CHECKING THE FACTS: THE ILOKANO DOCTRINA CRISTIANA

This is a fact check.

It is not true that the oldest--so far--of 'all' Ilokano books is the Doctrina Cristiana of 1621 as some scholars have written, and then also cited by other scholars as a fact.

The fact of the matter is that there is this 1620 version still in tact at the Lopez Museum in the Philippines.

I accidentally bumped into this version some four years ago when I was working on the various Ilokano dictionaries I have had the privilege to finish in due time, and when I started working on the Cultural Dictionary of the Ilokanos.

Scott was wrong on this, in a small way. And so was Marcelino Foronda, and some other scholars of Ilokano language and culture.

If you want to see this version of the Ilokano Doctrine, locked but kept for posterity, check it out with the Lopez Museum.

For those who would like to see the Carro dictionary which was the basis of the Vanoverbegh, and then Gelade, and then the Laconsay dictionaries, check the original at the Augustinian Museum in Intramuros.

There is a lot to learn about being Ilokano, about the Ilokano people of old, about the Ilokano language, about Ilokano culture.

There is a lot to learn about the Ilokano Nation.

Hon, HI/
April 21, 2013