SHS

IMUS UNIDA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Quality. Christian. Education.

21st Century Literature from

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the Philippines and the World
Quarter 1 Module 1: Lesson 1
Pre-Colonial to Contemporary Philippine Literature

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 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
(Quarter 1 Module 1: Lesson 1)

MELC 1: Writing a close analysis and critical interpretation of literary texts and doing an
adaptation of these require from the learner the ability to identify:
a.) the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary history from
pre-colonial to the contemporary
b.) Representative texts and authors from each region (e.g. engage in oral history
research with focus on key personalities for the students’ region/province/town)
Specific Objectives:
1) Identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary
history from pre-colonial to the contemporary
2) take to heart these aspects and develop a genuine love for Philippine
literature

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of
the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency
or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work
for profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the
payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names,
trademarks, etc.) included in this book are owned by their respective copyright
holders. Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these
materials from their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not
represent nor claim ownership over them.

I. Introduction

Henry James considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English
language, once said that “it takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.” Indeed,
literature and history are inarguably intertwined, for literature is not only a piece of writing that
contains an author’s thoughts and emotions about a certain idea. It may also be a writer’s
reaction and opinion about a particular societal event, a citizen’s feelings about his fellowmen
and leaders, or a country’s collective hopes and dreams for its citizens.
As a twenty first century learner, you should be able to familiarize yourself with the history of
Philippine literature and identify a literary work’s geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimension.

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You must understand, too, our respected Filipino writers’ works to be able to appreciate our
literary history as Filipinos. It is essential that we make this understanding deeper so that we
shall be able to express our concern for these literary works and give value to our rich literary
heritage.
This module provides meaningful activities and discussions for you to be able to:

• identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary history
from pre-colonial to the contemporary; and
• take to heart these aspects and develop a genuine love for Philippine literature.

II. Pre-Test

Activity 1: Matching Literary Works and Literary Periods

Read the items under column A and column B. Then match them by writing the letters of
your answers in a separate sheet of paper. One literary period may match more than one
literary work.

Column A Column B
_____ 1. Doctrina Christiana A. Pre-Colonial (B.C. to 1564)
B. Spanish Colonial (1565 to
_____ 2. I Saw the Fall of the Philippines
1898)
_____ 3. Biag-Ni-Lam-Ang C. Japanese Occupation (1941 to
1945)
_____ 4. Dead Stars D. Contemporary (1970 to
_____ 5. Kundiman Present)
E. Nationalistic Period (1864 to
_____ 6. Pres. Aquino’s Speech Before the U.S. 1896
Congress
_____ 7. Pasyon
_____ 8. Myths
_____ 9. Footnote to Youth
_____ 10. Korido

Was it easy for you to match the given literary works with the periods they were written?
Why? Why not? Do you think that sometimes, the title of a literary piece alone can give us a
clue to the period that it was written? Explain.

III. Lesson Proper

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 Try to recall the literary works you had discussed in junior high school. Can you remember
them and be able to tell their linguistic and geographic origins? Let us see how you will be able
to recall these details by answering the activity below.
Activity 2: Matching Literary Works and Places

Directions: Look at the Philippine map. Copy it on your notebook and write down the
given titles of literary works on the appropriate location on the map to indicate their geographic
origin.

Literary Works
1. Alim 6. Atin Cu Pung Singsing
2. Tigsik 7. The Dung-aw
3. Pamulinawen 8. Ibalon
4. Dandansoy 9. Mariang Makiling

5. Sarong Banggi 10. Bidasari

THE PHILIPPINE MAP

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 Were you able to correctly match the literary works with their source: respectivegoogle.com
places of origin? Can you tell the linguistic and geographic origin of some literary works by just
reading through their titles? Why is it important that we should also know the geographic origin
of a literary piece?
REMEMBER:

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 Geographic origin refers to the place where a piece of literature came from. For example,
the classic song Matud Nila came from the Visayas region.

The linguistic origin of a piece of literature is somewhat related to its geographic origin. For
example, if a poem is written using the Visayan dialect, most probably, it originated from the
Visayas region. Note though that a particular region may have more than one dialect. Take as
an example the Bikol dialect which may be classified into Bikol Sorsogon, Bikol Albay, Bikol
Camarines Sur, and other dialects in the Bicol Region.

Related to the geographic and linguistic origins of a piece of literature is its ethnic origin
which refers to the racial or cultural beginning. An Ilocano poem that makes use of the Ilocano
dialect may most probably trace its origin to the Ilocano race and discusses things related to
the Ilocano culture. We may, however, have pieces of literature written in Ilocano which discuss
things that are not Ilocano in ethnicity.

Building Your Vocabulary

Activity 3: What is the synonym?

Give a synonym for the underlined word in each sentence by reading through the given
context clues and choosing from the given words inside the parentheses. Write your answers in
a separate sheet of paper
__________ 1. The president’s action of stealing money from the people is a brazen and bold
act coming from a government leader given trust by his people.(discreet, friend, shameless)
__________ 2. His insatiable greed for money and power could not be controlled and satisfied;
it lasted for almost twenty years. (big, limitless, limited)
__________ 3. The soldiers were charged with subversion for going against the government
that they saw as corrupt. (compliance, murder, rebellion)
__________ 4. Ninoy Aquino’s decision to come home was irrevocable. Not even his wife and
children could convince him to stay. (changeable, irreversible, temporary)
__________ 5. His critics knew that Pres. Marcos would again stage a rigged election, and he
would again come out as winner. (genuine, engineered, organized)
__________ 6. He was known for his fraudulent ways – cheating during elections, stashing
money in backs, and buying properties abroad to enrich himself while in office (dishonest,
genuine, extravagant).
__________ 7. Cory Aquino was known for her implicit faith in democracy, being the widow of
Ninoy who fought Pres. Marcos’ dictatorship. (implied, spoken, explicit) _

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_________ 8. The Communists’ insurgency against the government was said to be an uprising
to fight the president’s dictatorial ways. (mutiny, obedience, friendship)
__________ 9. During the EDSA Revolution, the people showed up at the rally in massive
strength, showing the world that they were capable of gathering a solid and big number. (tiny,
slight, enormous)
__________ 10. Thousands died during the stringent and rigid days of Martial Law. (lax, poor,
harsh)

Study These

Speeches are forms of expressing great ideas. They are excellent ways to communicate
the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of a literary work.
Below is a speech of Her Excellency Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, President of the
Philippines, delivered during the Joint Session of the United States Congress in Washington,
D.C. on September 18, 1986.

(As a background, you may have already known by this time that Pres. Cory Aquino was the
widow of opposition leader Ninoy Aquino who was one of the known critics of Pres. Marcos’
oppressive government that ruled for 20 years. When Ninoy came back to Manila from his US
exile, he was brutally gunned down at the then Manila International Airport just after alighting
from the plane. After his death, things were never the same anymore. Filipinos took to the
streets to express their anger over
Ninoy’s death; all these ended with the Marcoses’ exile to the US and Cory Aquino’s election as
the country’s president through a peaceful revolution. With Cory’s assumption into office,
democracy was brought back to the Filipino people.)

Activity 4: Reading a Speech

Three years ago, I left America in grief to bury my husband, Ninoy Aquino. I thought I had left
it also to lay to rest his restless dream of Philippine freedom. Today, I have returned as the
president of a free people.

In burying Ninoy, a whole nation honored him. By that brave and selfless act of giving honor,
a nation in shame recovered its own. A country that had lost faith in its future found it in a
faithless and brazen act of murder. So, in giving, we receive, in losing we find, and out of defeat,
we snatched our victory.

For the nation, Ninoy became the pleasing sacrifice that answered their prayers for freedom.
For myself and our children, Ninoy was a loving husband and father. His loss, three times in our
lives, was always a deep and painful one.

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 Fourteen years ago, this month was the first time we lost him. A president-turned dictator
and traitor to his oath, suspended the Constitution and shut down the Congress that was much
like this one before which I am honored to speak. He detained my husband along with
thousands of others – senators, publishers, and anyone who had spoken up for the democracy
as its end drew near. But for Ninoy, a long and cruel ordeal was reserved. The dictator already
knew that Ninoy was not a body merely to be imprisoned but a spirit he must break. For even
as the dictatorship demolished one by one the institutions of democracy – the press, the
Congress, the independence of the judiciary, the protection of the Bill of Rights – Ninoy kept
their spirit alive in himself.

The government sought to break him by indignities and terror. They locked him up in a tiny,
nearly airless cell in a military camp in the north. They stripped him naked and held the threat of
sudden midnight execution over his head. Ninoy held up manfully–all of it. I barely did as well.
For 43 days, the authorities would not tell me what had happened to him. This was the first time
my children and I felt we had lost him.

When that didn’t work, they put him on trial for subversion, murder, and a host of other
crimes before a military commission. Ninoy challenged its authority and went on a fast. If he
survived it, then, he felt, God intended him for another fate. We had lost him again. For nothing
would hold him back from his determination to see his fast through to the end. He stopped only
when it dawned on him that the government would keep his body alive after the fast had
destroyed his brain. And so, with barely any life in his body, he called off the fast on the fortieth
day. God meant him for other things, he felt. He did not know that an early death would still be
his fate, that only the timing was wrong.

The task had fallen on my shoulders to continue offering the democratic alternative to our
people.

Archibald Macleish had said that democracy must be defended by arms when it is attacked
by arms and by truth when it is attacked by lies. He failed to say how it shall be won.

I held fast to Ninoy’s conviction that it must be by the ways of democracy. I held out for
participation in the 1984 election the dictatorship called, even if I knew it would be rigged. I was
warned by the lawyers of the opposition that I ran the grave risk of legitimizing the foregone
results of elections that were clearly going to be fraudulent. But I was not fighting for lawyers
but for the people in whose intelligence I had implicit faith. By the exercise of democracy, even
in a dictatorship, they would be prepared for democracy when it came. And then, also, it was
the only way I knew by which we could measure our power even in the terms dictated by the
dictatorship.

The people vindicated me in an election shamefully marked by government thuggery and

fraud. The opposition swept the elections, garnering a clear majority of the votes, even if they
ended up, thanks to a corrupt Commission on Elections, with barely a third of the seats in
parliament. Now, I knew our power.

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 Last year, in an excess of arrogance, the dictatorship called for its doom in a snap election.
The people obliged. With over a million signatures, they drafted me to challenge the
dictatorship. And I obliged them. The rest is the history that dramatically unfolded on your
television screen and across the front pages of your newspapers.

You saw a nation, armed with courage and integrity, stand fast by democracy against
threats and corruption. You saw women poll watchers break out in tears as armed goons
crashed the polling places to steal the ballots but, just the same, they tied themselves to the
ballot boxes. You saw a people so committed to the ways of democracy that they were
prepared to give their lives for its pale imitation. At the end of the day, before another wave of
fraud could distort the results, I announced the people’s victory.

The distinguished co-chairman of the United States observer team in his report to your
President described that victory:

“I was witness to an extraordinary manifestation of democracy on the part of the

Filipino people. The ultimate result was the election of Mrs. Corazon C. Aquino as
President and Mr. Salvador Laurel as Vice-President of the Philippines.”

Many of you here today played a part in changing the policy of your country towards us.
We, Filipinos, thank each of you for what you did: for, balancing America’s strategic interest
against human concerns, illuminates the American vision of the world.

When a subservient parliament announced my opponent’s victory, the people turned out in
the streets and proclaimed me President. And true to their word, when a handful of military
leaders declared themselves against the dictatorship, the people rallied to their protection.
Surely, the people take care of their own. It is on that faith and the obligation it entails, that I
assumed the presidency.

As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it. That is my contract with my people and my
commitment to God. He had willed that the blood drawn with the lash shall not, in my country,
be paid by blood drawn by the sword but by the tearful joy of reconciliation.

We have swept away absolute power by a limited revolution that respected the life and
freedom of every Filipino. Now, we are restoring full constitutional government. Again, as we
restored democracy by the ways of democracy, so are we completing the constitutional
structures of our new democracy under a constitution that already gives full respect to the Bill of
Rights. A jealously independent Constitutional Commission is completing its draft which will be
submitted later this year to a popular referendum. When it is approved, there will be
congressional elections. So within about a year from a peaceful but national upheaval that
overturned a dictatorship, we shall have returned to full constitutional government. Given the
polarization and breakdown we inherited, this is no small achievement.

My predecessor set aside democracy to save it from a communist insurgency that

numbered less than 500. Unhampered by respect for human rights, he went at it hammer and
tongs. By the time he fled, that insurgency had grown to more than 16,000. I think there is a
lesson here to be learned about trying to stifle a thing with the means by which it grows.

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 I don’t think anybody, in or outside our country, concerned for a democratic and open
Philippines, doubts what must be done. Through political initiatives and local reintegration
programs, we must seek to bring the insurgents down from the hills and, by economic progress
and justice, show them that for which the best intentioned among them fight.

As President, I will not betray the cause of peace by which I came to power. Yet equally,
and again no friend of Filipino democracy will challenge this, I will not stand by and allow an
insurgent leadership to spurn our offer of peace and kill our young soldiers and threaten our
new freedom.

Yet, I must explore the path of peace to the utmost for at its end, whatever disappointment I
meet there, is the moral basis for laying down the olive branch of peace and taking up the
sword of war. Still, should it come to that, I will not waver from the course laid down by your
great liberator: “With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the rights as God
gives us to see the rights, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to
care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for his orphans, to do all
which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Like Lincoln, I understand that force may be necessary before mercy. Like Lincoln, I don’t
relish it. Yet, I will do whatever it takes to defend the integrity and freedom of my country.

Finally, may I turn to that other slavery: our $26 billion foreign debt. I have said that we shall
honor it. Yet must the means by which we shall be able to do so be kept from us? Many
conditions imposed on the previous government that stole this debt continue to be imposed on
us who never benefited from it. And no assistance or liberality commensurate with the calamity
that was visited on us has been extended. Yet ours must have been the cheapest revolution
ever. With little help from others, we Filipinos fulfilled the first and most difficult conditions of the
debt negotiation the full restoration of democracy and responsible government. Elsewhere, and
in other times of more stringent world economic conditions, Marshall plans, and their like were
felt to be necessary companions of returning democracy.

When I met with President Reagan yesterday, we began an important dialogue about
cooperation and the strengthening of the friendship between our two countries. That meeting
was both a confirmation and a new beginning and should lead to positive results in all areas of
common concern.

Today, we face the aspirations of a people who had known so much poverty and massive
unemployment for the past 14 years and yet offered their lives for the abstraction of democracy.
Wherever I went in the campaign, slum area or impoverished village, they came to me with one
cry: democracy! Not food, although they clearly needed it, but democracy. Not work, although
they surely wanted it, but democracy. Not money, for they gave what little they had to my
campaign. They didn’t expect me to work a miracle that would instantly put food into their
mouths, clothes on their back, education in their children, and work that will put dignity in their
lives. But I feel the pressing obligation to respond quickly as the leader of a people so
deserving of all these things.

We face a communist insurgency that feeds on economic deterioration, even as we carry a

great share of the free world defenses in the Pacific. These are only two of the many burdens
my people carry even as they try to build a worthy and enduring house for their new

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democracy, that may serve as well as a redoubt for freedom in Asia. Yet, no sooner is one
stone laid than two are taken away. Half our export earnings, $2 billion out of $4 billion, which
was all we could earn in the restrictive markets of the world, went to pay just the interest on a
debt whose benefit the Filipino people never received.

Still, we fought for honor, and, if only for honor, we shall pay. And yet, should we have to
wring the payments from the sweat of our men’s faces and sink all the wealth piled up by the
bondsman’s two hundred fifty years of unrequited toil?

Yet to all Americans, as the leader of a proud and free people, I address this question: has
there been a greater test of national commitment to the ideals you hold dear than that my
people have gone through? You have spent many lives and much treasure to bring freedom to
many lands that were reluctant to receive it. And here you have a people who won it by
themselves and need only the help to preserve it.

Three years ago, I said thank you, America, for the haven from oppression, and the home
you gave Ninoy, myself and our children, and for the three happiest years of our lives together.
Today, I say, join us, America, as we build a new home for democracy, another haven for the
oppressed, so it may stand as a shining testament of our two nations’ commitment to freedom.

Activity 5: Comprehension Check

1. What is the geographic origin of Pres. Aquino’s speech?

2. What is the language used in her speech? What do you think is its linguistic origin?
3. Explain the relevance of this speech to the political setting during that period.
Read up on this, or you may interview your parents or your grandparents about this
particular period of our nation’s history by asking them about what they remember.
Also, ask them about the situation when Ninoy was gunned down. How did the different
ethnic groups react to Ninoy’s murder? Was the whole Philippines affected by his death?
Write about 15 sentences for this activity.

Let us now focus on the different periods of Philippine literature and find out how our nation’s
writings developed from the pre-colonial period to the present.

Different Periods of Philippine Literature

I. PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD (BC to 1564)

A. Characteristics
1. Based on oral traditions
2. Crude on ideology and phraseology
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B. Literary Forms
Oral Literature
a. Riddles (bugtong) – battle of wits among participants

Tigmo – Cebu Paktakon – Ilonggo Patotdon – Bicol

b. Proverbs (salawikain) – wise sayings that contain a metaphor used to teach as a food for
thought etc.

Example: Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa.

c. Tanaga - a mono-riming heptasyllabic quatrain expressing insights and lessons on life, is

"more emotionally charged than the terse proverb, and thus, hasaffinities with the folk lyric."

d. Folk Songs It is a form of folk lyric which expresses the hopes and aspirations, the
people'slifestyles as well as their loves. These are often repetitive and sonorous, didactic,
and naive.
1. Hele or oyayi – lullaby
2. Ambahan (Mangyan) – 7-syllable per line poem that are about human relationships and
social entertainment
3. Kalusan (Ivatan) - work songs that depict the livelihood of the peopled.
4. Tagay (Cebuano and Waray) – drinking song.
5. Kanogan (Cebuano) – song of lamentation for the dead

Folk Tales

a. Myths – explain how the world was created, how certain animals possess certain
characteristics, why some places have waterfalls, volcanoes, mountains, flora, or fauna.

b. Legends – explain the origin of things; examples are Why the Pineapple Has Eyes and The
Legend of Maria Makiling.

c. Fables – use animal characters and allegory

d. Fantasy stories – deal with underworld characters such as “tiyanak,” “aswang,”
“kapre,” and others.

e. Epics - these are “narratives of sustained length based on oral tradition revolving around
supernatural events or heroic deeds.” (Arsenio Manuel)

Examples: Lam-ang (Ilocano), Hinilawod (Panay),Kudaman (Palawan), and

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Darangen (Maranao)

II. SPANISH COLONIZATION PERIOD (1565 – 1863)

A. Characteristics

1. It has two distinct classifications: religious and secular. It introduced Spanish as the medium
of communication.

B. Literary Forms
1. Religious Literature - Religious lyrics written by ladino poets or those versed in both Spanish
and Tagalog were included in early catechism and were used to teach Filipinos the Spanish
language.

a. Pasyon – long narrative poem about the passion and death of Christ. The most popular was
“Ang Mahalna Passion ni Jesu Cristong Panignoon Natin” by Aguino de Belen
b. Senakulo – dramatization of the pasyon; it shows the passion and death of Christ

2. Secular (non-religious) Literature

a. Awit - colorful tales of chivalry made for singing and chanting

Example: Ibong Adarna

b. Korido – metrical tale written in octosyllabicquatrains (a line of verse with eight

syllables)

Example: Florante at Laura by Francisco Baltazar

c. Prose Narratives – written to prescribe proper decorum

* Dialogo

* Ejemploii.Manual de Urbanidad

* Tratado

Examples: Modesto de Castro's "Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at

si Feliza" and J oaquin Tuason's "Ang Bagong Robinson" (The New Robinson) in
1879.

III. NATIONALISTIC / PROPAGANDA AND REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD (1864 –

1896)

A. Characteristics

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a. Planted seeds of nationalism in Filipinos
b. Language shifted from Spanish to Tagalog
c. Addressed the masses instead of the “intelligentsia”

B. Literary Forms

1. Propaganda Literature - Reformatory in objective

a. Political Essays – satires, editorials, and news articles were written to attack and expose the
evils of Spanish rule

Diariong Tagalog – founded by Marcelo del Pilar

La Solidaridad – editor-in-chief was Graciano Lopez-Jaena

b. Political Novels

Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo – Jose Rizal’s master pieces that paved the way to the
revolution

2. Revolutionary Literature – more propagandistic than literary as it is more violent in nature

and demanded complete independence for the country

a. Political Essays – helped inflame the spirit of revolution

Kalayaan – newspaper of the society, edited by Emilio Jacinto

b. Poetry

True Decalogue – Apolinario Mabini

Katapusan ng Hibik ng Pilipinas –Andres Bonifacio
Liwanag at Dilim – Emilio Jacinto

IV. AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD (1910 – 1945)

A. Period of Apprenticeship (1910-1930)

1. Filipino writers imitated English and American models.

2. Poems written were amateurish and mushy, whose phrasing and diction was awkward and
artificial.

a. Short Stories

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1. Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez

2. The Key by Paz Latorena

3. Footnote to Youth by Jose Garcia Villa

b. Novels

1. Child of Sorrow – first novel in English by Zoilo Galang

B. Period of Emergence (1920-1930)

*Highly influenced by Western literary trends like Romanticism and Realism.

a. Short Stories – most prevalent literary form

*Jose Garcia Villa – earned the international title “Poet of the Century”

V. JAPANESE OCCUPATION (1942 - 1945)

War Years (1942-1944)

1. Tagalog poets broke away from the Balagtas tradition and instead wrote in simple language
and free verse 2. Fiction prevailed over poetry

a. 25 Pinakamabuting Maikling Kathang Pilipino (1943) – compilation of the entries to the short
story contest by the military government.

b. Suyuan sa Tubigan by Macario Pineda

c. Lupang Tinubuan by Narciso Reyes

d. Uhaw ang Tigang na Lupa by Liwayway Arceo

Period of Maturity and Originality (1945-1960)

1. Bountiful harvest in poetry, fiction, drama, and essay

2. Filipino writers mastered English and familiarized themselves with diverse

techniques 3. Literary “giants” appeared A. Palanca Awards for Literature

1. Jose Garcia Villa 4. Bienvenido Santos

2. Nick Joaquin 5. Gregorio Brillantes

3. NVM Gonzales 6. Gilda Cordero Fernando

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B. National Artist Awards

1. Jose Garcia Villa 2. Nick Joaquin

VI. THE REBIRTH OF FREEDOM (1945 – 1970)

A. Characteristics

1. Americans came back to the Philippines in 1945, and there was a lot of palpable
rejoicing among Filipinos.
2. Filipinos regained their freedom on July 4, 1946.

B. State of Literature During This Period

1. “The early post-liberation period was marked by a kind of ‘struggle of mind and spirit’
posed by the sudden emancipation from the enemy and the wild desire to see print.
Filipinos had, by this time, learned to express themselves more confidently, but post-
war problems beyond language and print-like economic stability, the threat of new
ideas, and mortality had to be grappled with side by side.” (Kahayon and Zulueta)

NEWSPAPERS:

A. Free Press
B. Morning Sun of Sergio Osmeña, Sr.
C. Daily News of Manuel Roxas
D. Manila Times and Daily Mirror of Joaquin Roces
E. Evening News of Ramon Roces
F. The Philippines Herald of Andres Soriano, Sr.
G. Chronicle of the Lopezes
H. Bulletin of Menzi

WRITERS AND THEIR BOOKS:

A. The Voice of the Veteran by Amante Bigornia, Roman de la Cruz, Ramon de Jesus,
and J. F. Rodriguez
B. Twilight in Tokyo, and Passion and Death of the USAFFE by Leon Ma. Guerrero
C. For Freedom and Democracy by S. P. Lopez
D. Betrayal in the Philippines by Hernando Abaya
E. Seven Hills Away by NVM Gonzales

POETS AND THEIR POEMS

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 A. Have Come, Am Here by Jose Garcia Villa
B. Prose and Poems by Nick Joaquin
C. Who Spoke of Courage in His Sleep by NVM Gonzales
D. Speak Not, Speak Also by Conrado V. Pedroche
E. Philippine Harvest by Amador Daguio

NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH

A. Without Seeing the Dawn by Stevan Javellana

B. Pen Anthology of Short Stories (1958) by Francisco Arcellana
C. The Hand of the Enemy (1961) by Kerima Polotan
D. The Adversary (1968) and The Trail of Professor Riego (1969) by Luis V. Teodoro,
Jr.

PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN TAGALOG

A. Mga Piling Katha (1947-48) by Alejandro Abadilla

B. Sining at Pamamaraan ng Pagaara lng Panitikan (1965) by Rufino Alejandro
C. Manlilikha, Mga Piling Tula (1961-67) by Rogelio G. Mangahas
D. Manunulat: Mga Piling Akdang Pilipino (1970) by Efren Abueg
E. Mga Aklatni Rizal (Many books about Rizal were written by Filipino authors during
this period.)

2. The Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (headed by Carlos Palanca, Sr.) was
launched in 1950 and served as inspiration to Filipino writers. Till now, The Palanca
Awards are still being given although Mr. Palanca had already passed away.

VII. CONTEMPORARY/MODERN PERIOD (1970 – PRESENT)

A. Characteristics

1. The seeds of activism resulted in the declaration of Martial Law by Pres. Ferdinand
Marcos in 1972.The youth became completely rebellious during this period. This was proven
not only in the bloody demonstrations and in the sidewalk expressions, but also in literature.
Campus newspapers showed rebellious emotions. (Kahayon and Zulueta)

2. Martial Law repressed and curtailed human rights, including freedom of the press, and
Filipino writers wrote about these dark days in their writings.

3. Writers used symbolisms and allegories to drive home their message, at the face of
heavy censorship. Theater was used as a vehicle for protest, such as the PETA (Philippine

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Educational Theater Association) and UP Theater. From the eighties onwards, writers
continued to show dynamism and innovation.
4. The period of the New Society lasted from 1972-1980, and this period had writings
about the theme of development and progress of the country – the Green Revolution, family
planning, proper nutrition, environment, drug addiction, and pollution. However, all these
supposed to be ideal projects were being done with the military in the background. The military
government were supervising the newspapers, books, and other publications.

5. Though Martial Law was lifted on January 2, 1981, the oppression and suppression
being done by the Marcos government continued, and rebellion was seething among Filipinos.
History would turn a sudden twist when Ninoy Aquino, one of Pres. Marcos’ critics, was
assassinated on August 21, 1983. When this happened, the people’s emotions could not be
suppressed; they were mad, and this showed in the pieces of literature churned out during that
period.

6. Cory Aquino, Ninoy’s widow, was elected in February 1986 through a peaceful
revolution, and People Power brought feelings of euphoria among the Filipino people. All these
showed in the songs, poems, speeches, news, and even in television programs during that
time.

7. When before, the press was suppressed and censored, the restoration of democracy
during the time of Pres. Cory Aquino brought back not only press freedom, but also freedom for
the Filipino people to speak up and express themselves whenever they felt the need to, without
the fear of being jailed or killed for doing it. For that, the Filipino people, especially the Filipino
writers, owe her a lot.

Sources: https://infogram.com/different-periods-of-philippine-literature-1g0q3plyvx5n21g
Philippine Literature through the Years

Enrichment Activities

Activity 6: Identifying and Reading the Tigsik

In the previous activity, you were able to read a short story written in English by a Filipino
writer. This time, you will learn how to write the tigsik. What is a tigsik, and what is its origin?

According to Paz Santos and Marifa Prado in their book, Obras Maestras (A Manual for
Teaching Bikol Literature), “the tigsik is the Bicol toast, performed during weddings and social
events, or simply recited while drinking at the sari-sari store or declaimed at a school program.
Also, formerly called kangsinor atabayo, the tigsik may be on any of a variety of topics – love,
morality, religion, philosophical reflection, even sex. The tigsik has also been used in verbal
jousts, with one tigsik recited as a rejoinder to a preceding one. In recent years, the tigsik has

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been used by the younger generation to ‘roast’ rather than to toast, thereby probably extending
its life for at least another generation.”

The tigsik has no prescribed number of lines in a stanza, or number of stanzas as a whole.
However, the last word in each line should rhyme with the word of the next.

Below are examples of a tigsik:

TIGSIK 1

Tigsik ko ining daraga

Na an hamot garo sampaguita
Magpuon kan maheling ko siya
An isip ko dai napapauntok na

TIGSIK 2

Tigsik ko ining sarong soltero

Ipaheling kun an sinasabi totoo
Tanganing an puso ko makua mo Pitong bulod
ngona an tukadon mo.

1. Who do you think is talking in the first tigsik?

2. What is he saying about the maiden in the tigsik?
3. What is the effect of the maiden to the man talking?
4. Who is talking in the second tigsik?
5. What is her challenge to the man she’s talking about?
6. Do you think men nowadays are still being challenged and given a hard time by the women
during courtship? Explain your answer in about 5 sentences.
Activity 7: Writing the Tigsik

Write your own tigsik about a current and relevant issue using your native tongue. Use a
maximum of 3 stanzas with 4 lines each.

Then, practice delivering your tigsik by recording it using the video in your mobile phone.
Listen to your delivery well, so that you will know what to improve on in your tigsik delivery.

Afterwards, let your family members listen to your tigsik presentation and ask them to grade
your performance. They may use the rubrics below in grading you.

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 T
ot
al

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 Total Points

Rubric source: slideshare.net

After that, challenge any of your family members to recite their tigsik as a response to your
tigsik. You may do this as a round tigsikan activity, until all members of the family have
delivered their lines. Record again all your tigsik lines using the video of your mobile phone.

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 Generalization

Activity 8: What I Remember

1. Can you recall two literary works that come from the Tagalog region? List them down below.

A. ________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________

2. List down below two literary works that trace their origin from Bicol.

A. ________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________

Application

What do you know about myths, legends, and folk tales? To guide you before reading this
next piece of literature, read and be enlightened about what myths, legends, and folk tales are.

Myths and legends are folktales that give the origin of things. Myths give the origin of bigger
things such as the gods, the world, and people, and as such are considered as sacred
literature. Legends explain the origin of some specific thing in nature such as mountains, fruits,
and animals. Folktales describe the adventures of a folk hero.

Source: Obras Maestras by Santos and Borja-Prado

Activity 9: Read and Respond

Read first the literature given below. After reading, be able to tell its geographic origin.

The Tacay Flower

Long long ago, where Lake Bato now sits, was a mountain where the beautiful nymph Tacay
reigned. The nymph who always wore a rare purple orchid in her long black hair appeared only
on a huge flat white rock during typhoons when thunder rolled, and lightning struck. Everyone
was afraid of this rock because anyone on it, person or animal, was turned into stone when
lightning struck. Tacay had been chosen by Onos, the Lord of Floodwaters and Thunderstorms,
as guardian of this mountain. She alone remained safe from being turned into stone by
lightning when she stood on the rock during lightning storms. One day, a young and handsome

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hunter named Kanawayfrom the nearby village of Kaliligno, fell off the cliff. Tacay cared for
Kanaway for weeks until he healed well. They fell in love, and when he proposed to her, she
asked him to wait for nine days. Kanaway built a house for them, and on the ninth day, waited
for her expectantly. At sunset, he and everyone else in the village saw Tacay coming down the
mountain path, fresh forest flower in her hair. They were all astounded by her loveliness.
Suddenly, the thunder rolled, the lightning struck, and heavy rain poured from the clouds. As
Kanaway and Tacay rushed to hold each other, lightning struck again and again to separate
them. Both ran back together toward the white rock, but Tacay stood resolutely one step away
from the rock, instead reaching to touch Kanaway. To save Tacay, Kanaway stepped forward
to embrace her by pushing themselves on to the white stone. Kanaway was immediately turned
to stone in Tacay’s arms. As the nymph wept, the storm intensified, and the waters rose
flooding the village and killing almost everyone. When the storm subsided, in the place of
Tacay’s mountain forest was a lake with a single purple flower, the first water hyacinth,
stretching its petals up to the sky. (Espinas 1983)

1. Based on the definitions of myths, legends, and folktales given earlier, what kind of story is
The Tacay Flower?
2. What is its geographic origin? Where is its setting?
3. What do you think is the worldview that The Tacay Flower tells us about heroes and
mortals? (A worldview is a personal philosophy of life, a way of looking at things and the
world as a whole.)

Activity 10:

Read Vice President Leni Robredo’s graduation message to Class of 2020 and identify its
geographic and linguistic dimension.

Dearest Class of 2020,

Congratulations to you and to your proud parents for making it this far!

I know this is not how you imagined your graduation to be—no applause, no IGworthy photos,
no parties, no big speeches. Many of you must feel robbed as we are all stuck in our homes,
forced to deal with all that is happening from a distance.

The pandemic has brought our lives to a halt like nothing else could, compelling us to imagine
our world anew. How do we navigate through the uncertainties posed by our time?

The simple truth is that there are no ready-made answers for this question. None of us have
gone through this before. No one is really 100-percent ready for what comes next.

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What I can say, however, is that I myself have gone through periods of uncertainty. And my
experiences have taught me to be at peace with the act of stepping into the unknown, by
anchoring myself on two things: looking outward and moving forward.

Look beyond ourselves

In times of crisis, many will feel the urge to think only of oneself, to flounder, and to retreat in
our small corners of comfort. When the fateful plane crash took the life of my husband, Jesse, it
turned my whole world and those of my children upside down. But the way the nation grieved
with us and the impact of the legacy Jesse left behind plucked me out of the shadows. I
realized that there are things greater than ourselves and that there are causes that will always
be worth fighting for, no matter the risk.

I learned that shrinking back into our bubbles, allowing fear and grief to paralyze us, only leads
to deeper despair. We need to look beyond ourselves and expand our circles of empathy—
whom we will help, whom we will serve, whom we will live for. We need to ask the hard,
important questions: How can I make the world a better place for others? How do I make sure
that I will leave this world better than when I found it? Where am I most needed now?

Many of you have big dreams. Some of you want to be doctors and scientists, lawyers and
accountants, engineers and architects, teachers and journalists, among many others. There is
no reason to put your dreams on hold. In fact, you are called to pursue these dreams with even
deeper resolve—to dream not only for yourselves and for your families, but for the last, the
least and the lost.

Move forward

Amid difficulty, what keeps me going is seeing that each small task, each effort to help
someone goes a long way. That every food pack eases a bit of the burden on families who
have lost their incomes. That every protective equipment set makes a medical front-liner feel
safer. That every palengke delivery made means that a market vendor and tricycle driver earn
enough to put food on the table.

This is how we can move forward.

Forward, by regaining anchorage on small, real things with real outcomes, taking one step after
another as we strive to reach our goals. Forward, knowing that doing something for someone
else can be a spiritual salve for the crisis that we face. Forward, knowing that we are called to
do everything we can for the good of others, especially those that need help the most.

Looking outward and moving forward—this is how we can bravely face this new world. With
passion and purpose. With grit and resolve. With compassion and with courage.

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Dear graduates, no matter what the future holds, stay on the side of courage and be hopeful for
better days. When the path seems too difficult, remember that you were made for these times
—to pave a new way forward for our nation, and for the rest of humanity.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Answer each given question below using about 3

sentences.

1. What did you feel after reading this speech? Explain why you think you felt that way.
2. Give the general setting and situation in our country when Vice Pres. Robredo delivered
this speech in July 2020.
3. What is the main idea of the message that she is giving to the graduates of 2020 in this
speech?
4. Why do you think VP Robredo chose those ideas in her message, and how is it related
to the current situation in our country?
5. Notice the language used in this speech and its message. Do you think it fits the
audience to whom the speech is addressed? Why? Why not?

IV. Assessment

Activity 11: Matching Literary Works and Literary Periods

Read the items under column A and column B. Then match them by writing the letters of your
answers in a separate sheet of paper. One literary period may have more than one literary
work.

_____ 1. Ibong Adarna A. Pre-colonial (BC to 1564)

_____ 2. Diariong Tagalog B. Spanish Colonial (1565 to 1898)
_____ 3. Biag-Ni-Lam-Ang C. Japanese Occupation (1941 to 1945)
_____ 4. La Solidaridad D. Contemporary (1970 to present)
_____ 5. Kundiman E. American Colonial Period (1898 to 1941)
_____ 6. Oyayi F. Nationalistic Period (1864 – 1896)
_____ 7. Senakulo
_____ 8. Haiku
_____ 9. Footnote to Youth
_____ 10. Did Duterte Just Blink?

V. Enrichment/ Additional Task

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Activity 12:

Choose a short st ory written by a Filipino author sometime in 2015 – 2020. Identify
and discuss its geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimension. Discuss, too, what the
story reflects about society. Write about 10 to 15 sentences for this.
Answer Key

Activity 1: Matching Literary Works and Literary Periods

1. B
2. C
3. A
4. E
5. A
6. D
7. B
8. A
9. B
10. D

Activity 2: Matching Literary Works and Places

1. Ifugao
2. Bicol region
3. Ilocos
4. Visayas
5. Bicol region
6. Pampanga
7. Benguet
8. Bicol region
9. Laguna
10. Mindanao

Activity 3: Building Your Vocabulary

1. shameless
2. insatiable
3. rebellion
4. irreversible
5. engineered

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 6. dishonest
7. implied
8. mutiny
9. enormous
10. harsh
Activity 9

1. The Tacay Flower is a legend.

2. Its geographic origin is Camarines Sur, and the setting is in Lake Bato.

Activity 11: Matching Literary Works and Literary Periods

1. B
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. A
7. B
8. C
9. E
10. D

REFERENCES:

Borja-Prado, Marifa and Santos, Paz Verdades M. Obras Maestras: A Manual for
Teaching Literature. Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2014.

Cirujales, Aida B. Ang Tigsik sa Modernong Panahon. Bicol Standa rd. March 21,
2018.

Kahayon, Alicia H. and Zulueta, Celia A. Philippine Literature through the

Years.Capitol Publishing House, Inc., 2000.

Robredo, Ma. Leonor G. Graduation Speech for Class 2020. lifestyle.inquirer.net.

July 4, 2020.

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