Pedro Bucaneg

Pedro Bukaneg (March 1592 – c. 1630) was a Filipino poet. He is considered the "Father of Ilocano literature." Blind since birth, he is the believed to have authored of parts of the Ilocano epic Biag ni Lam-ang (Life of Lam-ang). Pedro Bukaneg was a foremost Ilocano poet and Christian missionary born in Bantay, Abra.

Bukaneg was a foundling, who shortly after his birth already floating in a basket between Bantay and Vigan in the Banaoang River was found by an old woman. They brought him to the Bantay Augustiner priest who baptized him as Pedro Bucaneg. Bukaneg was sent to the Augustinian convent in Manila to further his theological and cultural studies.

Early Life

It is presumed that Bukaneg's ancestry is of the Itnegs. Born congenitally blind, he was thrown into a river by his parents. Luckily a laundrywoman picked and brought him to the local Augustinian monk, where he was baptized and given the name Pedro Bukaneg meaning a Christianized Itneg. He studied at the Augustinian convent in Manila where he developed his eloquence in the Spanish and Ilocano languages. He also used his extensive knowledge of the Itneg dialect to teach Spanish missionaries heading north.

"Father of Ilokano literature"

Bukaneg is acknowledged as the author of one of the Philippine' great epics entitled Biag ni Lam-ang (Life of Lam-ang). With his extensive knowledge of the Spanish and Ilocano language, he co-authored the Ilocano-Spanish grammar book and dictionary.