblacion
Saint Vincent School Poblacion
Talubin National High School Talubin
Tocucan National High School Tocucan

Tertiary education[]

Mountain Province State Polytechnic College is the first tertiary institution in the municipality that offers various undergraduate and graduate courses.

XiJen College of Mountain Province is the only private tertiary institution that also offers technical-vocational courses.

References[]

  1. ^  Municipality of Bontoc | (DILG)
  2. ^ "2015 Census of Population, Report No. 3 – Population, Land Area, and Population Density" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Quezon City, Philippines. August 2016. ISSN 0117-1453. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Census of Population (2020). "Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. PSA. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  4. ^ https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/City%20and%20Municipal-level%20Small%20Area%20Poverty%20Estimates_%202009%2C%202012%20and%202015_0.xlsx; publication date: 10 July 2019; publisher: Philippine Statistics Authority.
  5. ^ Malingan, Jamie Joie (12 April 2018). "Feature: Lang-Ay Festival: Celebrating a Culture of Sharing". Philippine Information Agency. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Act No. 1876". PhilippineLaw.info. 18 August 1908. Archived from the original on 2014-10-15. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Kane, S.E., 1933, Thirty Years with the Philippine Head-Hunters, New York: Grosset & Dunlap
  8. ^ "Bontoc: Average Temperatures and Rainfall". Meteoblue. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  9. ^ Census of Population (2015). "Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. PSA. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  10. ^ Census of Population and Housing (2010). "Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. NSO. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  11. ^ Censuses of Population (1903–2007). "Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)". Table 1. Population Enumerated in Various Censuses by Province/Highly Urbanized City: 1903 to 2007. NSO.
  12. ^ "Province of Mountain Province". Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Annual Report; Local Government of Bontoc; CY 2011" (PDF). Local Government of Bontoc. 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  14. ^ "Poverty incidence (PI):". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  15. ^ https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/NSCB_LocalPovertyPhilippines_0.pdf; publication date: 29 November 2005; publisher: Philippine Statistics Authority.
  16. ^ https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/2003%20SAE%20of%20poverty%20%28Full%20Report%29_1.pdf; publication date: 23 March 2009; publisher: Philippine Statistics Authority.
  17. ^ https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/2006%20and%202009%20City%20and%20Municipal%20Level%20Poverty%20Estimates_0_1.pdf; publication date: 3 August 2012; publisher: Philippine Statistics Authority.
  18. ^ https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/2012%20Municipal%20and%20City%20Level%20Poverty%20Estima7tes%20Publication%20%281%29.pdf; publication date: 31 May 2016; publisher: Philippine Statistics Authority.
  19. ^ https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/City%20and%20Municipal-level%20Small%20Area%20Poverty%20Estimates_%202009%2C%202012%20and%202015_0.xlsx; publication date: 10 July 2019; publisher: Philippine Statistics Authority.
  20. ^ "Mt. Province Travel Information". Asia Travel. Archived from the original on 7 May 2001. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  21. ^ "Presidential Decree No. 260, s. 1973;". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  22. ^ "Annual Report 2010; National Museum" (PDF). Manila, Philippines: National Museum of the Philippines. 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  23. ^ https://www.aswangproject.com/the-bontoc-legend-of-lumawig-culture-hero/
  24. ^ Bacwaden, J. O. C. (1997). Philippine Studies: Vol. 45, No. 1: The Lumawig Bontoc Myths. Ateneo de Manila University.
  25. ^ Beyer, H. O. (1913). Origin Myths Among the Mountain Peoples of the Philippines. Philippine Journal of Science, 85-117.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Cawed, C. (1972). The Culture of the Bontoc Igorot. MCS Enterprises.
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b c Jenks, A. (1905). The Bontoc Igorot. Manila: Bureau of Printing.
  28. ^ Almendral, E. C. (1972). Talubin Folklore, Bontoc, Mountain Province. Baguio City: Lyceum of Baguio.
  29. ^ Jump up to: a b c Cawed, C. (1972). The Culture of the Bontoc Igorot. Manila: MCS Enterprises .

External links[]

Retrieved from ""