HISTORY

  YLOCOS

•  Literally meant from the "Lowlands" 
• Region was the 1st inhabited by the aboriginal Negritos before they were pushed by successive waves of Malay immigrants that penetrated the narrow coast. Tingguians in the interior Ilocanos in the north and Pangasinense in the south settled the region.
• Ilocos Norte, which is about 488 kilometers north of the Philippine capital of Manila, means two things to ordinary Filipinos – the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos who was born in the town of Sarrat and the sprawling 77-hectare Fort Ilocandia (http://www.fortilocandia.com.ph/hotel.htm) (one of the largest resorts in the entire Asia), which according to stories, were hastily built by the late President in time for his daughter, Imee’s wedding and primarily caters now to Chinese Mainlanders, Macanese, and Taiwanese high-rollers who fly in to gamble in its casino. So much so that the name Ilocos alone, is almost synonymous with the Marcoses, one of the most controversial Philippine political dynasties in recent memory. Undeserving or not, this hardy and sometimes misunderstood northern province is definitely more than the sum of its contributions to the political history of the country – and in recent years, a wave of change finally came to wake up one of the usually overlooked destinations in the Philippines from hiatus since the fall from grace of its beloved son as more and more Filipinos and the occasional foreigner discover one of the most interesting and beautiful northern frontiers of the Philippines.