Igorots: The People Behind the Name
In many parts of the country, the word Igorot is used as a derogatory term for idiots. In 1958, Even the former representative Luis Hora of the Third District of the Old Mountain sought to prohibit the use of Igorot in a house bill he presented. But what does the word really mean and who are these people who are proud to be called as one. Dr. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, a Tagalog scholar in the early 1900s, stated that it was composed of the root word golot, meaning “mountain chain” or “mountain ranges” and the prefix i, meaning “people of” or “dwellers in.” The fact that golot is a place has still survived in the speech of those “Bagos” living in the outskirts of the Ilocos provinces who are believed to be related to the Igorots. We still hear people say “Nagapodad Golot” (They came from golot) when people arrive from the mountains. "The word Igolot, therefore, appears to be perfectly indigenous Filipino origin, and it is in this form that it first appeared in Spanish reco...