CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

LITERARY PIECE: Puto-Bumbong, Bibingka, Salabat, atbp: The Filipino Christmas Table
By: Doreen Fernandez
https://walking-writer.blogspot.com/2011/12/essay-puto-bumbong-bibingka-salabat.html?m=1

Activity: Blind Taste Test

Inspired by the story entitled, Puto-Bumbong, Bibingka, Salamat, atbp, the activity that will be
held is going to be a blind taste test. The food that will be given are taken from the literary text, and the
players will be blindfolded and they must guess the name of the given food. The class will be divided into
half; each group should assign three players to play the blind taste test. There will be three rounds — a
different food for each — and whoever guesses the name of the food first, wins a point. The group with
the most points will then receive a prize.

Discussion:

a. Background
- The political scenes greatly influenced the content and genre of the literary works during the
Contemporary Period for it depicted the author’s reaction to their encounters
- Filipino and English were the languages used by the authors
- Amado V. Hernandez, the National Artist for Literature, focused his works on exposing the
realities, through the perspective of the proletariat (workers), during the Japanese occupation
- The literary field was prioritized as seen in various schools with brilliant teachers who honed
majority of the influential poets during that time
- Due to the rising power of the literary field to influence the minds of the Filipinos, the dictators
shut down several publications. However, the writers were indeed brave. They continued
expressing their voice of dissatisfaction through pamphlets and anthologies. Some examples of
which are the “Kamao, Panitikan ng Protesta”, “Versus”, and “STR”.
- Some big names during the Contemporary Period are J. Neil Garcia, Danton Remoto, Marne
Kilates, Juaniyo Arcellana, Grace Monte de Ramos, and many more
- Some poets who raised their voices through their works were Bienvenido Lumbera, Jose
Lacaba, Emmanuel Lacaba, Mila Aguilar, among others
- The social theme of the literary texts heightened again in the 1970s due to the happenings
during the Martial Law
- After the dictatorship, short stories and novels written in English continued to flourish.
➔ Some of the successful short story anthologies included “The Old Timer and Other
Stories” & “Sarcophagus and Other Stories” by Jose Y. Dalisay Jr., “Men of the East and
Other Stories” by Charlson Ong, and “Peripheral Vision” by Eric Gamalinda.
➔ While some of the all-time greats in the novel genre included “The Praying Man” by
NVM Gonzalez, “Great Philippine Jungle Energy Cafe” by Alfred Yuson, “Planet
Waves” by Eric Gamalinda, among others.
- Some significant essayists have made a name for themselves as writers and editors of
newspapers among these are Sylvia Mayuga, Juan Gatbonton, Napoleon G. Rama, Nestor Mata,
among others
 - As time passed by, the Palanca Awards have continued to bring the best of the country’s finest
writers and in 1981 another award giving body has been established -- the Manila Critics Circle
- In the present time, the Philippines’ literary texts are highly dynamic and colorfully diverse as it
reflects the abundance of local cultures across the archipelago

b. Summary of Literary Piece

- In “Puto-Bumbong, Bibingka, Salabat, atbp.” by Doreen Fernanez, she reminisces about the
most nostalgic parts of her childhood experiences of Christmas in the Philippines and discusses
that of other Filipinos’ experiences as well. Tackling Filipino traditions, foods, and feasts of
Christmas in the Philippines.
- Doreen mentions, how growing up, they would always be eager for the “misa de gallo” or
“simbang gabi” to be over as she and other kids would look forward to indulging in the prepared
food at home or food sold at the makeshift stalls in the streets. She recalls how the promising
scent of piping hot puto-bumbong
-For others such as Cebuano, Lina Espina Moor would anticipate homemade potomaya, suman
bodbod, and bibingka serving as her and her family’s predawn breakfast or “painit” (which
literally warms one up)
-While for Vigan born and bred Sanirose Singson Orbeta, the highlight of Christmas would be
media noches specifically the tinubong in bamboo tubes and left to cook on coals
- The piece also states plenty of other food mostly made up of “malagkit rice”, being as we
Filipinos are dependent on rice as staple and base and “year-round ‘pampabigat sa tiyan’ “.
-Such food coming in different forms but commonly as rice-based desserts such as puto
bumbong, bibingka, suman, and kutchinta which are classic to all Filipinos
-Besides these common desserts, are those that are specific to certain areas/cities; such as the
putong lusong and panara for Pampanga; potomaya, suman bodbod, biko, and bibingka for Cebu;
and tupig, patupat/tinapet for Laoag.
-Each having unique processes and ingredients involved in cooking it as well as “its own names
& Christmas memories”; majority of these desserts are topped with grated coconut meat and
some type of sweetener such as latik or sugar. And customarily would come with a free cup of
hot tea or salabat, ambrosia on a cold morning.
-The text highlights as well, the influences of historical colonizers on the culture of the
Philippines up to this day symbolically through Christmas food; specifically of Chinese, Spanish,
and American influences
-Examples are the Spanish cocido, galantina, and relleno which is special for Enriqueta Guerrero
clan as well as the imported salted Chinese, walnuts, pecans, mandarin oranges, and even
towering castillo (vertible monuments of candy) for others
-While some families can afford these imported delicacies, other families only have fish as their
daily sustenance and can only afford to buy chicken or pork adobo on special occasions such as
Christmas which is the case for an informant from a poor Sorsgon barrio.
- And so the literary piece manifests the importance of Christmas through grand and sumptuous
food that even middle income families get to serve their best recipes fit for a special day as
Christmas. While also shedding light on the disparity and diversity in the types of Christmas food
of Filipino families. And despite how much these countries have changed/influenced our
Christmas food & traditions, basic to it are the puto bumbong, bibingka, and salabat in church
 courtyards, the suman and kutsinta at family reunions, the taste of rice and home, of which our
Christmas memories are made.

Insights/Issues:
1. Diversity
We, Filipinos love to celebrate Christmas and we as a whole have similar reasons why we
commemorate it, yet, things may appear to vary in terms of our traditions, beliefs and delicacies.
First example is Simbang Gabi which would not be complete without eating puto bumbong and
bibingka with a cup of salabat or ambrosia after they hear the mass. While in Pampanga, they
celebrate Christmas week with their delicacies such as putong sulot and putong lusong. Cebuano
people would have their predawn breakfast painit, people in Vigan would celebrate Christmas
with their tinubong and Ilocos Norte with their traditional delicacy which is the tupig. These
justify that Filipinos love to celebrate the festivities in variations. Even though we have different
culture and beliefs, we still respect each other, and there is no time and place for discrimination.

2. Hybridity
Although we like to celebrate Christmas with our original and native delicacies, other
dishes from the Chinese, Spanish and American influences have become traditional for other
families. For the Guerrero clan, they will not celebrate Christmas without their favorite cocido
that they have adapted from Spanish dishes. Also, most Filipinos cannot think Christmas without
remembering red slices of ham, queso de bola, and ensaimadas in their table that was obviously
another tradition inherited from Spain. It was also evident that there were imported delicacies
around the groceries that used to appear at Christmas time, such as Mandarin oranges, fragrant
apples, and Brazils nuts. The Filipino Christmas has adapted much from the foreign cultures that
history presented in our lives, multiple international flavors and features are shown to be
combined into the food of Filipinos of different cultures across the country. These are proof that
the country is a hybrid of many adapted cultures that is particularly still evident until today.

3. Colonial Experience and Post-colonial Response

Over the last few centuries, we could vividly remember how three different nations went
to our country and invaded it. These three countries are Spain, America, and Japan. The Spanish
ruling lasted for 333 years which greatly affected and drastically changed the way of living
,values, and the culture of the Filipino people. Because of this, our traditional meals as Filipino
s have been influenced by our colonisers; the impact of their influence on local cuisine is
very much evident during religious feasts, especially at Christmas which can be seen up until
now. Roasted whole pigs, the rich meat stews and dairy-based sweets that the Spaniards loved
were considered luxuries to the locals. Consequently, in the Filipino home, these dishes were
reserved only for special days like fiestas and Christmas. Most of these special occasion dishes
trace their roots to the Spanish colonial days. There are a lot of dishes in the Philippines that lends
different experiences to your palette. Foreign countries have influenced a lot of these dishes. This
is due to the fact that traders and colonizers have visited the Philippines for centuries. The
American and Spanish colonizers, and the Chinese and other Southeast Asian traders influenced
and brought about a kaleidoscope in the Filipino way of cooking.
Deepening:
 The contemporary movement towards the use of native languages in Filipino literature
was slow to begin due to the oppressive Martial Law dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. The Martial Law
repressed human rights, including freedom of the press. Writers used symbolism to deliver their message
to the public despite the heavy censorship. Following the end of the dictatorship, the Philippines made an
effort to resurface the native language literary history, and the Philippine Commission on Higher
Education made it obligatory to teach Philippine literature to students. From the revolts during the
Spanish colonization to the Contemporary period, Filipinos have always had great love for liberty and
peace so we used all actions whether in diplomacy or in arms to achieve these. We cannot put for granted
these oppressors and corrupt government officials, as Filipinos we want reforms in government and as a
country aiming for prosperity and peace.
Diversity refers to variations in human traits, heritage and culture. In the literary piece we
can see that in different provinces there are different traditions that is being practiced, each province has
their own delicacies. As for Hybridity it can be seen in the literature that our some of our traditions and
delicacies from different countries, also other provinces have other practices and traditions that they
follow which other provinces do not follow. We can see that each province is different from one another.
Synthesis:

QUIZ
I. True or False (10 items)
1. Some big names during the Contemporary Period are J. Neil Garcia, Danton Remoto, Marne
Kilates, Juaniyo Arcellana and Grace Monte de Ramos.
True
2. The political scenes did NOT affect the content and genre of the literary works during the
Contemporary Period.
False
3. The Literary field was successful in influencing the minds of the Filipinos that is why several
publications were closed by the dictators.
True
4. In the literary piece, the writer reminisces about the most nostalgic parts of her 7th birthday in
the Philippines.
False
5. In the literary piece, the writer talked about the influences of historical colonizers on the culture
of the Philippines, specifically Chinese, Spanish, and American influences.
True
6. Governance was mentioned as an issue during this period.
False
7. In the year 2000, another award giving body has been established -- the Manila Square
False
8. In the present time, the Philippines’ literary texts are NOT highly dynamic and colorfully
diverse
False
9. In the literary text, the writer is eager for the “misa de gallo” or “simbang gabi” to be over as
she looks forward to indulging in the food sold at the makeshift stalls in the streets.
True
 10. The literary text in the Contemporary Period is titled “Pasko sa Pilipinas”.
False

II. Identification (5 items)

1. Who is the National Artist for Literature who focused his works on exposing the
realities through the eyes of the workers?
Amado V. Hernandez
2-4. Write 2 delicacies that was mentioned in the literary text?

5. Who are classified as the proletariats?

Workers