Hiligaynon people

The Hiligaynon people, often referred to as Ilonggo, are a subgroup of the Visayan people whose primary language is the Hiligaynon language, an Austronesian language native to the large eastern coastal plain of Panay. Over the years, intermigrations and intramigrations have contributed to the diaspora of the Hiligaynon to different parts of the Philippines. Now, the Hiligaynon form the majority in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Guimaras, Capiz, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.

Etymology of Hiligaynon and Ilonggo

The term "Hiligaynon" is derived from the Spanish term "Yliguenes", which is then derived from the Hiligaynon word "Iligan" or "Iliganon". From here are two divergent proposals of origin for the word. The first proposal puts forth that Iligan or "Iliganon" refers to a river, or literally "where the water flows down", and the Spanish were likely to have made this connection to the indigenous residents of Panay, who resided at the river mouth and were thus discovered easily by the Spanish. The second proposal puts forth that "Iligan" or "Iliganon" is derived from "manog-ilig sang kawayan", a phrase that describes bamboo poles that Panay men would float downriver in order to sell the poles. This activity becomes mistaken by the Spanish as the name of the indigenous residents. The term "Ilonggo" is derived from the Spanish term "irong-irong", referring to the Filipino word for nose ("ilong") and an islet in the Batiano River in Panay. “Ilonggo” is considered to define a specific group of people whose ethnic origins are in the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras, and Panay, while "Hiligaynon" defines the language and culture of the people of the Ilonggo. Thus, both terms are interchangeable in referring to the culture of the people, or the people themselves.