Belza, Cabillo, Cantos 1

Donadette Belza

Rick Jay Cabillo

Darius Cantos

Dr. Ronald Baytan

LIT730M

18 October 2014

Hiligaynon Literature

Overview

Hiligaynon literature is the construct of the Hiligaynons, a group of brown people who inhibit the

Western part of the Visayan Region in the central part of the Philippine archipelago (Hosillos, 1). These

people, popularly known also as the Ilonggos, are blend of the indigene—the Negrito, the Indonesian, and

the Malay, the blend later infused with the Indian, Chinese, Arab, Spanish, American and other races.

However, the nature of this region, the races that peopled it, and the society and culture that they have

developed are determinants of the literature created by the Hiligaynons at the specific moments of their

lives, and at particular stages of their cultural development.

Geographical, Economic, Socio-political and Cultural Context, Key Traditions and Forms

Located in Central Philippines, Western Visayas lies between two large bodies of water—the

Sibuyan Sea and the Visayan Sea. Constituting of approximately 6.74 percent of the total land area of the

country, the region is composed of six provinces, namely; Aklan, Antique, Capiz and Iloilo on Panay Island,

Guimaras on Guimaras Island and Negros Occidental on Negros Island. These provinces inhabit one of the

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major rice-producing areas of the country. The landscape consists of broad plains stretching between

mountain ranges. Large rivers deposit the volcanic sediments that make its lowlands fertile. Since the

Spanish conquest, exploitation has been extensive, especially in the lowlands resulting in extensive

modification of the landscape and the terrain. From archaeological studies, it is commonly held that Panay

Island was used to be a part of the islands of Luzon in the north, Palawan in the southwest, and Mindanao in

the south during the inter-glacial period. It was also believed that this island was underwater at certain

geological periods as evidences show presence of extensive areas of coral in many areas of its towns.

Map 1 shows the geographical background of Hiligaynon or the West Visayas

Geologically younger, Negros is occasionally convulsed by the eruptions of Mt. Kanlaon which

rises to about 2, 465 meters near the mid-section of the island (Hosillos, 2). However, Panay and Negros

could have been covered with a depterocarp forest at one time up to the more recent prehistoric period as

evidenced by remnants of trees especially in the interior of the islands. Analysis of faunal and flora

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associations within what remains of these forest suggests that they could have had provided a variety of food

resources as monkeys, pigs, deer, rats and bats among hunter-gatherers. Meanwhile, as seas and rivers of

Panay are teemed with rich fishes and other food sources until now, it could have had provided food also for

survival.

Although the prehistoric Hiligaynons were brave and hardy sailors, they were primarily farmers and

skilled hunters, fishermen and gatherers who expertly exploited land, forest and aquatic resources and also

practiced subsistence economic activities. The people of Antique were said to be the first to raise cotton

while the Aklanons were said to be the first Filipinos to manufacture alcohol. When it comes to trading, long

before the 1600s, the fertility of the Western Visayas region in the Philippines permitted the Hiligaynon

people to develop one of the archipelago's most advanced societies. They engaged in international trade and

created fine work in gold and semiprecious stones. Hiligaynons had it extensively among Chinese

exchanging junks loaded with porcelain, gold ornaments, metals, mirrors, and silk fabrics. Commerce was

by barter or with the use of small snails and shells serving as money.

The culture history of Western Visayas is a story woven out of traditional lore and scientific

studies. Mythology, archaeology, and history combined to tell the story of the richness of the local

culture. This story started in legend about the Bornean datus who purchased Panay from the Negritos and

established the first political confederation in the country around the 12th century AD. Early Hiligaynons

performed rituals and ceremonies commonly led by the babaylanes. Though there were no specific places

for worship, they still managed to believe and do sacrifices for their gods and goddesses. They were also

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lovers of music, song poetry and dance. These arts were integrated, not differentiated into specific forms,

although there were already indications of specialization. Myth, legend and folktales were recounted for

entertainment; to explain nature and natural phenomena; to rationalize behavior, customs and traditions; to

preserve the tribe; and to explain the origins of the race and its cultural development. One of their popular

epics, Hinilawod, was sang and chanted in verse, by bards narrating the origin of the world and the race, the

deluge, the role of heroes in the development of the culture, and their adventures and battles of epic

proportion. While longer texts provided perspectives and orientation through which Hiligaynon culture

could be viewed, the ritual, verses, riddles, proverbs and folksongs and other shorter forms of expression

give direct insights into everyday life, traits and human relationships of the early Hiligaynon as a people.

From here on history takes over the narration of events: the coming of the Spaniards in the 16th century, the

revolution in 1896, the fight against the Americans in 1898, the establishment of the civil government, the

Second World War (1941-1945), the aborted HUK movement which followed the war years, and economic

recovery of the Region during the 1960s onward.

At the time the Spaniards arrived, Western Visayas was a fully developed Region. They established

not only settlements but also "confederated form of government, with a legal system known as the Kalantiao

Code." Kalantiao was believed to be the third chief of Panay. Shortly after their arrival in Cebu in 1565, the

Spaniards encountered lots of problems like shortage of food supply and threat of Portuguese invasion.

Thus, in 1569, they moved over to Panay. They first settled in Capiz. From here, they explored the

neighboring places, subdued local resistance, and placed the entire Region under the Spanish colonial

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government. The economic development of the Region began systematically, especially in the area of sugar

and rice production. The Hiligaynons were called upon to render services for the encomienderos, either to

work in the haciendas or in the construction of churches. With the union of Church and State, the

Hiligaynons suffered under two types of foreign domination, the civil and the religious. It was common

knowledge that the real power in the local government were the parish priests who supervised the local

elections, intervened in judiciary and influenced political affairs. The rivalry, intrigues, and power struggle

between and among the religious orders and their exploitation and oppression of the people, in the name of

the faith, aroused anti-friar sentiments and contributed to the awakening of patriotism and the birth of

nationalism. It was this colonial form of government which bred rebellion among the Hiligaynons, a peace-

loving people whose history does not record violence, but consultations and consensus as the means of

settling disputes (Hosillos, 56).

Since Christianization played the most important role in this era, the earliest of the literary forms

introduced by missionaries could have been the auto sacramentales, short religious plays the missionares

used in evangelical work; miracle plays which narrated the lives of saints; and mystery plays which

dramatized the life of Christ and biblical stories. The Passion could have been introduced later separately

from the mass and was chanted at Lent. Prayers, novenas, sermons, and other religious and moral tracts,

although not literary forms, also formed part of the reading fare.

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Conscription of labor produced strains in the relationships between the Hiligaynons and the

Spaniards. The local leaders protested against the cruelty of the encomienderos and the friars. They took

arms against the invaders. But the Hiligaynon patriots did not give up; they continued their struggle for

freedom. Thus, when the mass revolution, started by the Katipunan under Andres Bonifacio took place in

1896, the people in Western Visayas readily joined the movement. They fought and defeated the Spaniards

in many bloody encounters. Their victories however were short-lived. When they were about ready to

deliver the last blow against the enemy, the Americans came in 1898 to take over the Spaniards the

administrative control of the Region. The Hiligaynons resisted but, weary of war and poorly armed, they

were soon overwhelmed by the new and well-armed enemy. Many of the leaders surrendered and by 1901,

peace was restored.

The period following 1901 was one characterized by massive efforts for economic development and

social progress. The Americans rebuilt the agricultural economy and encouraged local participation in trade

and commerce. Education was opened to everyone. Administration of the local governments was given to

Hiligaynon leaders. Writing in Spanish declined, though the influence was still dominant. Around 1910’s

and the 1920’s was a flowering of the types of writing that were created and initiated at the turn of the

century and which flourished with an audience composed of all social issues constitute of what is considered

the “Golden Age” of Hiligaynon literature. Literary nationalism and moralism took various forms,

especially because of the censorship with the passage of the Sedition Law in 1901. However, purposive

writings still continued as self-expression for entertainment, to delight and instruct and for whatever were

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the intentions of the writer. Thus, in this period, newspaper also played a significant part in developing

creative minds and expressing nationalist resistance. This period in turn, became the milieu for a generation

of younger writers who were already publishing. Serapion Torre, Magdalena Jalandoni, Delfin Gumban,

Flavio Zaragoza y Cano, and others took over and wrote new realities and challenges and they have

witnessed the erosion of the language and the decline of Hiligaynon writing under the impact of English, the

alienation of the younger generation from their cultural tradition and the rise of the different literary trends

and development patterns (124).

However, although public education with the English language as medium “Americanized” the

writer, enough to provide an employment, was not yet strong to wean away from literary tradition and his

commitment to his native language. Here, the first issue of Ang Bisaya sa Hiligaynon was published in 1934

with 32 pages. But in 1936, it dropped and the supplement became the independent Hiligaynon magazine

that circulated over Panay, Negros, Masbate, Romblon, Palawan, Cuyu, Mindoro, Mindanao and even in

Sorsogon.

The inclusion of English and American literature in the school curriculum and the influx of foreign

books and magazines, particularly American, increased the number of readers and speakers in English. They

also led the Hiligaynon writers to other Western writers and their works, literary traditions and world-wide

trends and movements. The ‘mis-education’ of the Filipinos as veritable consumers of American goods,

culture and lifestyle which put up things American as superior to the native culture, was alienating the

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Hiligaynon from its own culture. Movies, radio and pulp magazines supplemented the schools in uprooting

the younger generation from their native culture. Until World War II drew the Philippines into the war of its

colonial master. This war was a turning point in the history of Hiligaynon literature. It abolished publication

outlets and cultural activities and made survival the writer’s prime concern. More significantly it concretized

and revealed the alienating effects of the colonial public school system. As a result, a new generation of

Hiligaynons wrote about the war experience with artistic maturity but in English. With the passing away of

the older writers, resistance to American rule waned. Although the nationalist sentiment did not die, it was

muted from outright protest into poetic expression of love of country, paeans to national heroes, and the

natural beauty and sceneries of the land, and the love of the native language (192-194).

After World War II, Hiligaynon writers tried to restore Hiligaynon literature to its pre-war status but

times radically changed. But still, people needed to face the challenge of independence, longed-for since

Spanish colonial times which the American promised to grant in 1946. But the task of healing the physical

and spiritual wounds and traumas of the war and the liberation years was gigantic. Rebuilding the physical

environment, finding solutions to the economic problems, and reestablishing the political system and social

structures drained human resources. Even more so, making whole again shattered lives paralyzed creativity

and progressive thinking. Hiligaynon writers escaped to the idyllic, the past, fantasy, dreams, and

aspirations. Inevitably however, they need to confront realities. A new generation of writers emerged,

creating a dual trend—romanticism and realism in genres of poem, short stories and even in novels.

However, literary situation reflected the post-war economy which was at its lowest ebb. With dwindling

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readership, major newspaper and magazines folded up one by one, leaving Hiligaynon the sole outlet until it

also closed down in 1973. With the very little pay for contributions, it was only their love of writing and of

their native language that kept the writers to persevere in their art. As they continued to recover from the

stasis of the post-war years, writing intensified that made them more curious and inquisitive analyzers,

critics, fiscalizers, and bold and daring innovators influenced by Western literature. Writers dwelled still in

poems, short stories, plays and novels. They were not, however, rebels and revolutionaries whom the society

needed out to protest. The times called for revolutionary realists, which from the late sixties to the eighties

the Marcos martial law regime itself, ironically, to create out of necessity against its oppression and

exploitation. Under the martial law regime and its Bagong Lipunan or New Society slogan, things turned to

worse. A number of socially-conscious media practitioners, writers, professionals and intellectuals worked

underground. Thus, the revolutionary realists created a new literature—people’s literature—which proclaims

itself as being ‘from the masses, to the masses’ (233-235). This became the most important development out

of the Third World condition of the region and the country as a whole. Three trends of people’s literature

have developed, mainly, the Third World writing, community literature and guerilla literature.

In Third World writing, consciousness of liberation and the liberation of consciousness were given

focus. However, the most effective component of people’s literature was people’s theater which could be the

community and the guerilla theater that were both political and polemical, with protest as basic element.

These literature contributed significantly to the development of the Hiligaynon language and strongly

involved the masses to find their roles to change the society and clamor for liberation. After the EDSA

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Revolution, the nationalist movement had considerably gained much headway as to prioritize literary culture

as one of its indispensable elements. Writing that can awaken the consciousness of the masses to their social

realities became a militant trend. The development of the regional vernacular literatures toward integrating

them into national literature was recognized as necessary to the definition of Filipino identity (284-286).

Toward fulfilling the human nature and function of literary art, “Hiligaynon writers need to reorient

their perspectives and world view. It is not enough for them to retrieve and preserve the Hiligaynon language

or even reflect the dialectics of culture change in society. They need to enter the main stream of Philippine

and Third World writing. For the Hiligaynon writers, like any other regional writers, tend to be preoccupied

only with immediate realities of their society and region and interaction on a broader scale with various

cultures, social, economic, and political realities, sensibilities, and world views which could considerably

enrich them and their art, all toward creation and growth of their regional and national cultures” (287).

Hiligaynon Major Figures and Literary Works: Their Place in Hiligaynon Literature

Riddles, proverbs, ritual chants, elaborate love songs, tales and epics encompass Hiligaynon folk

literature. The arts, music, song, poetry and dance, of which early Hiligaynons were passionate, expresses

the feelings and thoughts of their development, emerging from their wonderment at existence, their

interaction with nature and their struggle for survival (Hosillos, 10). Hiligaynons call their poem as

binalaybay, tale as asoy or sugilanon, riddle paktakon, while a proverb hurubaton. Their equivalents of

folksongs are ili-ili for lullaby, a long song ambahan, long poetic joust between two poets which is the siday

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or a jocose love song like balitaw (Deriada in Hiligaynon Literature).

With the advent of Spaniards having the people converted to Christianity, what had been produced

were new forms of folk literature. This was when written literature also began, initially in the forms of

Spanish texts of prayers and lives of the saints (Deriada in Hiligaynon Literature). It was Mariano Perfecto

who engineered written Hiligaynon literature in the late nineteenth century through his establishment of

Libreria La Panayana in Iloilo City in 1877 which supplied prayer books and other printed reading fare in

Hiligaynon Iloilo readers, Negros, Capiz, Antique, Romblon, Masbate, Cuyo and other parts of Eastern

Visayas and Manila. This encouraged more natives to write in Hiligaynon. Mariano Perfecto published

Almanake Panayanhon (Panayan Almanac) with his Pasion, novenas, and corridos (Deriada in Hiligaynon

Literature).

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ, Our Lord

(Quinabuhi kag Pasion ni Hesukristo nga Aton Ginoo, 1931)

Mariano Perfecto

Prayer to God

God in heaven,

King of this world,

God without equal,

kind, the wisest

and most powerful.

Father singular,

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protector of all,

Father without end,

merciful and savior

of men on earth.

Allow us,

God the Father merciful,

to observe with

suffering the agony

of your only Son

Hiligaynon literature brimmed of struggles and challenges spanning centuries of dehumanization in

the face of colonial oppression and exploitation. The Hiligaynon writers would awaken to the realities and

present condition through drudging economic, political, and social developments, in the process bringing the

Hiligaynon writer face up to his role in life and society, becoming conscious of his artistic talents and social

responsibility.

One inciting event was the decline of the region’s textile industry after the opening of the port of

Iloilo to foreign trade in 1890. In exchange, the sugar export trade flourished and brought change over

region’s commercial activity, demography and social and cultural life (Hosillos, 70).

The rich sugar export trade brought along prosperity and affluence that opened doors to

entertainment and recreation throughout the region in 1893. The region’s towns and districts abounded with

fiestas, religious celebrations, comedias, and zarzuelas with the assistance of parishes, municipal

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governments, and artistic organizations.

Among notable writers and works during this period were Ramon Severino with his Ang Sultana nga

Taga Jolo an original Visayan drama in Silay, Negros Occidental and Angel Magahum with her Visayan

drama in three acts (Hosillos, 71).

Writers in Hiligaynon found a large audience among the people who could not read in Spanish. The

masses welcomed writers such as Cornelio Hilado with his work Ang Babae nga Huaran (The Model

Woman), touted as the first full-length play in Hiligaynon written in 1894 and published in 1899 and also the

plays of Eriberto Gumban who used mixed medium of Spanish and Hiligaynon.

The Model Woman (Ang Babae nga Huaran)

Cornelio Hilado

Scene VII

Don Fernando and Consuelo

Fernando – What now, Consuelo. Hasn’t any of your student asked you yet?

Consuelo – Carlos proposed last night but I told him that I cannot decide without his asking your consent first.

Fernando – But how do you regard him?

Consuelo – It’s up to you to decide.

In spite of the economic prosperity since the turn of the 19 th century fostered by the sugar export

trade, exploitation and injustices by the friars and the landowners continued. The ilustrados, described as the

educated and enlightened class pressed for reforms and civil and political rights. This intensified aspirations

and ideals of nationalism. The people were buoyed up to observe the systems and eventually saw through

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what lay beneath the surface of “manifest destiny” and “benevolent assimilation.” Writers whose works lay

bare the principles of individual rights and equality, and other democratic tenets were Jose Ingalla with his

poems Dutang Olipon (Enslaved Land), Manuel Laserna’s play Pagmahal sa Banwa (Love of Country)

published in 1909, Angel Magahum’s Benjamin acclaimed as the first novel in Hiligaynon, finished in 1894

but published only in 1907, Cornelio Hilado’s Ang Babae nga Huaran (The Model Woman) commended as

the first full-length drama in Hiligaynon written in 1894 published after revolution against Spain, including

also Salvador Ciocon’s Ang Nagahigugma sa Iya Duta (The Patriot) regarded probably the first zarzuela in

Hiligaynon, written in 1899 but not staged until 1906 (Hosillos, 74).

Benjamin

Angel Magahum

Benjamin was a rich man’s son from the province of Iloilo. He studied in a big university in Manila. While studying in

the big city Benjamin was very care free. He usually gambled to amuse himself.

One day he visited Manuel, his best friend and provincemate. Living near Manuel’s rented apartment was a beautiful

young lady by the name of Inocencia, the daughter of Dolores , a widow of a captain in an army. Her son, Serafin – also a

military man and the sole provider of their family – was also said to have died while fighting against the bandits.

Not long after their first meeting Benjamin and Inocencia fell in love. Months later Inocencia became pregnant. Dolores

was worried and confronted Benjamin to seek his assurance that he would marry her daughter. Confused, Benjamin left

without making any commitment.

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Land Adored

Manuel Laserna

Endeared Philippines,

Land adored,

I worship your name,

Beloved country.

What led to the coming of age of Hiligaynon literature were the awakening of the writer to his

realities through economic, political, and social change and his consciousness of his talents. The noteworthy

names in poetry and plays were Salvador Ciocon, Jose Ingalla, and Manuel Laserna; Valente Cristobal and

Jimeno Damaso for zarzuelas; others like Angel Magahum and Eriberto Gumban stretched their thread of

versatility writing plays in new stages. Having discovered their talents through their native language, these

writers committed themselves upon preserving the beauty and remarkable qualities of Hiligaynon language.

They continued the struggle for freedom even after the American civil government was established. This

time they wrote no longer in Spanish but in Hiligaynon which they proclaimed the language of the people

and of their aspirations (Hosillos, 74).

MA-PA-TA

Valente Cristobal

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PASCUAL: I don’t know.

MELITON: Oh, Pascual, nobody is as foolish as you are. What dineritis, diebitis, pokeritis were you talking about?

PASCUAL: Those are the names of modern diseases now; tis, tis, that’s why camatis is expensive nowadays.

The advent of American occupation witnessed the Golden Age of Hiligaynon literature spanning the

relatively short period from 1920s to the dawn of Japanese occupation. This period was descriptive of the

decline in writing Spanish, the looming consumerist culture of United States delineated by foreign movies,

radios, books, newspapers that soon captured Hiligaynon imagination, the inevitable resistance to American,

and the resignation of the majority of Hiligaynons to American system. Writers saw exploitation in the

systems especially in the cases of the employees working in sugar export industry where profits only

benefitted the upper classes and foreign business. In view of Sedition Law in 1901, literary nationalism took

various forms. Hiligaynon writers hankered for freedom against foreign domination and sought from people

social consciousness (121). Pedro Monteclaro’s Maragtas, despite it being questioned as a historical

document, inspired materials about Hiligaynon historical past such as Angel Magahum’s Datu Paubare and

Jose Ma. Ingalla’s Dumut kag Huya (122). The dramatic tensions of plays of Eriberto Gumban, Salvador

Ciocon, Valente Cristobal, Angel Magahum, Jose Ingalla, and Jimeno Damaso clashed the erosion of

morality and traditional Christian values, moral degeneration, especially of the women, individual, social,

and cultural conflicts. These conflicts were also evident in Miguela Montelibano’s Cailo nga Tapalan Cusug

sang Imul (Strength of the Poor, 1924) and his Filipinas (1929). Magdalena Jalandoni’s lyrical narrative

poem Angya exposed the oppression of the poor by the rich particularly in rural setting.

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In response to the erosion of the language and the decline of Hiligaynon writing under the impact of English

and to the younger generation’ alienation from cultural tradition, Serapion Torre’s Yesterday and Today took

form along with the works of Magdalena Jalandoni, Delfin Gumban’s Song of Freedom, Flavio Zaragoza y

Cano’s Arise and Carmelo Abeto’s Sisa (124).

Yesterday and Today

Serapion Torre

(AN IMAGE OF TWO EPOCHS)

PART I

Foreground showing a well-to-do house. There are two doors, one at the left and another at the right. Backdrop

shows a door leading to the kitchen or stairs. The sala is neat and proper, a table and chairs are well-aligned.

The period between 1931-1945 was descriptive of worsened plight of the workers, rise of labor

movements and strikes, exploitation of natural resources by foreigners, gaping gap between the rich and the

poor, Americanization and modernization that eroded traditional ways of life, dispossession of lands and

crops among farmers. Hiligaynon writers unsheathed poetry texts to shake up politics, the state of the nation

and leaders, particularly in presence of the works of Ramon Muzones in his Haw Haw Tulihaw (Ho Ho

Tulihaw) and Kuting Kuting sang Kudyapi (Strumming the Kudyapi), Delfin Gumban with his Kon sa

Akong Lamang (In My Opinion) and Santiago Alv. Mulato with Gugma sa Pungsod (1936).

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Love of Country

(Gugma sa Pungsod)

Santiago Alv. Mulato

Is there a love perhaps… truer and more sacred,

More chaste … purer, comparable

To the sincere … total love … of native land?

What other love? … No one can tell.

During this period the Hiligaynon writer found himself torn between his native literary tradition and

the Western. In the purpose of striving to obtain philosophical depth toward introspection and individualism

embodying the poet’s retreat to privacy, Dilag Fajardo brought out Ngaa? (Why?).

World War II was a turning point in the history of Hiligaynon literature. Leopoldo dela Cruz’ Dear

Americans and Stevan Javellana’s Without Seeing the Dawn were among the works of new generation of

Hiligaynons that used the theme of war experience utilizing great artistic maturity, written however in the

medium of English. The theme would be recurred in the novels of Abe Gonzales’ Gugma, Katarungan kag

Kaisug (1946), Ramon Muzones’ Labi sa Tanan (1946) and Magdalena Jaladoni’s Sa Kapaang sang Inaway

(In the Heat of the War) but unsuccessful to line up with the artistic maturity of the novels of dela Cruz and

Javellana (194).

The aftermath of Japanese occupation made the Ilonggos individualistic and prone to immorality.

Leopoldo de la Cruz’s poem in English Iloilo City on VJ Day creatively imaged the post-war hardships and

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conditions.

In order to survive, the Hiligaynon writer attempted to escape to the idyllic and aspirations to no

avail; he had to confront his realities eventually. Consequently, romanticism and realism emerged which the

new generation of writers embraced.

Exposing the economic problems through texts bathed with the concept of social realism, Abe

Gonzales’ Pasunaid (Being Considerate) went against trade unionisim; Russel Tordesillas’ And Capid (The

Twins) resisted social injustice; Gregorio Sumcad’s Sacada (Migrant Worker) on feudal conditions in the

sugar cane plantations; Ramon Muzones’ Anak sang Umalagsa on agrarian relations; Conrada Norada’s

Bulak nga Ilahas (Wild Flower) on corrupt politicians; Juanito Marcella’s story Panaghoy sang Ginahandos

nga Palpal (Lament of a Driver Peg) exposed the injustice in landowner-tenant relations (234).

Panaghoy Sang Ginahandos Nga Palpal

(Lament of a Driver Peg)

Juanito C. Marcella

“Ina ang gindalikat ko sa pagkari, Tyo Danoy,” hingapos ni Mr. Tante.

Wala makahulag si Tyo Danoy matapos mapahayag sa iya ni Mr. Tante ang ginkari sini sa Tapaslong. Didto sa

mahanayap nga kauyaparan nalansang ang iya panulok. May ginapamatyagan si Tyo Danoy. May ginaisip-isip. Subong

sang ginaaninaw niya ang iya paggahit sang kabakibakian sa tunga sang makahililo nga init sang adlaw. Subong sang

ginapanan-aw niya ang iya kaugalingon nga nagapahaumhaom sang dalagku nga mga palpal sa pagpadaku sang mayor

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nga kahon agod masudlan sang madamu nga tubi ang uyapad-punongon agod mahapos ang pagtalauma. Subong sang

mabatian niya ang iya paghiyaw sa mga karabaw samtang nagapalatak sia sang suong-suong sang punongan. Gin-usikan

niya sing kabudlay, panahon kag kuarta ang pagpauswag sang uyapad ng iya ginaagsahan sa pagtuo nga kutob may luyag

sia sa pag-uma, sia man gihapon ang pauyaton ni Atty. Emilio Gazan.

Other notable works during the period 1946-1970 were Margosatubig of Ramon Muzones, The Dead

of Agustin Sayno, Ernesto Nietes’ Opportunity, Romulo Cabales’s Young Bud and Hanglo of Augurio

Paguntalan.

Margosatubig

Ramon Muzones

The only heir to the sultanate of Sulu – Datu Parang – violated Islamic tradition by having an affair with a Christian

woman, Dulcinea. The provided an opportunity for Datu Mohamed, the adviser of the Sultan, to realize his ambition of

becoming the Sultan.

Another significant turning point in Hiligaynon literature were the 1964 reelection of Ferdinand

Marcos and his declaration of martial law on September 21, 1972. The events associated with this page in

Philippine history forced mass media practitioners, writers, professionals, and intellectuals to go

underground. Agriculture, business and industry suffered during this period. Plight of the workers in sugar

industry worsened tremendously. Land reform programs did not benefit farmers more. And innumerable

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incidents of human rights violations occurred.

Hiligaynon writers responded in different directions. They escaped to writing that merely entertains.

Some insulated their works in the tower of art-for-art’s sake. Most risked their lives to expose the ills of

society toward reforms, awaken readers to social realities and to struggle for liberation (279).

Notable works during this period were Ilong-Ilong ang Banwa Ko (Iloilo is my Birthplace!, 1970) by

Paola Lailahnee G. Sobrevega, Ano Ka Kabuhi (Life, What Are You?, 1969) of Ernesto F. Javellana,

Juanita Cruz (serialized 1967-1968) of Magdalena Jalandoni, Diin and Hustisya (Where is Justice, 1976) by

Nilo Par. Pamonag, Nahadluk Manaksihon (Afraid to Testify) of Jose E. Yap, Makaon Ako Aswang, ‘Nay (I

Will Eat a Witch, Mother) by Ricardo Oebanda, and Nahibal-an na Bala sang Agut nga Ginsalbeyds si

Tatay Niya? (Does the Youngest Already Know That His Father Has Been “Salvaged”?) of John Paul B. Tia

among others.

Juanita Cruz

Magdalena Jalandoni

As we talked, he too recalled Nita who looked and spoke so much like me and who died because of love for him. He

remarked that he cannot do anything because Nita was dead and if fate would allow it he will replace her with another

who looked exactly like his dead sweetheart if this other one will love him with as much tenderness as his former

beloved. Secretly I felt happy listening to his revelation but I never betrayed my true identity as that lost Nita.

Afraid to Testify

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Jose E. Yap

THE WEAPON he decided to use took Tyo Doroy there days of secret preparation. It is a weapon that does not explode,

but rather flies and pierces. He calls it Indian arrow. He has kept what he is doing from Tya Nena because he knows that

his wife will surely object to his plan. So, by gradually working on it in secret, he was able to finally finish the weapon

with which he will kill Eddie.

What Hiligaynon writers realized during the constraints of this period was that literature was no

longer just expressing, reflecting, and symbolizing reality. Literature was already helping in restructuring

society.

Current state of Hiligaynon Literature (1989 – present)

Since the resurgence of writings in the vernacular in 1900’s, literature in Hiligaynon has appropriated

to the demand of publications that appeal to the taste of its public audience, thereby accounting to the

didactic, sentimental, and melodramatic formula in writing (Cruz-Lucero, xiii-xiv). Some writers, to gain a

commercial appeal, only imitated the stories written in Tagalog and in English, but later on evolved into

writing in their native language and sensibilities with strain of nationalism.

Significant to the development of Hiligaynon literature from its Golden Age (1920’s-1940’s) are its

publications such as Hiligaynon magazine of Liwayway Publications in Manila, Makiugalingon Press by

Rosendo Mejica in Iloilo City, Yuhum magazine of La Defensa Press in Iloilo, and Kasanag of Diolosa

Publications. These publications paved way to showcasing young and old writers of the West Visayan

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region, including not only the lingua franca Hiligaynon but also Kinaray-a and Aklanon.

Yuhum magazine stopped its publication in the 1960’s and resumed during the Martial law years,

while Hiligaynon closed during Martial law and reopened in 1989 in Cory Aquino’s governance.

Deriada (in NCCA article) noted that the Cory Revolution of 1986 sought the advent of historical

landmarks in Hiligaynon Literature:

1. The emergence of Kinaray-a writing

During this time, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) took on a new administration and the

Presidential Commission for Culture and the Arts [now National Commission for Culture and the Arts

(NCCA)] was established. Henceforth, grants to writers of marginalized languages were given, and

workshops and competitions were subsidized nationwide. Such is the progressive ferment of writing in the

vernacular that in 1997, Hiligaynon short story was added as a category in Palanca Awards.

Since 1990, Deriada has worked on “literature engineering in West Visayas” through mentoring and

encouraging writers to produce writings in Kinaray-a, Aklanon, and Visayan-laced Filipino other than

Hiligaynon and English. In fact, CCP published Kinaray-a issue of Ani in 1990, and Aklanon issue in 1993,

both edited by Deriada.

Writing in Visayan-laced Filipino has been a transgressive act for West Visayan writers who write in

Tagalog with the blending of Visayan words that need no translation. On this account, a true Filipino

language comes into being through the fusion of Philippine languages taken as equal to one another.

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The multilingual capacity of West Visayan writers and writing in those languages “make the literary

geography of West Visayas an extremely visible landmark in the country’s mapping out of a richer, more

diverse yet more defined nationhood.” (Deriada in Kritika Kultura 1, 88)

The contemporary West Visayan literature in general has expanded its scope of publication

commissioned by the NCCA through Deriada who edited Patubas, An Anthology of West Visayan Poetry

1986-1994 (1995) and Mantala 3 (2000), containing more than a hundred “poets and fictionists who have

subsequently garnered prestigious literary prizes and national distinction.” (Cruz, 3)

Other than Deriada’s engineered anthologies are the Philippine literature anthology projects of three

universities namely University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, and De La Salle University.

Sugilanon: Mga Maikling Kwentong Hiligaynon, published in 1991 and edited by Rosario Cruz-Lucero, was

a product of De La Salle.

In these anthologies, Cruz (153) posited that marginalization happens in the marginalized

language/literature such that those who get to be included in researches are the writers who created a name

in the national literary scene and the others who do not are left unrecognized. Thus, he called for the study of

the lesser-known writers of the West Visayas region to avoid this further marginalization.

As an answer to this call, whether directly/implied or conscious/unconscious, the UBOD New

Authors Series II came out with Hiligaynon fiction Ang Mga Anak Sang Montogawe (edited by John Iremil

E. Teodoro, 2010) by J.V.D. Perez and Hiligaynon collection of poems Duha Ka Tingog by Jay Gallera

Malaga (edited by Genevieve L. Asenjo, 2010). UBOD is a series of literary works in various Philippine

languages published through the Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practice with the grant given by the
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National Commission on Culture and the Arts and the National Committee on Literary Arts. Its first

publication was in 2005 including Asenjo’s taga-uma@manila, a Hiligaynon fiction.

Key issue/s in the development and deterioration of Hiligaynon Literature

Building the nation and establishing an identity through the vernacular literature have been the focus

of rigorous research in Philippine literature as seen in the factors affecting its growth and decay.

Vernacular literature, including Hiligaynon, faced or is still facing the following predicaments

(DLSU Research Center in Cruz-Lucero, ix):

1. Lack of research in literature in other ethnolinguistic groups was identified.

these were in English or in expensive editions.

libraries.

To address these problems, the three universities worked on anthology books as mentioned before.

This project was set in the following guidelines: 1) unbound literary criticism from Tagalog literature and

give space to literature written in major ethnic languages, 2) include representative works from pre-colonial

period to contemporary to see its tradition and changes influenced by the Spanish and American cultures, 3)

translate the works in Filipino to be better felt by the Filipino audience, and 4) employ an expert in that

literature to give a critical and socio-historical explanation on the body of work for further understanding (x-

xi).

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As a result of the successive actions brought by the writers, scholars, universities, and government

agencies to let the ‘other’ literatures thrive, “now the native writer progressively takes on the habit of

addressing his own people (Fanon in Cruz, 145)” through the use of Filipino language. Deriada, through his

idea of language/literature engineering in West Visayas, is asserting his take on using a Filipino language to

account for the nationhood devoid of cultural divide and dominant culture/s. Influenced by the idea, Teodoro

has taken liberty in using Visayan words as Filipino words for he believes that

There is no such thing as a non-Tagalog word having to gain entry first into the mainstream Filipino vocabulary

before being used in writing – as in being ‘entered’ in the Filipino dictionary published in Tagalog language

centers which have long supposed they are the sole gatekeepers of the national language. Metaphorically,

Teodoro’s language move images a nation that is all-inclusive, one that does not slant the marks of regional

culture to make difference apparent and the culture apparently subordinate (150).

With this move, Cruz names it “damming the nation” as the contemporary West Visayan literature

asserts its way in “engineering the nation through strategies that transgress the norms but reconstruct it… By

means of this engineering the region hopes it can take its proper place in the nation and claim the resources

it deserves (152).”

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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1. Cruz, Isidoro M. PUNGSOD, Damming the Nation: Region/Nation and the Global Order in

Contemporary West Visayan Literature. Iloilo City: University of San Agustin Publishing House,

2009. Print.

Cruz’ book emphasizes on concepts of region/nation and globalization. This ventured on West

Visayan literature that constructs the nation from the vantage point of the region while

questioning the Tagalog literature hegemony. This is the book version of Cruz’ dissertation

with the same title.

2. Cruz-Lucero, Rosario. ed. Sugilanon: Mga Piling Maikling Kwentong Hiligaynon. Manila: De La

Salle University Press, 1991. Print.

field of literary studies – the vernacular literature. The critical introduction written by Cruz-

Lucero gives the reader an idea on the other thematic dimension of Hiligaynon fiction apart

from the didacticism, sentimentalism, and melodrama, which were inherited from the

colonizers.
3. Deriada, Leoncio P. “Literature Engineering in West Visayas”. Kritika Kultura 1, 2002. 73-89. PDF.
Deriada posits in this study that like Tagalog literature, the Hiligaynon literature created a

hegemony that marginalizes other languages in the West Visayas region such as Kinaray-a

and Aklanon. He asserts that these languages together with the Visayan-laced Filipino are

good writers’ tools in engineering the West Visayan literature to create a nation out of

diversity; thus, writers must be given opportunity to explore writing on these languages.

Deriada is the West Visayas coordinator of the Committee in Literary Arts of the NCCA and

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the overall coordinator of Sentro ng Wikang Pambansa in University of the Philippines-

Visayas.

4. Deriada, Leoncio P. “Hiligaynon Literature”. National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2011.

[Online] Available [Link]

igm=1&i=137. 15 Oct 2014.

5. Hosillos, Lucila V. Hiligaynon Literature: Texts and Contexts, The Ilonggo Language and Literature

Foundation, Inc., Iloilo City, 1992

Historical in approach, Hosillos discusses Hiligaynon literature beginning from the period

of folktales, to reorientation and literary influences, rigors of occupation, period of

nationalism and social consciousness, to dual trend of romanticism and realism, until

resurgence of writing in Hiligaynon in the present period. The book also describes the

language and literacy, education and the arts, as well as the social-economic-political

organization of the region.

6. Mallaga, Jay Gallera. “Duha Ka Tingog”. UBOD New Authors Series II. Manila: AILAP, 2010. Print.
7. Perez, J.V.D. “Ang mga Anak Sang Montogawe Kag Iban Pa”. UBOD New Authors Series II.

Manila: AILAP, 2010. Print.

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