Bicolanos

The Bicolano people or the Bikolanos ( Bikol: ''Mga Bikolnon'') are the fourth-largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. Males are usually referred to as ''Bicolano'', and ''Bicolana'' is used for females. Their native region is commonly referred to as Bicolandia, which comprises the entirety of the Bicol Peninsula and neighboring minor islands, all in the southeast portion of Luzon.

They are largely an agricultural and rural people, producing rice, coconuts, hemp and spices. The great majority of them are Christians, with small but significant Protestant and Muslim minorities. The majority of the Bicolano people are Roman Catholics, as evidenced by cities and towns celebrating festivals in honor of patron saints, and Catholic Mass is celebrated daily in many of the Bicol Region's churches. An undercurrent of animism persists as well; many Bicolano people believe that whenever a supernatural entity stalks your house, they will leave centavo coins as compensation, and some still claim to have experienced this phenomenon.

Residents speak about a dozen closely related dialects of Bikol, largely differentiated according to cities and closely related to other central Philippines languages, all of which belong to the Austronesian (specifically Malayo-Polynesian) superfamily of languages.

History

According to a folk epic entitled Ibalong, the people of the region were formerly called Ibalong or Ibalnong, a name believed to have been derived from Gat Ibal who ruled Sawangan (now the city of Legazpi) in ancient times. Ibalong used to mean the "people of Ibal"; eventually, this was shortened to Ibalon. The word Bikol, which replaced Ibalon, was originally (meaning "meandering"), a word which supposedly described the principal river of that area.

Archaeological diggings, dating back to as early as the Neolithic, and accidental findings resulting from the mining industry, road-building and railway projects in the region, reveal that the Bicol mainland is a rich storehouse of ceramic artifacts. Burial cave findings also point to the pre-Hispanic practice of using burial jars.

The Spanish influence in Bicol resulted mainly from the efforts of Augustinian and Franciscan Spanish missionaries. Through the Franciscans, the annual feast of the Virgin of Peñafrancia, the Patroness for Bicolandia, was started. The Catholic priest Miguel Robles asked a local artist to carve a replica of the statue of the Virgin in Salamanca; now the statue is celebrated through an annual fluvial parade in Naga City.

Bicolanos actively participated in the national resistance to the Spanish, American and Japanese occupations, led by two well-known militants, Simeón Ola and Governor Wenceslao Vinzons. Historically, the Bicolano people have been among the most resistant to foreign occupation, and the region was very hard for the central government to control until the end of World War II.

Area

Bicolanos live in the Bicol Region, which occupies the southeastern part of Luzon, now containing the provinces of Albay