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)