to the attacks of these
pirates, who always seek easy anchorage. The pirates are, however,
a constant menace and source of danger to the Zambal, who try to
transport on rafts the precious woods of their mountains and to
carry on commerce with Manila in their little boats. The Zambal
are exposed to attack from the Moros in rounding the point at the
entrance of Manila Bay, from which it results that the province
is poor and has little commerce. [16]

Everything in the history of the Zambal people and their present
comparative unimportance goes to show that they were the most indolent
and backward of the Malayan peoples. While they have never given the
governing powers much trouble, yet they have not kept pace with the
agricultural and commercial progress of the other people, and their
territory has been so steadily encroached on from all sides by their
more aggressive neighbors that their separate identity is seriously
threatened. The rich valleys of Zambales have long attracted Ilokano
immigrants, who have founded several important towns. The Zambal
themselves, owing to lack of communication between their towns, have
developed three separate dialects, none of which has ever been deemed
worthy of study and publication, as have the other native dialects
of the Philippines. A glance at the list of towns of Zambales with
the prevailing dialect spoken in each, and in case of nearly equal
division also the second most important dialect, will show to what
extent Zambal as a distinct dialect is gradually disappearing:

Dialects in Zambales Province

Town Primary dialect Secondary dialect

Olongapo Tagalog

Subig Tagalog

Castillejos Tagalog Ilokano

San Marcelino Ilokano Tagalog

San Antonio Ilokano

San Narciso Ilokano

San Felipe Ilokano

Cabangan Zambal

Botolan Zambal

Iba Zambal

Palauig Zambal

Masinloc Zambal

Candelaria Zambal

Santa Cruz Zambal

Infanta Zambal

Dasol Pangasinan Zambal

Agno Ilokano Pangasinan

Barri Zambal

San Isidro Ilokano

Balincaguin Pangasinan

Alos Ilokano