Pangasinan people

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Pangasinan
Totoon Pangasinan
Un Indio Natural dela provincia de Pangasinan.webp
Native of Pangasinan by Filipino Painter Damian Domingo 1833.
Total population
2,012,496 (2020 census) [1]
(1.9% of the Philippine population)
Regions with significant populations
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines
(Pangasinan, Tarlac, La Union, Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Nueva Vizcaya, Metro Manila)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Worldwide
Languages
Pangasinan, Ilocano, Tagalog, English
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholics, some are Protestants, Iglesia ni Cristo, Muslim, Buddhist and Animist
Related ethnic groups
Filipinos (Kapampangan, Sambal, Ilocano, Ibanag, Igorot, Ivatan, other Filipino ethnic groups)
other Austronesian peoples

The Pangasinan people (Pangasinan : Totoon Pangasinan), also known as Pangasinense, are an ethnolinguistic group native to the Philippines. Numbering 1,823,865 in 2010, they are the tenth largest ethnolinguistic group in the country. [2] In the 2020 census Pangasinan speaking households made up roughly 1.3% of Philippine households. [3] They live mainly in their native province of Pangasinan and the adjacent provinces of La Union and Tarlac, as well as Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, and Nueva Vizcaya. Smaller groups are found elsewhere in the Philippines and worldwide in the Filipino diaspora.

Contents

Etymology

The name Pangasinan means 'land of salt' or 'place of salt-making'. It is derived from asin, the word for 'salt' in Pangasinan. [4] The Pangasinan people are referred as Pangasinense. The term Pangasinan can refer to the indigenous speakers of the Pangasinan language or people of Pangasinan heritage.

Demographics

The Pangasinan people are shown in maroon. Peoples of the Philippines en.svg
The Pangasinan people are shown in maroon.
Possible Pangasinense Inhabitants of Pangasinan with tied hair and Kampilan sword, depicted in the Boxer Codex (1590) surmised to come from Taimei Anchorage, Lingayen Gulf, Luzon Dai Mao Taipue - Unknown couple - Boxer Codex (1590).jpg
Possible Pangasinense Inhabitants of Pangasinan with tied hair and Kampilan sword, depicted in the Boxer Codex (1590) surmised to come from Taimei Anchorage, Lingayen Gulf, Luzon

The estimated population of the Pangasinan people in the province of Pangasinan is 2.5 million. The Pangasinan people are also living in the neighboring provinces of Tarlac, La Union, and Zambales (which used to be parts of Pangasinan Province), Benguet, Nueva Ecija, and Nueva Vizcaya; as well as in Pangasinan communities in other parts of the Philippines (especially Metro Manila, Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Aurora, Quezon, Cavite, Laguna, Mindoro, Palawan and Mindanao, especially in Soccsksargen, Davao Region, Caraga, Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental) and overseas. Kapampangans were the native residents of the northwest areas of Nueva Ecija; Pangasinan settlers moved there during early years of Spanish territorial period until the Kapampangans assimilated to the Pangasinan settlers. [5] [6] [7]

Languages

Their native language is also named Pangasinan, which is classified under the Pangasinic group of languages of the Northern Philippine language branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages. [8] Many Pangasinan are multilingual and fluent in Ilocano, English, and Filipino. However, the spread and influence of the other languages is contributing to the decline of the Pangasinan language. Many Pangasinan people, especially the native speakers are promoting the use of Pangasinan in the print and broadcast media, Internet, local governments, courts, public facilities and schools in Pangasinan. In April 2006, the creation of Pangasinan Wikipedia was proposed, which the Wikimedia Foundation approved for publication on the Internet.

Pangasinan residents in Zambales and Tarlac may also have knowledge of Sambal and Kapampangan. Pangasinan residents of Mindanao and their descendants are also fluent speakers of Cebuano (majority language of large parts of Mindanao), Hiligaynon (main lingua franca of Soccsksargen), Butuanon, Surigaonon (Visayan languages native in Caraga) and various indigenous Mindanaoan languages in addition to their native language. However, Pangasinan language has been endangered especially among newer generation of Pangasinans born in Mindanao due to assimilation to the Cebuano-speaking majority, with Cebuano is their main language with varying fluency in their ancestors' native language or none at all.[ citation needed ]

Indigenous religion

Prior to Spanish colonization, the Pangasinan people believed in a pantheon of unique deities (gods and goddesses). [9]

Immortals

  • Ama: the supreme deity, ruler of others, and the creator of mankind; sees everything through his aerial abode; father of Agueo and Bulan [10] also referred as Ama-Gaolay [9]
  • Agueo: the morose and taciturn sun god who is obedient to his father, Ama; lives in a palace of light [10]
  • Bulan: the merry and mischievous moon god, whose dim palace was the source of the perpetual light which became the stars; guides the ways of thieves [10]

Mortals

  • Urduja: a warrior princess who headed a supreme fleet [11]

Notable individuals

Urduja was a legendary woman warrior who is regarded as a heroine in Pangasinan. Malong and Palaris fought for independence from Spanish rule. Other prominent people of Pangasinan descent include Fidel Ramos (born in Lingayen, he served in the Cabinet of President Corazón Aquino, first as chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and later on, as Secretary of National Defense from 1986 to 1991 before becoming the Philippine's 12th president), Tania Dawson whose mother hails from Santa Maria, Pangasinan, lawmaker Jose de Venecia, Jr., who was born in Dagupan City, Pangasinan; and actor and National Artist Fernando Poe, Jr., whose father was from San Carlos City, Pangasinan. Other notable Pangasinenses are Victorio C. Edades, Angela Perez Baraquio, Ambrosio Padilla, Cheryl Cosim (reporter and news program host), Marc Pingris, Leo Soriano, and Ric Segreto. Notable Pangasinense actresses and actors include Donita Rose, Marlou Aquino, Lolita Rodriguez, Barbara Perez, Gloria Romero, Carmen Rosales, Nova Villa, Jhong Hilario, Liza Soberano and Hannah Rose Escaño (famues business woman fighting for womens rights.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ethnicity in the Philippines (2020 Census of Population and Housing)". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  2. ↑ National Statistics Office. 2010 Census of Population and Housing, Report No. 2A: Demographic and Housing Characteristics (Non-Sample Variables) - Philippines (PDF). Manila. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Tagalog is the Most Widely Spoken Language at Home (2020 Census of Population and Housing) | Philippine Statistics Authority | Republic of the Philippines". psa.gov.ph. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  4. ↑ "History | The Official Website of the Province of Pangasinan and its People". Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  5. ↑ What is the Kapampangan Region?
  6. ↑ History of Nueva Ecija
  7. ↑ About Nueva Ecija: People and Culture
  8. ↑ Ronald S. Himes (1998). "The Southern Cordilleran Group of Philippine Languages". Oceanic Linguistics. 37 (1): 120–177. doi:10.2307/3623282. JSTOR   3623282.
  9. 1 2 "The Lowland Cultural Community of Pangasinan". National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 Eugenio, D. L. (2007). Philippine Folk Literature: An Anthology. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.
  11. ↑ Magno, R. M. (1992). Urduja Beleaguered: And Other Essays on Pangasinan Language, Literature, and Culture. Quezon City: Kalikasan Press.
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