Sambal people

The Sambal people are a Filipino ethnolinguistic group living primarily in the province of Zambales and the Pangasinense municipalities of Bolinao and Anda. The term may also refer to the general inhabitants of Zambales.

In 1950s, hundreds of Sambal from the northern municipalities of Zambales, migrated to and established a settlement in Quezon, Palawan; this settlement was named Panitian. The residents call themselves Palawenyong Sambal (Castilian: zambales palaweños) or simply Sambal.

History

The Sambal are the original Austronesian inhabitants of the province of Zambales in the Philippines. They speak Sambal, Ilocano, Bolinao, and Botolan. The Sambalic languages are most closely related to Pampagan and to an archaic form of Tagalog still spoken in Tanay in the province of Rizal. This has been interpreted to mean that the Sambal originated from that area, later being displaced by migrating Tagalogs, pushing the original inhabitants northward to what is now the province of Zambales, in turn, displacing the Negritos.