AntiqueWERE MOUNTAINS MEET THE SEA

the capital is San Jose De Buenavista

it was one of the three districts of Panay

before the Spanish colonizers arrived

formerly known as “Hantik”

Negritos or the “Atis” were believed to bethe earliest people who settled in the island

of Panay

“Legend of Maragtas”

they have their own distinct language called

the “Kinaray-a”

Mt. Madia-as

the province also celebrates their own

festival, the Binirayan Festival

The Rafflesia Flower in Antique

IloiloFood Basket and the Rice Granary of Western Visayas

the “Food Basket and Rice Granary of

Western Visayas”

Iloilo City was the former Irong-irong

River

Have a Coat of Arms inscripted with: "La

Muy Leal Y Noble Ciudad de Iloilo

Local languages spoken in the province

are hiligaynon and kinaray-a

Iloilo is widely known for its beautiful

old world architecture similar to that of LatinAmerican Countries

Hiligaynon Literature

Though distinctly different from Hiligaynon,

Kinaray-a and Aklanon are convenientlyconsidered by many linguists and literary

researchers as subsumed in the lingua franca

Purely oral, West Visayan literature before the

coming of the Spaniards was in Kinaray-a which

must have been the language in folk literature of

the ten Bornean datus.

Folk literature ranges from brief riddles, proverbs,

ditties, ritual chants to elaborate love songs, tales

and extensive epics. A poem is called

binalaybay and the tale is the asoy or

the sugilanon.

The paktakon is a riddle while the hurubaton is a

proverb. Both are usually in two lines and rhymed.

Folksongs may be as simple as the ili-ili or lullaby

or as intricate as the ambahan, a long song

alternately sung by a soloist and a chorus.

The asoy may be a legend or a tale about a

folk hero or a local happening. Foremost among

the Panay epics are the Labaw Donggon and

the Hinilawod

the siday which can be a long poetic joust between two paid poets respectively representing the two families in a

marriage suit (siday sa pamalaye); or a balitaw, a jocose love song sung in a debating manner by a man and a

woman

Ritual chants are delivered by the babaylan or healer to

please the diwata or supernatural beings or spirits in

exchange for good health and luck in the home and the

fields during planting and harvest seasons

The luwa, the witty quatrain recited by the loser of

the bordon, the most popular game during

the belasyon or vigil for the dead; and

the composo, the ballad that sings the life of a folk

hero or a significant incident in the community.

The Flores de Mayo is a devotional song-prayer held

throughout the month of May characterized by

singing hymns to the Virgin Mary and offering flowers

The Pasyon, which recounts the suffering of Christ, is

chanted during the Holy Week. The gozos of the

novena, the nine-day devotional prayer to a saint,

stresses Christian virtue or recounts incidents in the

life of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Always part of the feast in honour of the patron

saint is the coronation of the fiesta queen. The local

poet then delivers the pagdayaw, an extensive ode

praising the queen's beauty and virtue.