Why I Started TALONGGO, and why you should read it especially if you are Ilonggo/Negrense

I was born in Manila to parents coming from Negros.  Mom was from Bacolod, Dad was from Kabankalan.  Though the early part of my life was spent in Makati, Rizal (yes, Makati was not a city then and was still part of the province of Rizal), the atmosphere in the house was very much Visayan.  Grandparents spoke Hiligaynon, aunts and uncles did too.

The food was always prepared in the same manner as it was back in Negros.  That's the only way they knew how to prepare it. 

Soon after, a realization hit me one day I entered grade school in La Salle.  I found my classmates so fluent in speaking Tagalog.  I on the other hand could only make out some of the words from watching Ramon Zamora on TV.  That's because back home everyone was just speaking Hiligaynon or English (Hiligaynon is the dialect of Ilonggos and Negrenses).

The influence of Ilonggo/Negrense culture was strong.  Thus, when our family moved to Bacolod in the mid-seventies, assimilation into the classroom was not too difficult.  My Hiligaynon tongue was not that perfect yet but I could carry on the conversation.

 

From there, life has been, Bacolod-Manila-Bacolod-Manila-some places in between and then, Bacolod-Manila-Bacolod-Manila.  Through it all, I find myself rooted in the culture of my parents' homeland.  But how about my kids?  One was born in Bacolod, one in Manila.  Both are growing up fast here in Manila.

I had to find a way to record all the quirks and idiosyncracies which make us Ilonggo and Negrense.  Thus this blog, TALONGGO.  A mix of Tagalog and Ilonggo.

Talonggos are different.  Many can relate to the fact that Talonggos, though having grown up in Metro Manila, are very much engrained with the ideals and values of their Negrense/Ilonggo forebears.

It is my hope that this blog can shed light on how TALONGGOs actually think and feel. This blog is written for the next generation of TALONGGOs, our children, who may not have the chance to enjoy provincial life as we did and for them to have idea why their parents act the way we do.

Lloyd Tronco is an Artist/Writer/Entrepreneur.  Forever shuttling between Bacolod and Manila and other places in between.

 

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