The ambahan is a traditional poetic type of the Hanunoo Mangyans.

An ethnic-phonetic
clan of the Mangyans, alluding to the Indigenous people groups (IPs) who live on the
Mindoro Island, Philippines. Pre-arranged on bamboo braces (or on bamboo
compartments, posts, wooden supports, or tree trunks) in the Surat-Mangyan, the
Mangyans have protected the ambahan for many years. Through the work of Antoon
Postma, who protected north of 20,000 ambahans over the most recent 50 years, he
distributed his educational book on the ambahan called Treasure of a Minority.

Ambahan can be defined as

- a set of poetic expressions
- Each line contains a rhyme of 7 syllables
- having rhyming end syllables
- expressed as a serenade without a decided tune or a lot of melodic variety
- without backup instruments
- presented to express in a figurative manner
- certain human circumstances or attributes
- with the possible challenge of matching responses in exchange design.
- within the sight of an intrigued crowd of different sizes.