IBALON: Land of Ancient Bicolandia

by

Dominador N. Marcaida, Jr.

The Bicol region, located south of Luzon,

consists of Camarines and Albay provinces,

with Masbate, Ticao, Burias, Catanduanes,

is formerly called the land of ibalon.

Two large mountain ranges surrounds this,

with Mount Bulusan at one end,

on the other end the imposing Isarog,

and at the last part the volcano of Labo.

Today it is called the “Bicol Region”

due to the large river of this name,

flowing from the mountains of Quipia,

up to the spacious bay of Cabusao.

The numerous race that occupies it

is the most gentle on Philippine soil,

tempered of coppery color, and the

softness and docility of its character.

Peopled by local part of a pure race,

with few Asian-Caucasian mixtures.

Bikol language is with fading sound

and sweetness of an accentuation.

This beautiful and unforgiving land,

With varied plants and peacefulness,

constantly cooled by the gentle breeze

of the Pacific sea which surrounds it.

On wide and spacious plains,

Grows the palay and coconut;

always fully loaded with fruits,

that yield fat and easy profits.

With its beautiful and smiling valleys

watered by infinity of streams,

with its lofty mountains

remnants of very distant upheavals.

With its pleasant slopes,

always fresh and lush,

rich in trees and shrubs,

and the precious abaca.

The frightful Mount Mayon,

crowned with an ardent knight,

and with such a high cusp,

that touches the clear blue sky.

With thousand wonders of Nature,

very worthy of being counted,

one sees this region in Luzon,

as great, charming and smart. 

By the nebulous and remote Isarog,

to the arrogant figure of Mayon;

from the strange cave of Hantic,

to the shady promontory of Colasi.

The rich mines of Paracale;

the mounts of iron stone of Mabulao;

the rich veins of quicksilver and platinum

that extend from Labo to Ragay.

The inexhaustible coal mines

of Sugod, Cataingan, Siruma and Patan;

the marbles of Libon and Caramoan;

all invites in an strange way.

And let us speak of Tiwi hot springs;

of those admirable, bubbling boilers,

come out strong from the deep bowels,

from the vents of radiant Mayon.

And add to this the capricious,

charming nature of the landscape,

the most beautiful valley,

shaded by dear mount Mainit.

From whose somber cusp is seen

where the leafy abaca plant grows

with the aromatic champaca,

the ilang-ilang and the lithe cane.

The volcanic upheavals,

the outpouring rains, typhoons,

and scorching tropical sun,

all describe its climate.

From the poor Dumagat fishermen,

On the lonely beaches of Bahi,

To the Agta on the slopes of Mount Asog,

as well as the lawless Cimarron.

These three very different races,

with diverse characters, dialects,

and customs are the first dwellers

of this small region of Bicol.

The Agta race, of tan color and black;

short, frizzy and curly hair; snub nose;

eyes fixed and bulging, prominent lips;

small size, on short and beat-up legs.

With small head and slightly rounded;

of pacific character, mild, taciturn,

silent and the friend of isolation.

Without fixed dwelling, and wandering.

They are occupying an extensive valley,

Up to the highest parts of the mountains,

in search of wax, vine, and honey,

poor products and miserably sustained.

Of vicious customs, completely wild,

they conserve some vague memories

of a certain primitive religion, 

being preserved until this time.

This race lives by Asog mounts,

to Masaraga, Basud, Colasi and Labo;

by Siruma and Caramoan inlets,

to Rapo-Rapo and Montufar.

There is no doubt that the Agta breed

is the most ancient of the Bicolano race,

came from the Pelasgian Papua

as it is the least numerous.

It lives by hunting and fishing,

without trade or industry,

flees from all human relations

and they live

as vagabonds.  

The Cimarron, or remontados, race,

of more clear, coppery and earthy color;

of small eyes, tall, and straight long hair;

of grim look, inclined toward the ground.

It lives in the foothills of Mount Isarog,

extending up to Siruma and Caramoan,

growing coconut, abaca, corn, tobacco,

sweet potatoes, hunting deer, wild boar.

The houses are of small size,

made with four cane posts, 

covered with rattan leaves, 

to escape easy when pursued.

His dialect is rough, hard, harsh

and almost unpronounceable;

accentuating in such a way,

that causes displeasure to hear.

They spear with great skill,

wield easily the minasbad,

that they themselves shape,  

with such a cut so fine.

Of imposing look; light as deer,

they cross the thick woods

and climb the old, bulky trees

with shocking speed and ease.

They have rites, feasts, ancient customs,

mourn their dead, celebrate their births;

drink their favorite liquor called tuba,

more intelligent, and daring than the Agta.

The Cimarron race has Malayan origin;

intelligent and vigorous race,

more active, industrious and warlike;

race of more push and courage.

He lives in small rancherias,

professing special affection

and friendly to social conduct,

not so barbarous and wild.

The Bicolana race is of Malayan origin,

of Dumagat race, the natives of the region;

that is, the one that lives in the towns,

in the plains and banks of the river.

Their religion, then, was polytheistic,

Based on the idea of ​​good and evil gods,

with its gradation of smaller gods, 

up to a supreme God they served.

They believed, then, in a supreme Being

whom they called Gugurang, Lord of all;

the Gugurang was the good God,

defender and guardian of his cohort.

The Asuang was the evil spirit,

The eternal rival of the Gugurang,

malefic being in everything itself

that could cause some harm.

They also believed in the Batala,

a sort of being in charge and aid,

low in power and strength to Gugurang,

who sheltered the man he was escorting.

From here the region enjoyed peace,

wealth and fortune in their wares;

it was because they had a Batala,

sent by Gugurang for his cares.

Also believed in other lower beings,

sent from the great Gugurang,

for their care and custody,

whom they called Catambay.

Their kind mission was to escort them

and not to the region like the Batala;

These beings came to be confused

as the Anitos, or souls of their elders.

The hunters had their tutelary spirit,

to whom they called Ocot.

It was this jungle spirit,

Living among the fertile valleys.  

These spoke to them by whistles,

with which he announced to them

the next and abundant hunting,

of which they were very happy.

The fishermen’s titular are called Magnindan,

announcing to them some profuse fishing,

the nearness of some storm, so that, fleeing,

avoided being sunk by the waves a-raging.

They also believed in the Bonggos,

evil and wicked spirit of the Asuang,

and for whose mandate wandered

through the thickest forests.

Bonggos were beings of human figure,

black and ugly when they appeared,

threw flashes of fire through their eyes,

which they could burn as much.

They were furious ministers of Asuang,

who presaged him unfailingly

of the coming arrival of the Asuang

and who devoured the entrails of some child.

For this they tried with utmost care

and diligence to hide them all,

and to guard them carefully

until the Corocoro end his dirge.

But then if you heard a thud,

like the thunder of a distant storm,

then with curious dread and horrible fear,

announced the arrival of the Asuang.

Such cry is as sure portent that

An evil had already taken place,

the entrails of a child, or sick person,

or, soon one in the duluhan would die.

They believed in the Irago or Oriol;

fabulous snake, daughter of the Asuang,

that as soon appeared and disappeared

had a mission to seduce and drag.

This snake tempt the man he charmed,

to commit robbery and to take revenge,

without being able to resist,

to their attractiveness, or their influence.

They also had the beings of evil

they looked with terror and respect,

the Yasao, a kind of horrible ghost

on moonlit nights, and shady trees.

When their appearance occurred,

at the same time they heard a cry

or presumed to hear them, it was a sign

that some were soon going to die.

The Yasao we are talking about

sometimes also becomes Laqui,

a monster with goat hair and feet

and an ugly man’s face.

In that state he wandered about,

as if punished by the Asuang,

for his indolence in hounding men,

without being able to harm anyone.

What idea had they of the human soul?

They believed in the immortality,

worship the souls of ancestors,

under whose shelter placed their hopes.

The belief in the other life was that

the souls of the good went to Gugurang's side

to receive the payment for their heroic deeds,

in a place of rest called Camurawayan.

The bad guys went to the Asuang’s side

suffer the punishment as their snacks, 

in a place also called Gagamban,

place of fire, flame or asphyxiating heat.

From here came the custom of cleansing,

and exorcizing the bodies of the deceased

with special ceremonies they had,

true to the qualities of the dead.

They had a special cult for Gugurang,

which they called Atang, or sacrifice.                  

The place where they used to offer it

was called the Gulang-gulangan.

No idols symbolize Gugurang,

but statuettes called Lagdong.

These were very quaint signs

of the souls of their ancestors.

Among the Agtas were some statues

made of wood or engraved on it,

which had the figure of a man,

but they did not look like anything.

The ancient society of the bicolano indios

was constituted by remarkable differences:

the dato, duluhan and oripon,

were the three social classes.  

That is, by that of dato, or principal;

duluhan, day laborer or jornalero,

and for the one of oripon, or slave,

well gained in war, bought or by debts.

The ministers of worship go to the duluhan class

or tributants, whom they called Asog;

The Asog was the most awful type of effeminacy;

with jewels, earrings, and dressed as a woman.

He was a bizarre, ridiculous and rude guy who,

with his jokes and pranks, caused the hilarity

of the people attending the functions of the cult.

They are unmarried to be freer to minister.

The pagturi or circumcision was in use;

but this did not entail the character

of an alliance between God and man,

but of a properly savage sensuality.

There were also sacrificial ministers,

who were called baliana;

ordinarily the wise women,

rogue, fraud and crafty of the tribe.

The Baliana was stubborn and astute

in the ridiculousness of her beliefs,

and to convince them of such trickery.

to use very strong and powerful means.

The cult of various classes,

directed to Gugurang, Asuang or Anito.

Were varied and many, to include the

spells and superstitious beliefs.

The first, called Atang, the chief sacrifice,

the greatest and most sublime of his cults,

for being a gift to the Gugurang,

either to obtain the goods of the earth.

This cult consisted in offering to Gugurang

something of the best that they produced,

the harvest of fruits and crops of the earth,

the first portion that they called Himoloan.

The order of Atang was as follows:

a cane table was prepared,

and which they called salagnat;

they put many foods of all kinds.

After reciting some secret prayers,

the Baliana sang the Soraque,

a religious song dedicated to Gugurang,

with the women who formed the choir.

Once the song was finished,

the offered dishes were distributed

among the spectators who ate them amicably,

in noisy, drunken feast that concluded in fights.

The indios were very fond of poetry

and to speak and write in verses,

their tigsik, or toast, at the treats,

which verses they called Abatayo.

Even today there is no lack of those poets

the region that manned with the codyapi,

related the battles and wars of the people,

the exploits of some new heroes only.

Even the seismic and earthly phenomenon,

accompanied by sad and bloody revolts,

as there were some very strong tremor,

some devastating and striking baguio.

The codyapi was a kind of a rough guitar,

made of cane and with five abaca strings.

The fondness and even the disposition of

the indios for poetry was great admiring.

The Atang, was extraordinarily gratulatory,

offering in thanksgiving for favors received.

It is lacking in morality, reduced expiation

to eating, singing, shouting and dancing.

The bicolano was fond of quiet and temper

and open in the manifestation of passions,

when they reach a state of nervous thrills,

such that only alcohol produces.

The worship they gave to the Asuang

was very common and general,

almost as much as that of the Gugurang,

being expiatory, minding the costs they had.

It’s not surprising they sought to placate him,

using all the means that were within his view,

The cult surrounding the Asuang were many,

according to the causes that motivated them.

The Hidhid was a kind of execration or exorcism.

When some public calamity ravaged the region,

such as locusts, plague or destructive baguio,

then the baliana performed the Hidhid on them.

The Hidhid was done putting on head

of some patient the Asuang possessed

a plaster of masticated betel leaves,  

a powerful medicine of these natives.

And the baliana, circling round the patient,

dancing and making thousand gestures,

offering certain prayers, calling Asuang

to abandon and leave him at once.

                             

The Hogot was another sacrifice

made to the hungry Asuang;

When a principal, or dato, died,

it was fed with the dead’s bowels.

The worship of the Anitos,

or the souls of their elders,

was the most common of all their cults

best suited to their customs and beliefs.

The Anitos were their protectors and guardians,

placing their statues in the covachas or moog,

or in the most public and frequented places,

in the category and memory the deceased had left.

They classified them with the name of Tagno,

if domestic, and with that of Parangpan,

if it was tutelary or public benefactor,

that such were the case with their Anito.

On the death of one of their maguinoos,

the rich chief, they celebrated the Pasaca,

which consisted in having a long-term

embalming of the corpse of the deceased.

It was necessary to celebrate with great pomp

and pageantry their obsequies;

funerals that consist in abundant banquet

served to all the dulukan, or tribe.

So that the corpse would not be corrupted,

they embalmed it in their own way,

extracting the bowels and intestines

with a very sharp and cutting stick.

Wrapping the body on two great coats of daod,

remained incorrupt for a long time without odor;

for everyone who needed to prepare the abatayo,

or the binge, that gave them much motivation.

The same habit is still observed by the Agtas,

having the cadavers of their relatives

or unprotected family for four months,

as we have had seen several times.

The Basbas was the first rite for a deceased,

as if it were the lavatory of the corpse.

It was a very common belief among them

that all those who died were always stained.

In case the dead were not purified

they would be subject to suffer

great torments in Asuang’s power,

until they are clean and purified.

To purify the cadaver, the balianas made

an hyssop with aromatic lucban leaves,

and wetting the corpse in golden water

and singing a song called columba.

So they surrendered from hitting and rolling,

as well as the rhythmic contortions they made

and the pitiful woes that were loudly exhaled,

they collapsed, as if mad of infernal spirits.

So it was the corpse being clean, purified,

to free the Anito from the tyrant Asuang,

to roam freely through the lush countryside,

or through the dark, thick forests.

When some major trouble occurred to them,

which was very often, and almost,

in constant struggle, some tribes with others,

the first thing they did was to go to the Anito.

Invoked him with great esteem and respect,

breaking into pitiful woes and frightful cries.

For better and sooner to obtain the object,

their supplications, they used to do the Dool.

If one had a son he dearly loved,

to rid women of Asuang’s curse,  

it made use with the Yocod,

or the sacred offering to the Anitos.

To do this, lifting him in his arms,

they walked him quickly in the house,

so that Asuang would free the child,

under the tutelage of his Anitos.

These were the main expressions

of the cult they had in antiquity,

and that distinctly and in a way,

according to the object they wished.

The fearful and measured squawk of the calao,

a lovely bird with red coat and purple plumage,

an advanced sentinel of the forests,

ominous forecaster of good or bad auger.

It was a very common superstition  

that on the banks of the rivers they lived,

a different monkey called Agnongolood,

converted to a tree anyone who saw it.

For this, when they crossed a river at night

in one of those small and rough balotos

to give sharp blows on the edge of the boat,

shouting to frighten away the Agnongolood.

One fiesta they made was called Halia,

with dreadful noise of drums, atables

and balalongs, or recessed logs,

was dedicated to the full moon.

They made this party with loud and truly wild noise,

to prevent the Baconaua, a risky and twisted animal,

from gorging the moon and leaving them in darkness,

wasting their fecund soil, sinking them in misery.

As the eclipses coincide with the full moon,

they undoubtedly believed that the rainbow,

which they called Hablong-dauani,

was the work of an ancient and famous weaver.

To avoid the Baconaua from swallowing the moon,

the women of the entire duluhan gathered all,

and placed in two rows, forming a choir,

they began to sing the excellences of the moon.

This ceremony or superstitious rite used to leave all,

with the feasts of tuba, carabao meat or wild boar,

cheered up by dull and lazy beat of noisy zambra,

as tired and drunk on spirited liquor until dawn.

Another most common superstition

they had was that all their illnesses

were produced by the evil Asuang,

who tormented them for its likings.

Hence the endless number

of their ridiculous ceremonies

and clumsy means they used to be free

of any disease that befell them.

The hocloban who abused the ill-fated,

made use of a thousand means,

largely ridiculous and clumsy,

their lies and hoaxes accepted.

And so it was, indeed, because

if the apparent aim of his spells,

which was to give the patient

the much desired health, is lost.

The blame for this was attributed

to the evil spirit or to the patient,

having some serious sin to be purged,

it became unworthy to be cured.

The Hafilos was a gullible ceremony

practiced by hocloban, or doomsayers,

who put in warm oil the tagnan root,

and rubbed the patient’s body sore.

The chant to the Batala preceded,

or the execration of the Asuang.

The hocloban did not begin to do

Until paid with the regular tip.

He was well fed and drinking so much

that the rubbing lasted until the best

and most exquisite tuba the parents had,

or mourners of the patient, all been used.

The hocloban was a mischievous

and wary character of the Malay indio,

for the tenacity behind his vain tricks,

and for the credulity of his silly spells.

They also had the divination

as a prophetic sign to know

if any sick person healed or died

of the ailment that afflicted him.

To know this, the baliana killed

a white chicken oguts,

careful to see in the heart palpitations,

or in the bowels, the secret of her luck.

The balete, which is one of the bushiest

and leafy trees of the Filipino forests,

was believed it had fateful influence,

that all it shadows turn into some stuff.

Hence, they fled from its contour

Or to raise their house next door,

for fear of being turned into a trunk,

or suffer ruin or any bad luck.

           

Such was the fateful power of the balete,

that an ill-fated one was oddly dragged,

turned up, until committing suicide,

hanging on its dreadful trunks.

The belief in the existence of the Popo,

an imaginary and vengeful ghost,

was one of the most terrifying image

that the natives could conjure.

When some child grew rachitic,

he explained it was the Popo,

had put his hand consuming

his already weakening pulse.

For this reason they sought

to appease the angry Popo

they called the Baliana to do                                

her nonstop woes and boo.

In order to make the lavish offering,                                           

the Baliana, squirted juice from leaves

of the lemon into the eyes of the child,

at whose contact the Popo left and fled.

The same thing happened to the Sacon.

It was a very deep belief among them,

illness come when the soul departs the body,

its healing then is to return it to its place.

To get it quickly, they called the baliana,

who, taking some leaves called banay,

shook them strongly on the patient,

until the soul was recovered instantly.

Another was the Sarimao,

a very fierce and very harmful animal,

which suddenly appeared before the guilty,

who without pity ripped with his sharp nails.

Such was the fear and shock that this animal had,

that with great care they avoided going through

those places that according to their keen beliefs

they used to hide to achieve their harmful aim.

The one who drank the brew of tagahopa,

although he did not want it, he became a slave

to the one who gave him the brew,

not having anything else but what he wanted.

With the root of tagohalia infused,

they pretended to do great things,

such as flying through the air,

becoming a dog, a cat or a rat.

The Cabal was an amulet that,

according to them, had the ability

to make the person who owned him

invulnerable and invisible.    

The arrows, the spear or the sharp edge

of the quikest enemies were suspended

or dulled before the man protected

by such powerful shield.

These amulets were, in general,

a chinese coin made of copper,

pierced at the center, that

so much abounded in the country.

Or else a piece of shell roughly tabbed

and in which it was left see

the figure of some Anito,

célèbrated or notable for his deeds.

The Hinao was a spell only the Balianas used,

guardians of the secret of their composition.

The cunning of which they used to sustain

its prestige among those poor people.

By the virtue of this spell they presumed

to know who was the thief of some stolen object,

frightening them with discovering the secrets,

that only they were revealed.

The Tagolipod was another amulet,

for which they believed themselves

to be invisible whenever it suited them.

For it was enough to eat the root of the shrub,

and with the effectiveness of its juice,

they were invisible at the moment

for those who persecute or cause them damage.

The Pato was another root that

had the virtue of killing the thief of a thing,

if indeed it was, leaving him safe

if no part had spoken in that robbery.

The same was the Laao was a grass that,

playing with the contrary, it produced death,

if that was wanted, and if not,

only caused some inflammation or injury.

They used it whenever they wanted

to take revenge on one of their enemies,

whose courage they were suspicious of.

But they also had counter-spells.

They believed that using the Tauac,

no spell or poison could do them damage;

and they could even make fun of them all,

which was the Naratacan,

Because, with the effect of this spell,

they even lost the use of reason,

remaining as a friend and sensitive

to any demonstration of human life.

Here is an snippet of some verse from

the famous bicolano epic called “Handiong”

where certain ancient bicolano customs

are very clear described as follows:

Yling

Account, Cadugnung, the history

From the times of Handiong

With that silver lira

Sweet charm of the Aslon.

That just singing you can

So much beauty and elegance,

So many hidden mysteries

How it encloses this region.

Sing, and tell us about your kings

The past and the value

The War, which they sustained

Until they beat the Oriol.

Tell us also of your life

The story of old Asog,

The one of the young Masaraga,

The old Isarog.

That you were the tender bard,

The sweetest and most seductive

Of how many saw the lake

That to the Tacay buried.

Sing, then, that all are attentive

To your Beautiful narration,

Sitting here, you have us

In the shadow of a daod.

Cadugnung

Listen, then, children of Bicol,

said Cadugnung quickly,

The facts of the Old floor

Beautiful homeland of Handiong.

It's the Bicol a land

Flat, fertile, alluvial;

Of the world the most beautiful,

The richest in production.

It was Baltog the first man

That  live in this land,

A native of Botavara,

Of the Lipod race.

To Bicol arrived-following

A very ferocious boar,

Let his fields of linza

One night was destroyed.

When he had him harassed

On the ground he threw the lanzon,

And with his herculean arms

The jaws he broke.

Each jaw had

A stick long

And the fangs two thirds

Of the horn of his lanzon.

When returning to their States

The two jaws hung

Of a gigantic talisay

In his house in Tondol.

To the old hunters

They caused admiration

These glorious trophies

Of his king the great Baltog.

The tribes went to see them

From Panicuason and Asog;

And they said that, in their days,

There was no greater boar.

They called him the Tandaya

From the mountains of Lignion

Because of its exact resemblance

With the monster Behemoth.

After this came to Bicol

With his warriors Handiong,

Who of monsters the region

In a short time clean.

Battles to extinguish them

A thousand and a thousand efforts,

Of all always coming out

with the air of a conqueror.

The three-throated one-eyed beast

Who lived in Ponon,

In ten moons without rest

he completely destroyed.

The winged sharks

And the buffalo Cimarron

That was flying on the mountains

In less time tamed.

The colossal buayas,

Like the balotos of today,

And the fierce sarimaos

To Colasi banished.

The snakes, who had

What a siren voice,

From the Hantic in the cavern

Forever buried.

But he could not win,

For more skill than it was given,

To the shrewd snake

Known by the name Oriol.

This snake wise

More than the famous Handiong

And his eyes facinated

With affable seduction.

A thousand ties Handiong put him

And everyone made fun,

The knots unraveling

With greater sagacity.

With seductive words

Many times it fooled him,

That in that of pretending

It was a great teacher, Oriol.

Beads in the forest

Without rest he followed

Believing of the mermaid

In the seductive voice!

The works of great Hercules,

The conquests that he won,

Everything would have failed

By the influence of Oriol.

But, as it was inconstant,

She helped him

To beat the monsters

That infested the region.

He fought the buayas

Arm to arm, and winner

Of combats tremendous

Without detriment, he left.

The pongos and orangutans

They looked at him in horror,

Because the waters of bicol

With his blood color.

They were quarrelsome monkeys

Of known value,

But the giant made them

Retire to Isarog.

And free already of vermin

So the region remains,

In giving laws to his people

With great interest he thought.

Handiong and his companions

They planted in a bolod

Linzas that gave their fruit

As big as a pansol.

Also in a low site

They planted the rich rice

That of Handiong many centuries

The nickname he carried.

He made the first canoe

That by the Bicol furrow;

Less the rudder and sail

That they went for Guinantong.

This invented the plows,

The comb and the pagolon;

The ganta and other measures,

The sack, bolo and lando.

The looms and argadillos

They were the work of Hablom,

who with astonishment of all

One day to the king he presents.

He invented the gorgoreta,

Coron, calan and pot,

And other various utensils

The Dinahon Pygmy

The alphabet was Surat,

Who curious he combined,

Engraved it in Libon stone,

What a polish Gapon.

They made city and houses

In unequal proportion,

On the branches suspending them

Of the banasi and camagon.

That there were so many insects,

So excessive heat,

That only in the moog could

Pass the rigor of the sun.

And laws very fair command

About life and honor

To which all subjects

They were without distinction.

All his position they kept,

The slave and the lord,

Respecting rights

Of past and succession.

There was then a flood

Promoted by Onos,

That the aspect of this earth

Completely upset

The volcanoes blew up

Hantic, Colasi, Isarog,

And at the same time felt

A terrible tremor.

So much was the shaking,

That the dry sea leave

The Isthmus of Pasacao

The way it looks today.

It separated from the continent

The islets of Malbogon

Where the Sibyls dwell

Called Hilan, Lariong.

The mighty Inarihan

Its course to the East twist,

Well, before the cataclysm,

It drained to Ponon.

In Bato a great mountain was sunk

And in his place he appeared

The lake, which today feeds

With his fishing to ibalon.

From the Gulf of Calabagnan

Dagatnon disappeared,

Where the dumagat were from

Who lived in Cotmon.

It was this powerful kingdom

In the times of Bantong,

Inseparable companion

The hardened Handiong.

He sent him there a thousand men

To kill Rabot,

Half man and half fierce,

Magic  trickster.

All those who boarded there

Before this expedition

In stones they became

To the charm of Rabot.

Bantong knew that this magician

He was a big sleeper,

Doing it this way

Without any precaution.

He carried his soldiers there

On a day of aluvion

And before he woke up

With one stroke he divided it.

So, everything was screaming

With such a stentorian voice,

That they heard it from the mangroves

From bognay and camagon.

They took him to Libmanan

Do went to see him the great Handiong

And before his eyes scared

For a long time it  remained.

Well, he has never seen

Such a terrible living,

Such a horrible figure

Not even more tremendous voice.

So he suspended Cadugnung

His first narration,

Leaving for another day

To continue the occasion.

Note:

*This work is entirely based on “Noticia Breve” of Fray Jose Castaño (Madrid, February 1895).

Dnmjr/14 January 2019.