NOTES ON THE SUGIDANON AMONG THE BUKIDNON

OF CENTRAL PANAY, PHILIPPINES Alicia P. Magos U.P.V. Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines Fax No.: (063 33)338-15-34/33501-06
I. INTRODUCTION

On August 13, 1993, while on sabbatical leave from the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV) and on a grant from the French government, accompanied by my research assistant and a guide, I visited a small barangay called Garangan. This village is composed of 120 kin-related households and is situated on the boundary between Calinog, Iloilo and Tapaz, Capiz in Central Panay. There, I was introduced to an old woman known as Anggoran, (Christian name Preciosa Susa Caballero), a 73-year old babaylan (shaman-curer), who also turned out to be a chanter of the sugidanon, a term generic for epic (Photo I - Appendix). This started my almost four-year odyssey to record epics, long chanted narratives which has come to be erroneously referred to us the Hinilawod, stories about the legendary warriors of the Panay Bukidnon (Sulod), mountain dwellers which were first read on the anthropological literature came through the work of the first Filipino anthropologist, Dr. Felipe Landa Jocano who did fieldwork on them almost forty years ago. My first visit to Central Panay was followed by weekly visits and several days' stay in Garangan in the household of Lola Susa. In time, my stay became a four-month researchimmersion activity, from August to November 1993. A red alert area, Garangan was an NPA stronghold from 1965 until 1985 (Photo 4 - Appendix). I knew only later that during my first night there, I was discreetly being monitored by an army detachment officer assigned to oversee the members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) in the area. But a member of Lola's family vouched for me at that first meeting. After my first two-months' stay in Garangan, I yearned to explore more of the interior parts of Panay. From a hill in Garangan, I could see on the horizon the barangays situated along the Pan-ay River: Takayan, Niyawan, Taganhin Buri and Siya which were first visited by Dr. F. Landa Jocano in the late 1950's. On September 10, 1993, I started out for those communities as field anthropologist to accompany four personnel of the Office of Southern Cultural Communities (OSCC) who were conducting a demographic survey of the area. This trip quietly whetted my curiosity to explore more. Back in Garangan, my assistant researcher and I begun to be accepted and adopted by -------------------*Due acknowledgement is given to the French Government and the NCCA (National Commission on Cultural Arts) of the Philippines who gave me funding to retrieve the 9 epics of Central Panay (1993-1996) of the Philippines. These epics which have already been transcribed are now being translated in the nearest comprehensible language, Kinaray-a, and in rough English translation. 1

the family of Lola Susa. She would sing for us part of what she called sugidanon, a long verse narrative, for ten minutes at a time after which she would rest. Because she was already frail, we gave her time to chant at her leisure. The recording of the epic took almost four months to finish. Lola Susa was an artist at heart who would chant only when she felt inspired. She would wake up at dawn, at about four o'clock; and if she felt inspired, she would chant and the recording would take place. Towards the end of November, 1993, we finished the recording of the two epics, Humadapnon sa Tarangban and Derikaryong Pada. Unfortunately, a month after the recording was accomplished, Lola Susa passed away, leaving at least two more epics unrecorded. After Lola Susa died, and with due respect to the bereaved family, we stayed away for more than one month (Photo 5 - Appendix), but I entertained the possibility that there could be more than two epics to be found. In the last week of January 1994, my team scheduled a six-day trek to the mountains of Lambunao, Iloilo. We passed Hayubo and reached Tinagong Dagat where a community of mountain dwellers could still be found. But there were few chanters there. On April 12, 1994, 1 arranged for another trek, this time of ten days, to the Halawodnon communities in Calinog and those of the Pan-ayanon in Capiz, to find out the extent of the epics dissemination among mountain dwellers and to see for myself more of the heartland of Jocanos Sulod Society". Photo and video camera documentation was also planned. Tracking the rough terrain of Central Panay, my assistants, guide and I passed over paths trod only by wild boars. But these routes, supposedly short cuts, were tough and several times we would step on thorns or be cut by tall sharp grass (Photo 6 - Appendix). Overtaken by night, we would sleep in the house of the barrio kapitan of the nearest barangay. There, we would fall asleep in exhaustion (Photo 7 - Appendix). The following morning, we would resume the trek, starting at dawn to evade the scorching heat of the sun. But we were exposed to the inclement weather of the mountainous Central Panay as we climbed slippery trails on steep hills and waded through the labyrinth of streams. The long continous walk of seven to eight hours before we could reach the next barangay, the insect bites, the heavy rains and the cold temperature for the nine days of our trek tested our physical endurance. Despite these, photographs were taken and video camera documentation was done. Finally, on April 21, 1993, the researchers headed for home. Exhausted from the long journey we, nevertheless emerged victorious having found several epic chanters from the heartland of Bukidnon country, hitherto Jocanos Sulod Society. It was after my three treks to Central Panay that I decided to make a proposal to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for the retrieval of the remaining epics. That proposal was approved and the documentation of the remaining eight epics followed sometime on July 1993. But who are these Bukidnons, the possessors of these nine epics of Central Panay that I have recorded? The brief description which follows will give us an idea of who these people are.

The Tumandok (Native) Bukidnons (Mountain Dwellers) of Central Panay The mountain dwellers of Central Panay have for centuries resisted various forms of foreign aggression by moving to the interior and remote more areas of Panay Island. Referred to by lowlanders as Bukidnons, or Sulods (see Jocano, 1968), they refused to be under Spanish (1560-1898) and American (1898-1946) colonization. They call themselves Tumandok (literally native born) or Pan-ayanon, the latter referring to their being in areas near and around the 2

Pan-ay River. Today, despite the inroads of modernization and other forms of cultural assimilation, they still retain some distinctive features of their traditional culture as shown in their singing/chanting of the sugidanon, a term they use for the long verbal narrative. In the 70s to the 80s, many of these Bukidnons, not fully drawn into the dragnets of government control, were driven to confusion by forces outside their control. Militarization in the Marcos regime (1972-1986) placed them in the middle of two forces, the New Peoples Army (NPA) and the governments military forces which resulted in their forcible ejection from their places of origin to places in Central Panay considered safer, like Jamindan in Capiz and Valderama in Antique. A further result was the imminent disintegration and atrophy of their culture. In the light of these facts, certain questions come to mind. How much of the Bukidnon's culture, such as their oral tradition of epic singing, have been retained? What is the socio-cultural context of epic chanting? Is epic singing still a strong surviving tradition in militarized areas? What can the epics say about the Bukidnon's cultural past? What is their future as a people with a distinct cultural past?

II.

SETTING

In the past, the mountain peoples of Central Panay defined their territory and distinguished themselves as one kadugo (kindred group), by reference to two major river systems of the island of Panay. These are: Pan-ay River, Halawod (Jalaur River and Akean River (see map). Those people who lived near the headwaters of Pan-ay were referred to as Taga-Pan-ay or Panayanon; and those who stayed close to the headwaters of Halawod were known as taga-Halawod or Halawodnon and Akeanon for those who stay near the river of Aklan. Pan-ay and Halawod both originate from Mt. Baloy, the third highest peak of the Madia-as mountain range in Central Panay. The latter is a group of mountains that run north to south of Antique province and separate it from the other provinces of Panay Island. These twin rivers have separate courses: Pan-ay River traverses the Bukidnon barangays in the interior of Tapaz, Capiz, and passes out through the towns of Pontevedra and Pan-ay (probably named after Pan-ay River) into the Visayan Sea; Halawod River traverses the barangays in the interior of Calinog, Iloilo and has its outlet in the town of Dumangas which faces the Guimaras Strait. How different are the two groups, the Pan-ayanons and Halawodnons, from each other? Culturally, there is hardly any difference for they are of the same ethnic stock, with similar ecological niches and common traditions. The Pan-ayanon kindred group, however, recognizes as their ancestor a certain Dima-ano, a brave dalagangan (a man believed to have innate supernatural powers) who fought against the Sia, mercenaries of the Spanish colonial government in Daan Norte (Capiz), way back in past our history. On the other hand, many Halawodnon recognize Birdin, a mountain leader at the turn of the century, as their clan hero; like Dima-ano, Birdin, who was preceded by Oto Valentin, another reknown leader roaming the mountain areas of Ma-asin and Leon (Iloilo), also fought against the Spanish soldiers and won some battles. Both Dima-ano and Bordin enjoyed wide kin support and had many followers. Legend tells, however, that their victory was due to their supernatural powers. Aside from being known for their valor, the two clan heroes were known to have seven wives each, a testimony to their superior social and economic standing in a community which considers polygyny the norm.

For generations, the Pan-ayanon and the Halawodnon were at odds with each other. Their enmity and clan distinction was heightened by the geographical boundary posed by the two river systems. Whenever there was news that some people from Pan-ay had entered Halawod territory, or vice versa, there would be a call for alarm and the men would gather to protect themselves. But the inhabitants of the interior mountains between the two rivers had chances to know each other as they moved in search of new kaingin; as such, they were not as hostile to each other as tribesmen living on opposite banks of the two rivers. Generally, the cause of the enmity were women - the fair binukot or well-kept maidens. The latter is an only daughter or the prettiest among the daughters of a couple of good standing in the community and commands a high bride price. Halawod folks accuse Pan-ayanon men of being snatchers of wives and daughters, if not outright robbers and assassins. As one informant said: Gapamuyong o gapang-ati (literally, They cause disorder or they rob), to describe their activities. Pan-ayanon men are stereotyped as play boys while Halawod women are described as sosyal, literally social mixers but implying unfaithfulness. This is because the Halawod women, being closer in geography to the lowlands, are prone to mix with the lowlanders. When a fight occurs and results in the death of a member of one party, the aggrieved goes to a manughusay (arbiter). The latter consults each party separately in order to arrive at the mode of payment, which is usually in the form of manggad or wealth, like sanduko (bolos) or agong (gongs). Today, older people are still conscious of their territorial affinity as taga-Pan-ay or taga-Halawod. Frequent movements in the past as shifting farmers have brought the two groups in contact with each other, and intermarriages between them have taken place. But beyond and in opposite direction of the river banks, no intermarriages have taken place, because the movement, in the past, was away from the river boundaries. Younger Bukidnons, however, seem to have forgotten the feuds of the past. They are aware that their deceased dalagangan ancestors have criss-crossed mountains in their travels and in the process have taken several women on both sides of the river as their wives. The clan boundary of the past has gradually waned. The clans have now become blood kin.

III.

THE TUMANDOK-BUKIDNON OF PAN-AY IN CENTRAL PANAY

Nothing has appeared in print in the anthropological literature about the mountain dwellers of Central Panay, -- or the or Bukidnon -- for almost 40 years, after the first Filipino anthropologist, Dr. F. Landa Jocano, did field work in that territory in the late 1950s. On that fateful day in August 1993, in Garangan, Calinog, Anggoran, christened Preciosa Caballero, told me that a young man named Hilocano also came to their place some years ago and recorded what she called the sugidanon of her aunt, Hugan-an. She was referring to Dr. Felipe Landa Jocano. Further conversation with her brought me to the realization that I was actually stepping on the territory of the "Sulod" society Dr. of Jocano. About a month later, I was on that 6-day trek with 4 personnel of the OSCC to places in Pan-ay identified by Jocano as Sulod Territory. This was followed six months later by another trek of 10 days to the more interior villages where I was able to see for myself the Sulod communities studied and written about by Dr. Jocano in 1968. These places are found at the headwaters of Pan-ay and the people 4

therefore call themselves Pan-ayanon. Two of the Sulod barangays reported in the case studies of Dr. Jocano, namely Masaroy and Mt. Kodkuron (now Garangan), are situated between Pan-ay and Halawod rivers. But the other barangays are originally part of Pan-ay territory. From the more interior Pan-ay village of Niyawan, the inhabitants had moved downward near the Halawod barangay of Garangan to make new kaingins and thereafter, settled there permanently. Some Bukidnon have started to lead more permanent lives, having been introduced in the 1960s to the use of the bantod or gradually-sloping hill, and the use of the plow for their agriculture. Today, they still inhabit the same territory and practice kaingin in combination with the permanent tilling of hill slopes. The Bukidnon are differentiated from the lowlanders by their oral literature. Though now assimilated, these people are authentically ethnic shown in the archaic language used in chanting. They are all of one kindred group and in the chanters village in Garangan, the members of all 120 households (latest survey counted them as 140 households) are related to each other within the third degree or so. Actually, the Bukidnon of Central Panay, called Sulodnon or Sulod by Dr. Jocano, do not think of themselves as such. As Dr. Jocano himself had written in his book, Sulod Society (1968), he was using the term Sulod tentatively until a suitable name can be found for them. Sulod, (literally, inside, or the interior) is used to denote the direction of where a person or thing is coming from. In rural areas, whenever one goes up into the interior mountains and meets someone coming down and inquires where the other person comes from, the answer would be Sa Sulod (literally, From the interior), referring to the point of origin. This tentative nomenclature of Sulodnon continues, however, because no better term has been found for this people. And it will continue to be used for as long as no anthropologist comes out to replace it. This issue, however, does not in the least bother these Bukidnon people for they know who they are: tumandok or taga-Pan-ay or Pan-ayanon for those who visited by Dr. Jocano. This then leads us to clarify the mountain dwellers name. For all intents and purposes, several nomenclature need to be clarified. The word Panay Bukidnon should be used as a generic term to refer to the upland dwellers of Central Panay, whether they are in Capiz, Iloilo, Aklan or Antique. After all, their ancestors criss-crossed the bukid or mountains in search of good kaingin, not mindful of political boundaries which exist only in the minds of Baludnons or lowlanders who had not been to those places. Some of the boundaries have not even been defined, especially those of interior Libacao, Aklan. One may also use the term Kinaray-a Bukidnon since these people speak Kinaray-a with the addition of a few variant words. I suspect that Ligbok, or words which are found in the epic and are neither Kinaray-a nor Hiligaynon. Hence, Ligbok-Bukidnon can also be used to refer to these Ligbok-speaking people. I am using the term Ligbok tentatively to refer to these non-Kinaray-a or non-Hiligaynon words which are found in the epics and are neighter Kinaray-a can also refer to them. Hence, Ligbok bukidnon can also be used to refer to these Ligbok speaking people. I am using the term Ligbok tentatively to refer to those non-Kinaray-a or non-Hiligaynon words because no name was given to it despite my several interviews. One mountain dweller, however, positively gave the name Ligbok, for the archaic words. The mountain dwellers inflection, however, is generally referred to as Ligbok. I believed that way back in historical times, Ligbok must have been a unifying language of the central Panay people.

Iraynon or Irahaynon (towards the interior or away from the sea) are also terms for them by their fellow mountain dwellers in Valderama, Antique, to indicate an upstream direction (streams and rivers originate from high mountains). However, this can be confusing, being conscripted by geographical location. In the future other researchers will find difficulty in identifying them for academic purposes if no generic name is found for the mountain dwellers of Panay. I propose, therefore, that Panay-Bukidnon be used to refer to them in the anthropological literatures. Though the word Bukidnon is frowned upon traditionally by the mountain peoples because of its pejorative meanings of being innocent, or backward, the term is now beginning to be accepted with a new sense of pride by many young and better-informed members of the group. They are aware of the rich legacy that goes with the term, including the epic about the warrior Humadapnon which is not yet matched in Philippine folklore and runs for 24 - 33 hours of straight chanting.

IV.

Epic Chanting

The chanting of epics was an important feature of the social life of the Pan-ayanon. The adventures of Humadapnon, Labaw Donggon, Balanakon, Sinagnayan and other Pan-ayanon warriors constitute the nine epics which I have recorded and transcribed with the help of my staff. Only one or two of these Sugidanon generally known to younger chanters today. Although epic chanting is known to both Pan-ayanon and Halawodnon mountain dwellers, it is almost gone among the latter. Labaw Donggon, a first generation hero of the epic, is more popular among the Panayanon than Humadapnon. However, older chanters close to the age of 70 and above usually know the epics about both heroes. Sugidanon (from sugid literally to tell), is the term the tumandok give to the long narratives chanted by community chanters which tells about the heroic exploits of the ancestors of the mountain people inhabiting areas in Central Panay like Calinog and Lambunao in Iloilo, Tapaz and Jamindan in Capiz, Valderama in Antique, and Libacao in Aklan. Traditionally, the sugidanon is chanted while the chanter lies down in a duyan or rattan hammock (Photo 10 - Appendix). The occasion could be an entertainment for visitors who have come to attend a punsyon or marriage feast. After lunch, the chanter is requested to recite the epic to the audience composed mostly of young men and women who are just waiting for the sun to go down. It may also be a time to lull children to sleep, in the evening after supper or during the day. One informant happily recalled that the epic was chanted at harvest time, to harvesters when they arrived in the chanters village. The sugidanon is long and several evenings are not enough to finish the chanting. She recalled that as the chanter rocked in the duyan, her feet would push against the floor as if to steer the duyan, which one can imagine was the boat used by the hero of the story, Humadapnon, in his long journey. The rocking blended with the rhythm of the epic. My survey of the Pan-ayanon and Halawodnon barangays shows that the good chanters are generally over sixty years old. There are some who, in their youth, were binukot, and babaylan and now in their 70s (some in their 90s) whom I consider are the best chanters. The best chanters are those who are able to memorize and recite or chant the epic with artistry. Some chanters are male, but most of them are females; some are relatives of binukot and are babaylan chanters. 6

Who among these people become chanters of the epics and how do they learn these verse narrative? How and when are the verses rendered? To learn how to chant or sing the sugidanon would need time, dedication and a sustained interest. Hence, it is not surprising that most of the sugidanon chanters or singers were and still are binukot. Chanting as a task assigned to the binukot by their society, was something they could in most likelihood do; being kept at home, the binukot could listen to the chanters and learn the epics being chanted to them. The sugidanon is chanted to a bigger audience during a himpit or marriage rite, during the harvest season, or when putting a child to sleep. Besides the incidental chanting which is heard and committed to memory by an interested learner, the sugidanon can also be taught to a potential chanter for a fee in kind. Potential chanters are taught the epic line by line. One informant told me that she knows of one chanter in his early 70s who got his lessons from an old sirhuano or medicine man. A fee in kind may be palay or beans, and is given as a token of love. Once learners have learned the epic, they can carry on the practice in their own families. The style of rendition may be fast or slow. It can be in simple non-repetitive lines or in two or three repetitive lines which show the richness of the language and the artistry of the chanters. Anggoran told me that her grandmother could render the epic in six or eight repetitive lines. Although memory is involved to recall the long and many episodes, the chanters are free to recreate and add their own lines. Several parallelisms and refrains occur in the long narrative which may be composed of several episodes and takes several days and nights of chanting to finish. Humadapnon is a long epic divided into five bulos or episodes. The five episodes are linked as one very long story about a sea journey. Depending upon the style of the rendition, the speed of the storyteller varies. A chanter may start the story in the evening after supper and would end at dawn; s/he can resume after a few days of rest or the following week. Thus, if one episode is rendered overnight, the next episode can be started in the following week and can run each night for two months. Some episodes are that long. Some questions may be asked at this point relative to epic singing: Why have Pan-ayanons and the Halawodnons created an epic about a long sea journey? Are they water people, after all? How have they reached interior Panay? How important is water in their culture? These Bukidnons have a boat-building tradition which is still surviving today despite government prohibition on log cutting. Boats are essential to them as a means of travel; this fact is found in the episodes of the Humadapnon where sea traveling using the biday is the norm. In fact, in the said story, whenever the characters leave for a certain place, sea travel is resorted to, not land travel. This can very well mean that the ancestors of the present-day Bukidnons in Panay were sea people. Not one episode of the Humadapnon mentions land as a medium for movement, implying that the people were formerly insular and used boats for traveling. I had theorized in an earlier paper that movement to the interiormost part of Panay by the first mountain settlers must have been contemporaneous with the peopling of coastal Panay sometime in the 12th Century or much earlier. This is based on the theory that Panay Island was first peopled by, - aside from the Ati, - migrant settlers who arrived by boats and later on moved 7

into the interior by following the courses of Pan-ay and Halawod rivers. In the search for better kaingin, the settlers moved further into the interior and were later joined by other people who wanted to escape military recruitment during the Spanish regime. There is much truth to this as some Spanish records of the early Spanish period, mention the movement of lowlanders to the interior to escape tribute, forced labor and military conscription. In time, these settlers became tulisanes, (outlaws) and mundos (wild and untamed people). These people continued to avoid Spanish encroachment; some became leaders of their communities in the mountains and were given the title Buyong, a Ligbok word closely equivalent to the English word Lord or Master. Later, the word buyong became synonymous with outlaw; unlike their lowlander-brothers who cooperated with the colonizers, the brave Bukidnon buyong refused to collaborate, and were thus outlawed by the colonial government. In the process, they became fugitives who were outlawed by the lowlanders and were hunted in their own territories. But these groups are their forebears were able to preserve a rich cultural legacy, which includes epic chanting and the practice of keeping in protective seclusion their beautiful daughters who were trained to be chanters of the epics (Magos, 1993).

V.

THE NINE SUGIDANON (EPICS) OF CENTRAL PANAY

The following are brief summaries of the nine epics, in the order of chanting: Tikung Kadlum, Amburukay, Derikaryong Pada, Balanakon, Kalampay, Pahagunong, Pagbihag Kay Sinagnayan, Humadapnon sa Tarangban and Nagburuhisan. Scholars like Jocano and E. A. Manuel have referred to stories revolving around the exploits of Labaw Donggon and Humadapnon as the Hinilawod, a term that may need some clarification/correction in the future, just like the term Sulod. TIKUNG KADLUM The story commences during the hunting trip of Datu Paiburong and his brother Dumaraong. With them is Tikong Kadlum, a dog possessing extraordinary powers which is the pet of Datu Paiburong and his wife Bulawonon. Tikong Kadlum lead the group into the forest and they come across a strange-looking bamboo tree referred to as buriraw nga kawayan. Paiburong cuts the bamboo tree, not knowing that it is owned by Makabagting, a man-eating witch, and his sister, the hermit Amburukay. Discovering this trespass, the two are furious and threaten to devour Paiburong and Dumaraong. After some bargaining, the two witches agree to accept Paiburong's daughters as payment for the crime. AMBURUKAY Amburukay, the hermit-sister of Makabagting, asks for Paiburong's daughters, Matan-ayon and Saranggaon, in payment for the bamboo cut down by the Datu. In her house, the two maidens are cared for as if they were Amburukay's own daughters. They are locked up in a golden chamber and become binukot (well-kept maidens). Amburukay vows that her adopted daughters will marry only those who succeed in stealing her golden pubic hair. One day, Labaw Donggon, a courageous man and a good guitarist, breaks one of his guitar-strings. Hearing about Amburukay's pubic hair being a good replacement, he undertakes the theft; he is successful. On realizing the loss of her pubic hair, Amburukay goes in search of the culprit. Learning that Labaw Donggon is responsible, she commands him to marry her as the price of his theft. The marriage rite is scheduled much to the anguish of Labaw Donggon. On the marriage day he is 8

pleasantly surprised to discover that the two maidens have been prepared for the wedding. Thus begins the married life of Labaw Donggon and Matan-ayon, two important characters in the epics. DERIKARYONG PADA Long before Matan-ayon, the binukot daughter of Paiburong and Bulawanon, was born, she had already been betrothed to Labaw Donggon, the son of Daranuon and Paubaya. As a mark of that promise, her father Paiburong had been given a gold medallion by the parents of her husband-to-be. But when she was of age, she was pursued by Sinagnayan, brother of Paglambuhan, a renowned witch who had stolen the heirloom sailboat of Matan-ayon's parents. Whoever among the suitors can retrieve the sailboat and give it back to Malitong Yawas parents will have her hand in marriage. Now Labaw Donggon resists this fate. BALANAKON Balanakon, a dalagangan (man with extraordinary powers), is convinced by Taghuy, a spirit messenger (who can appear like a dwarf) to fight against Labaw Donggon to win Matan-ayon. While on the voyage, Balanakon is halted by Sarandihon, Labaw Donggons brother. Determined to stop Balanakons plan, Sarandihon engages Balanakon in a fight. Owing to his greater powers, Balanakon has

PAGBIHAG NI LABAW DONGGON KAY SINAGNAYAN Matan-ayon convinces Labaw Donggon to fight with Sinagnayan so he could have his, (Sinagnayan)s wife, Pinailog sa Pinggan, as his second wife. Labaw Donggon, however, is stopped by Sarandihon. Both engage in a fight, not knowing that they are brothers. When Sarandihon is about to behead Labaw Donggon, Laon Sina appears, revealing their relationship to each other. She also reveals to them that, in order to defeat Sinagnayan, they have to possess his breath which is kept inside an egg shell found in the heart of a lion under the care of Sinagnayans mother, Minayunmon. Sarandihon transforms himself into Sinagnayan and puts Minayunmon to sleep with the aid of a taghuy. He then stabs the lion and extracts the egg shell from inside its heart. With this, Labaw Donggon is able to defeat Sinagnayan and he brings back Pinailog sa Pinggan, Sinagnayan's wife and sister of Matan-ayon. HUMADAPNON SA TARANGBAN Humadapnon, at the prompting of Taghuy, a spirit-being, sails out in search of Malitong Yawa or Mali, the beautiful maiden endowed with powers who alone can match his stature and is worthy to become his wife. He undertakes a long sea journey in his golden boat or biday, taking along his brother Dumalapdap. Before they sail, they are warned by their parents, Daranoon and Mungsod Burulakaw, not to land at any place. But in spite of the warning, Humadapnon gives in to the enticements of a beautiful binukot enkanto who, together with other binukot enkantos live inside a tarangban, an enchanted cave along the river bank. Humadapnon is trapped there for seven years, but is freed by Malitong Yawa or Mali, who disguises herself as a man named Sumasakay. Humadapnon continues his quest for Mali and has to pass the test of retrieving an heirloom boat stolen by Paglambuhan, a man of incredible powers. Humadapnon fights with Paglambuhan and his son Sumagulong but he cannot defeat them. Again, Mali comes to him rescue by distracting Paglambuhan with her irresistible beauty. Paglambuhan is charmed by Malis beauty and no longer able to fight well, is wounded by Humadapnon. Tradition dictates that Humadapnon has to stay for the night with the wife of the defeated Paglambuhan. Mali becomes jealous when Humadapnon stays more than one night with the captured wife. She goes away, bringing with her the sakayang bulawan (golden boat) of Humadapnon and the sakayang panubli-on (heirloom boat). Humadapnon rides on his magical kalasag (shield) to catch up with Mali. But Mali makes Humadapnon go to sleep and rides home on a golden talakayan (basket). As Mali waits for Humadapnon with the heirloom boat, Humadapnon tells Taghuy to inform Mali that he will not go to her place because she is not there. In truth, he

10

NOTES Alicia P. Magos, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Division of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, UP in the Visayas. She is Director of the Center for West Visayan Studies of UPV. The research work for this project was made possible with funding from the French Government and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Sub-Commission for Culture and Traditional Arts (SCCTA), Intramuros, Manila, 1993-1996. The researcher's staff for this project are the following: Federico Caballero, chanter-assistant translator; Jose Bolante, consultant-translator; Ana Razel Limoso, translator; Ricardo Camarig, Jr., recorder; Lilibeth Litrero, transcriber; Teresita G. Quezon, typist; and Judith Pabito, stills and video.

REFERENCES F.L. Jocano, Sulod Society: A Study of the Kinship System of the Mountain People of Central Panay. U.P. Asian Center: Quezon City. 1968. Ealdama, Eugenio. The Montes of Panay, Philippine Magazine. Manila. 1948. Magos, Alicia. Talda, Dilot and Ulawhay: Oral Lore of Central Panay. Report Submitted to NCCA, Intramuros, Manila. June, 1996. _______________. Hinilawod: Macro-epic of Central Panay. Report Submitted to NCCA, Intramuros, Manila. July 1996. _______________. Ethnography of Garangan, UP/ERP-DECS/BNFE. December 1993. Calinog (Tribal Community).

Sugidanon (Epics) in bound typescript recorded and annotated by ALICIA P. MAGOS (National Commission for Culture and Arts, Intramuros, Manila, 1994-1996). Volume I: Volume II: Volume III: Volume IV: Volume V: Volume VI: Tikung Kadlum. Chanted by Tarsila Caballero. Amburukay. Chanted by Leopoldo Caballero. Derikaryong Pada. Chanted by Federico Caballero. Balanakon. Chanted by Rolando Caballero. Kalampay. Chanted by Romulo Caballero. Pahagunong (or Pawikan). Chanted by Federico Caballero. Volume VII: Sinagnayan. Chanted by Rodulfo Caballero. Volume VIII: Humadapnon. Chanted by Preciosa Caballero. Volume IX: Nagburuhisan. Chanted by Federico Caballero. _______________ 11