Survey in Philippine

Literature in English
Presented by: Hazel Geronimo
 AMBAHAN:
MANGYAN BAMBOO
VERSES
The ambahan is the traditional
poetry of the Hanunuo Mangyans
of Oriental Mindoro. It is usually
written on bamboo in the Surat
Mangyan, a centuries-old pre-
Spanish script.
 AMBAHAN: MANGYAN
BAMBOO VERSES
Scripted on bamboo slats (or on bamboo
containers, posts, wooden slats, or tree
trunks) the Mangyans have preserved the
ambahan for hundreds of years. Through the
effort of Antoon Postma, who preserved
over 20,000 ambahans in the last 50 years,
he published his eye-opening book on the
ambahan called Treasure of a Minority.
Characteristics of Ambahan:
• a set of poetic expressions
• with a measured rhyme of seven-syllable lines
• having rhyming end syllables
• vocalized as a chant without a determined melody or too much melodic
variation
• without the accompaniment of musical instruments
• recited for the purpose of verbalizing in a metaphorical way
• certain human situations or characteristics
• with the possible challenge of matching answer in dialogue fashion
• in the presence of an interested audience of various size.
We can describe Understanding the Ambahan:
Ambahan as:
The ambahan can be interpreted in many ways. To
• A poem
understand it, you don’t need to be an expert. It has
• A song the power to disclose more than what it says in the
• Invites dialogue context when the ambahan was composed and
• Socially done sung. You don’t need to know the exact context
• Teaches wisdom when the ambahan was sung. What you need to do
• Expresses the faith and values is to use your imagination and to believe in the
ambahan’s power to reveal something about life.
Ambahan 110:
1.Halaw nilyo ma diman
2.Ud may suyong hinmuywan
3.Ud may bansay inmamban
4.Hanggan lang kang ka-amban
5.Kang balibag subungan
6.Kang sugkod namuryungan
7.No bilang darag kaywan
8.Maslayawan di kunman
English Translation:
How lonesome this life I breathe
No mommy, loving me dear
No daddy, guiding me clear
My buddy throughout my way
This old bow my shoulder bear
My cane this wooden spear
Dried twig I’m a fallen vain
Shrinking in this murky pain!
Filipino Translation:
Anong lumbay ng buhay
Walang inang kandungan
Ni ama sa tabihan
Iring kapiling lamang
Ay bawig kong bagtingan
Ay tungkod kong panibat
Dahon akong lantahan
Anaki’y sinalimpad!
Myths: Tungkung Langit &
Alunsina
• Myths are a part of every culture in the world and are used
to explain natural phenomena, where a people came from
and how their civilization developed, and why things
happen as they do.
• Myths change to reflect the values and history of the
people telling the myth.
• The story of Tunkung Langit and Alunsina is a myth from
Panay.
Tungkung Langit
A popular deity of the Suludnon people of
Panay. He is their version of the ‘creator’
who made the world out of primordial chaos.

Alunsina
A prominent goddess in the Suludnon
people’s Pantheon of Gods. Alunsina, also
called “ Laon-Sina” is considered to bethe
‘virgin goddess’ of the eastern skies and the
wife of Tungkung Langit
Tungkung Langit & Alunsina
The old Visayan folklore states that Tungkung Langit fell in love with Alunsina.
After he had courted her for many years, they married and made their home in the
highest part of heaven.

One day Tungkung Langit told his wife that he would be away for some time.
He said he must make time go on smoothly and arrange everything in the world
and did not return for a long time. Alunsina thought he was off to see a lover, so
she summoned the breeze to spy on Tungkung Langit. Tungkung Langit caught
the spying breeze and he became very angry with Alunsina. After he returned
home, he told her that it was ungodly of her to be jealous since there were no
other gods in the world except the two of them.
Tungkung Langit & Alunsina
And so in his desperation, he decided to do
something to forget his sorrow and win back his
wife’s favor. So he came down to earth and
planted trees and flowers that she may notice it,
but she still didn’t come home. Then in
desperation, he took his wife’s jewels and
scattered them in the sky. He hoped that when
Alunsina should see them she might be induced to
return home.
Tungkung Langit & Alunsina
Alunsina’s necklace became the stars, her comb the
moon, and her crown the sun. But in spite of all his
efforts, Alunsina did not return home. Until now, as the
story goes, Tungkung Langit lives alone in his palace in
the skies and sometimes, he would cry out for Alunsina
and his tears would fall down upon the earth as rain and
his loud voice, calling out for his wife, was believed to be
the thunder during storms, begging for her to come back
to their heavenly palace once more.
• Much of what we know today about ancient Visayan Beliefs is due to Spanish
documentation. Miguel de Loarca was one of the first Spanish conquistadors to
arrive in the Philippines and was the author of Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas.
This is one of the main texts used to piece together pre-Spanish Beliefs.
• The familiar Visayan Creation story with Kaptan and Maguayan was documented
by John Maurice Miller in Philippine Folklore Stories
• It wasn’t until 1955, when Filipino anthropologist F. Landa Jocano became
interested in native folklore and travelled the hinterlands of his home island of
Panay (collecting folk songs, stories, and riddles) that we learned of the creation
story involving Tungkung Langit and Alunsina.
Thank You for
Listening!