The Bago

There is a an extensive essay on the Bago found on the internet by Mr. Vic Buaquen who delivered the speech at the the Third Bago Congress in San Emilio, Ilocos Sur on April 23, 2003.

Many of the residents of Sagunto and the surrounding barangays are descendants of The Bago. The Bago tribe is, after some controversy (read Mr. Buaquen’s essay), confirmed as one of the indiginous peoples of the Philippines by the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

Mr. Buaquen defines the Bago as:

…the most reliable definition of the Bago is what we Bagos know ourselves to be and not the definition of historians, academicians and scholars. The simple fact that many of us are still clamoring for a definition of the Bago should clearly show that historians, academicians and scholars have failed us in this regard. The only acceptable definition of the Bago today is self-ascription of the Bagos themselves. While we are aware of our identity as far as we can remember and now having a legal basis for its confirmation in the IPRA, we still seem to want it formally laid down. And I hereby propose a seed definition for a more comprehensive one that could be done later. This definition is culled from our own deliberations in previous congresses as well as other Bago sources which should be sufficient to distinguish us from all the other ethnic groups and indigenous peoples of the Philippines. And, it is: The Bago are hilltribe dwellers in the border regions between Ilocos and Cordillera mountains who are the offspring of intermarriages as well as product of trade between mountain tribes of the Cordillera and the Iloko of the lowlands. They have evolved their own distinct culture and dialect, which distinguish them from their neighboring tribes and other adjacent ethnic groups.
~ excerpt from The Bago by Mr. Vic Buaquen

BAGO NATIONAL CULTURAL SOCIETY OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC.
Engr. Orlando Balloguing
President & Chairman of the Board
c/o NCIP Regional Office I Martinez Bldg., Quezon Ave., City of San Fernando, La Union

The Regional Director of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) – Region I is Director Hover M. Ciriaco, Jr. from G. del Pilar, Ilocos Sur.

More Bago Trivia on the Web:

 
This map, showing the “Igorot Territory”, was borrowed from the Bago National Cultural Society of the Philippines website. According to this site, the greater part of the territory is the home and origin of the bago.

52 Comments

1. igorot Diaspora says:

   February 24, 2012 at 10:24 pm

   agyamanak iti nalawag a sungbat Dr. Anno. mabalin kadi kakabsat nga bumulod kadagiti Libro maipanggep iti BAGO? siasino kadi kadakayo ti mabalin a mangpabulod kanyak? tawagannak kadi ditoy a numero… 09155502909, panga asi yo kakabsat ket kasapulak la unay iti Thesis ko.

   Reply