Bontoc, Mountain Province


', officially the ', is a of the Philippines| and capital of the province of,. According to the, it has a population of people.
Bontoc is the historical capital of the entire Cordillera region since the inception of governance in the Cordillera. The municipality celebrates the annual Lang-ay Festival.
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 and hunt for a human head. The Bontocs also used the jaw of the hunted head as a handle for gongs, and as late as the early 1990s, evidence of this practice can be seen from one of the gongs in Pukisan, Bontoc. The town also hosts the UNESCO tentatively-listed Alab petroglyphs.

History

Samuel E. Kane, American supervisor and then Governor, established the capital here after the Philippine Commission passed the Mountain Province Act in 1908, 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.

Demographics

Most inhabitants speak the Bontoc language, with other major languages being Kankana-ey and Ilocano. Minor languages spoken include Tagalog, Pangasinan, Cuyonon and Butuanon.

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.

Culture

The highland town of Bontoc is home to two National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines. These are the Stone Agricultural Calendar of Bontoc and Petroglyphs of Alab.
The Alab petroglyphs are ancient figures carved on mountain walls by the prehistoric people of Bontoc. The petroglyphs are the most important ancient rock art carvings in the Cordilleras and the second oldest in the entire country, second only to the Angono petroglyphs of Rizal. Due to its high significance, it was submitted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines to the UNESCO Tentative List of Heritage Sites in 2006, pending its inclusion in the World Heritage List along with the Singanapan charcoal-drawn petrographs of southern Palawan, Angono petroglyphs of Rizal province, charcoal-drawn Peñablanca petrographs of Cagayan, and the Anda red hermatite print petrographs of Bohol.
The Bontoc people have their own indigenous religion that has been preserved for centuries. They believe in a unique pantheon of deities, of which the supreme god is the cultural hero, Lumawig, son of Kabunian. There are many sacred sites associated with Lumawig and a variety of Bontoc deities. Oral tradition tells that Lumawig instilled five great lessons to the Bontoc people, namely: a man must not steal; one should not gossip; men and women must not commit adultery; one must be temperate in eating and in drinking alcoholic drinks; and all people must live simple and industrious lives.

Education

Secondary education

InstitutionLocation
ALBAGO National High SchoolBalili
Dalican National High SchoolDalican
Guina-ang National High SchoolGuina-ang
Mountain Province General Comprehensive High SchoolPoblacion
Saint Vincent SchoolPoblacion
Talubin National High SchoolTalubin
Tocucan National High SchoolTocucan

Tertiary education

Mountain Province State Polytechnic College is the first tertiary institution in the municipality that offers various undergraduate and graduate courses.
XiJen College of Mountain Province is the only private tertiary institution that also offers technical-vocational courses.