You Know You’re a True Blue Ilonggo was originally posted at my other blog, PromdiLiving about four years ago. You may have received it in your inbox since I myself received it, to my amusement. Some people have taken the liberty of adding or taking away some lines from my original work but neither acknowledged my blog as the source nor asked for my permission. Nonetheless, I was happy to share this little note to my fellow Ilonggos.
I thought of re-posting it here since I was reminded of a lot of things about us in our classes with Dr. Cecile Nava during the 2nd NITI Tour Guiding Course. Dr. Nava has made a lot of studies on our local history and she is an authority on the history of Negros. Iloilo and Negros are so similar yet so different. Each cannot be mentioned without the other for their history are intertwined with each other.
Some of the things I mentioned here were my observations while growing up in Oton, Iloilo’s oldest pueblo, where I was born and raised. Some may not be familiar to the much younger generation or some are more familiar to those from Iloilo. I wrote this from my own point of view so please don’t chastise me if you think they don’t apply to you. You are free to add your own in the comments section.
You know you’re a true-blue Ilonggo if …
- Your one peso is pisos
- You take a bath using a tabo (dipper) which you call Caltex. The same Caltex is also often used as a unit of measurement (i.e. isa ka caltex nga pasayan, isa ka caltex nga hipon, isa ka caltex nga asin)
- Your bathroom has at least one lugod (some has one for every family member)
- Your nanay used to make you drink Mirinda or Royal Tru Orange when you have a fever, which is supposed to make you feel better
- Sinamak is a staple in your dining table (the best Ilonggo invention if you ask me, was even banned on airplanes long before 911)
- Your toyo is patis and your patis is toyo
- You call brown sugar red (kalamay nga pula)
- You use atsuete for your adobo and pinamalhan (pinaksiw)
- Your daily meal will likely include laswa, kbl (kadyos, baboy, langka), ginat-an nga tambo with tugabang and okra, ginat-an nga munggo, linutik, apan-apan, etc.
- November 1 means eating ibus, suman, suman latik, kalamay-hati, bayi-bayi, valenciana or other native delicacies with glutinous rice and coconut milk
- You call those you love palangga, pangga, langga or ga
- You call your siblings or cousins inday, nonoy or toto…the househelp may call you the same
- You call those who are older than you manang or manong
- You catch the attention of sales attendants by calling them “day” or “to”
- Your childhood games include tumba patis, taksi, panagu-ay, balay-balay, ins, tin-tin baka, etc.
- You used to be (or still are) scared to go out at night lest you meet the aswang, tik-tik, tayhu, kapre, kama-kama, morto, etc.
- You used to listen (or still listens) to Sin-o Ang May Sala, Lain Siya Sa Iban, and Toyang Ermitanya
- You know the lyrics of Ili-Ili, Dandansoy and Turagsoy
- Your grandparents read Yuhum or Hiligaynon magazine
- You call a person, thing, place and event kwan when you forget it (si kwan, ang kwan, sa kwan)
- You used to sleep in an aboy-aboy made of patadyong when you were a baby (probably applies only to us below the poverty line)
- You understand that “Particulars Keep Out” sign means outsiders keep out (believe me, this sign may look and sound English but only us Ilonggos use it)
- You use words such as “ahay” (expression of pity, grief, empathy), “yuga” (expression of disbelief, surprise), “ambot ah” (to say you don’t know, expression of impatience)
- You often start your sentence with “ti”
- You say goodbye by saying “halong”
- Your favorite cusswords are linte (if you’re slightly pissed off) and hijo de puta (if you’re pissed off big time)
An excerpt from an Ilonggo radio drama entitled “Dabudabu” which roughly tranlates as light rain or drizzle. (This is far as I can recall it from about 40 years ago.)
Tinadlaw. Panahon sang pagkalaya kag pagkalayong sng mga tanum kag kabulakan. Bangud sang tuman nga kainit sang adlaw nagalitk kag nagabagtik ang duta. Nagakahubsan ang suba. Bangud sini ang tanan nga kasapatan nagakapatay tungod sang kauhaw. Sa sini nga kahimtangan, ang tanan nga nagakabuhi sa duta nagapangayo sang bulig sa kahitaasan agud maluwas sa pat-od nga kalaglagan. Sa tuman nga pagpangamuyo, hinli nag ug-daw ang kainit. Nagtahaw ang kapaang kag nagbulos ang kabugnaw. Nanumbalik sa kinaandan ang naga kaging kag nagabagtik nga duta kag naga amat-amat kalaya nga mga tanum. Ining bugay gikan sa kahitaasan amo ang… dabudabu.
Hello! thanks sa article mo manang hehehe, reminds me about experience of my cousin sang bakasyon nya sa manila sugo siya bakal tinapa hambal sa iya pilion nya dalagko, pag abot nya dako dako nga sardinas dala nya hahaha.
Hi. Can I use some of your content for a video?
x. Fellow Ilongga
Sure Niza! 🙂
Salamat gid Glad!
Napa yuhum gid ko bala!
Salamat man ko sa lugod ah
Permi lang usar kada paligo
Ti nami man ako. Panit ah..
Oh thanks for the laswa recipe too!
Thank you also for reading my blog! I’m glad makapalipay man sa imo ang blog nga ini. Isa gid ina sa akon gusto ma accomplish. Please help me reach more ilonggos and negrenses by sharing this blog to your friends and family. 🙂
Yah. When I was a child. My favorite is Tuyang Ermitanya. My younger sister calls me manang.
oh yes, i’m really a true-blue ilonggo considering that we have our Yuhum hiligaynon subscription brought home by our father. Really love to read the Tamblot and Dr. Volta series and the rest of jokes of itik-itik nga mga paaman.. just to mention my favorite drama dabo-dabo in the afternoon and flora del cielo at night follwed by mundo mistiko.. ha,ha, missed the old times..
Nice article …
I remember way back .. buying “sisi” in Punta-Taytay ..and the tindera asked … “pila ka caltik (caltex) To?” …. Seeing me quite puzzled on the question … she pointed at an empty blue oil container that read “Caltex Delo” ….
Ahhh …. ga-i ko tatlo ka caltik Nang … 😀
Thanks Francis!
The caltex is still used in wet markets in town in Iloilo. I’m not sure if it’s still used here in Negros.
naog sa caltik, sa tupad sang balay ni alik kad ni filik.
i remember also dabu-dabu and kun ako ang pamangkuton ni inday Ivy vVsitacion. Those were the days. No cell phone, internet, etc. but life is fun and simple.
nice one, Glad……..
i like the kabo. and the caltex for the measurement of asin. and the RTO with Saltine when one has fever. Funny how we call brown sugar as ‘pula na kalamay’.
Is the aboy-aboy same as daw duyan? Do you also remember the radio dramas of Maria Morena and Mundo Mistiko which we listen to at night?
Brings back memories. But I dont think those who were born in the late 70’s would remmember these.
Thanks Car! Yup, the aboy-aboy is a patadyong tied with a rope and the other end is tied to the beam of the house and used as duyan for an infant.
I vaguely remember Mundo Mistiko. It’s a radio drama on scary stories, right?
hahaha ang lugod nadumduman ko to ang sa multiply.
hahaha! oh yes, i remember that girl too. mga poor lang kuno ang gagamit lugod. 😀