Country Philippines Founded 1908 Time zone PST (UTC+8) Population 23,980 (2010) | District Lone District Barangays Province Mountain Province | |
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Region Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) Weather 17°C, Wind E at 3 km/h, 86% Humidity Points of interest Bontoc Museum, Bayyo Rice Terraces, Maligcong Rice Terraces, Patoc University Mountain Province State Polytechnic College | ||
Bontoc (Ilocano: Ili ti Bontoc; Pangasinan: Baley na Bontoc; Tagalog: Bayan ng Bontoc) is a second class municipality and the capital of Mountain Province, Philippines. Bontoc is the historical capital of the entire Cordillera region since the inception of governance in the Cordillera. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 23,980 people. The municipality celebrates annual Lang-ay Festival.
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Map of Bontoc, Mountain Province, Philippines
Bontoc is home to the Bontoc Tribe, a feared war-like group of indigenous people who actively indulged in tribal wars with its neighbours until the 1930s. Every Bontoc male had to undergo a rites of passage into manhood, which may include head hunting, where the male has to journey (Sometimes with companions) and hunt for a human head. The Bontocs also used the jaw of the hunted head as a handle for its gongs, and as late as the early 1990s, evidence of this practice can be seen from one of the gongs in Pukisan, Bontoc.
This is the home of the Ifuntok Language, which has variable dialects under it. However, the Original Ifuntok Language is fast dying out, as more of the younger generations speak a mixture of Ilocano, Tagalog, and Kankanaey Dialects. This is partly due to the frequent contact of the younger generations with other regions of the Philippine nation. Some words are not in use anymore. Within the Bontoc proper, only 40% of the local population can communicate using this language without diluting their daily language with other languages/dialects.
History
Samuel E. Kane, American Supervisor and then Governor, established the capital here after the Philippine Commission passed the Mountain Province Act, building a provincial building, hospital, doctor's office, nurse's home, a school, and provincial prison. He also built the Tagudin-Bontoc trail, which by 1926, could accommodate a small car.
Barangays
Bontoc is politically subdivided into 16 barangays.
Economy
The local economy depends largely on small trades and agriculture. This capital town's biggest economic potential is tourism with its smaller rice terraces in Barangay Bay-yo, Maligcong and other areas.
Tertiary education
Mountain Province State Polytechnic College is the first tertiary institution in the municipality that offers various undergraduate & graduate courses. XiJen College of Mountain Province is the only private tertiary institution that also offers technical-vocational courses.