LITERATURE IN REGION X
(Northern Mindanao)
 Designated as Region X of the
Philippines, Northern Mindanao
(Filipino:Hilagang Mindanao) is
composed of five provinces and
two cities classified as highly-
urbanized, all occupying the north-
central part of Mindanao island,
and the island-province of
Camiguin. The regional center is
Cagayan De Oro City, where the
national government's regional
offices and other big
establishments are located.
Cultural groups
• Majority of the region's inhabitants
are migrants from Cebu and Iloilo.
There are also inhabitants of
Waray, Tagalog and Maranao
descent.
Component cities
Bukidnon
• Malaybalay City
• Valencia City
Misamis Occidental
• Oroquieta City
• Ozamiz City
• Tangub City
Misamis Oriental
• Gingoog City
Literary piece
• The Flood Story
• Bukidnon (Mindanao)
A long time ago there was a
very big crab which crawled into the sea.
And when he went in he crowded the
water out so that it ran all over the earth
and covered all the land.
Now about one moon before this
happened, a wise man had told the people
that they must build a large raft. They did
as he commanded and cut many large
trees, until they had enough to make
three layers. These they bound tightly
together, and when it was done they
fastened the raft with a long rattan cord to
a big pole in the earth.
Soon after this the floods came.
White water poured out of the hills, and
the sea rose and covered even the highest
mountains. The people and animals on the
raft were safe, but all the others drowned.
When the waters went down and
the raft was again on the ground, it was
near their old home, for the rattan cord
had held.
But these were the only people left on
the whole earth.
Authors and their Works
Short stories
• The Battle at Tagoloan
• Dusk in Capillahan
• The Cemetery Keeper
• A Day in the Lives of Coal
Miners
Regino L Gonzales, Jr.
• The guman of dumalinao
(suban-on)
Damiana L. Eugenio(misamis
occidental)
• Manobo
Lydia Mary De Leon(camiguin)
• Pagpagayuk Mahiwagang Ibon Ng
Katutubong Bukidnon (The Magical
Bird of Bukidnon)
Piya Constantino
 “Batbat Hi Udan” (The Story of
Udan)-Bukidnon’s 1st epic Novel
Telesforo S. Sungkit, Jr
Other Author’s
 The guman of dumalinao (suban-
on)
 Damiana L. Eugenio(misamis
occidental)
Vocal Music in General
 The most important means of
musical expression of the Bukidnon
is vocal music. As a rule, a male or
 female solo singer performs
without the accompaniment of any
musical instrument. The only
exception is the collective singing
of women called tabúk during the
kaligà ceremonies. The most
important types of vocal music are
the epic chants collectively called
ulagíng and the chants and prayers
connected with the kaligà
ceremonies. Also widely used are
the improvised songs limbay and
the song-speeches dasang of the
Banwaon, Bukidnon and Higaunen
subgroups, the improvised salâ of
the Talaandig and, to a certain
extent, the ballads idangdang.
Other song types are only of minor
or of merely regional importance.
 At this point, it has to be
stressed that the names of song
types as given by the Bukidnon
actually refer to categories of
function based on text content and
less to categories based on musical
characteristics. It might, for
example, happen that a kaligà or
ulagíng melody is used for a salâ
performance. But even these
categories of function are only
vaguely defined, and abstract or
general terms like “music”,
“musical instrument”, “song”, etc.,
are lacking in the Binukid
language. The word which comes
closest in meaning to the word
“melody” is lageng (“[sound of the]
voice”).
 In most song performances,
the same pentatonic melody is
repeated over and over again with
some variations, sometimes
alternating with one or two
additional melodies. The
performances often start with a
typical melismatic phrase sung on
a very high pitch and at highest
possible volume. There are
melodies in a rubato style as well
as strictly metered ones. The
melodic patterns vary in length.
Some of them are clearly divided in
two distinct parts often separated
by a breathing break.
 All important singing
performances start with a special
introductory part called pamadà
(pamarà), in which the singer
invokes his guiding spirits
(collectively called Tumanud or
Dengan; singers are usually guided
by Mulin-ulin) and also asks his
voice (lageng) for cooperation and
assistance. In fact, to sing in
traditional Bukidnon style is a
difficult task because it requires
the use of an archaic form of the
Binukid language which modern
Binukid speakers cannot
understand and, therefore, have to
learn before being able to sing. The
poetic form is composed of verses,
whereby the statement of every
line has to be repeated with other
words, preferably with synonyms,
in a second line. This poetic device
is called sambal (“doubling lines”,
verb form pasámbalâ), the poetic
form sangen-sangen.
The Epic Chants
 The ulagíng epic, which recalls the
adventures of the main hero Agyu
and his brothers and sisters, is
sung at night time for at least
some hours, in some cases up to
several nights. In performing the
ulagíng, the Talaandig use three
different singing styles which are
all influenced by specific guiding
spirits: the aggressive, syllabic
ulagíng or umanen style, the more
contemplative, melismatic
nánangen style, and the ilangiten
style (from the word langit,
“highest heaven”) with sustained,
high-pitched tones.
 In the Talaandig area, a second
singer, sometimes the epic singer
himself or herself, will intersperse
the ulagíng with performances of
another song type called salâ
which, in a contemplative way,
usually deals with philosophic
considerations. Besides its
connection with the ulagíng, the
salâ is an important vocal genre in
its own right.
 In the Talaandig area, a second
singer, sometimes the epic singer
himself or herself, will intersperse
the ulagíng with performances of
another song type called salâ
which, in a contemplative way,
 usually deals with philosophic
considerations. Besides its
connection with the ulagíng, the
salâ is an important vocal genre in
its own right.

 Philippine Literature

 By: Julius F. Garcia

 AR31FA1

 Dr. Amparo Ellar (Professor)