THE EPIC OF BANTUGAN

-Bantugan is an epic story told in the great oral tradition of the

Maranao tribe. It is a story about the great Prince Bantugan, the greatest
warrior of the kingdom of Bantugan. This is a legend of the Mohammedan
tribes or Moros (Moro is
the Spanish for Mohammedan or Mussulman) of Mindanao in the valley of
the Rio Grande de Mindanao. It deals with the adventures of Bantugan and of
his friend Datto Baningan.
CHARACTERS:
Bantugan
King Madali
Miskoyaw
Princess Datimbang
Parrot
SUMMARY:
Bantugan is an epic story told in the great oral tradition of the Maranao
tribe. It is a story about the great Prince Bantugan, the greatest warrior of
the kingdom of Bantugan.
In the play, Bantugan, after courting the beautiful but evil sorceress of
Bambalay Anonan, Maginar , decides to return home to Bumbaran. Upon his
return he finds out that his brother and king of Bumbaran, Agaanon Dalinan,
driven by his jealousy over the prince warrior's fame, has ordered out a
proclamation which forbids all the people of Bumbaran from speaking to him.
Deeply saddened, Prince Bantugan departs from his beloved land.
While traveling, he is accidentally placed under a spell by the vengeful
Maginar. He falls lifeless in the Land-Between-Two-Seas where the beautiful
Princess Datimbang finds him. The question of the corpse's identity puzzles
everyone until Bantugan's faithful parrot, who has been looking for him, finds
him in his lifeless state. Fearing that the kingdom might be held responsible
for the great warrior's death, the king of the Land-Between-Two-Seas decides
to ship Bantugan's body back to Bumbaran. He sends out a parrot in
advance to tell of the prince's fate. The news of his death quickly spreads,
reaching the ears of Miskoyaw, Bantugan's mortal enemy, who decides to
finally invade Bumbaran.
Meanwhile, Prince Madali and Prince Mabaning of Bumbaran, loyal
friends of the great prince, upon hearing the sad news, decide to go to the
heavens to retrieve Bantugan's soul from the Angel of the Death. Prince

Mabaning, posed as a young beautiful woman, seduces the Angel of Death

into telling him where he keeps all the souls of the dead, including that of the
dead prince.
Successful with the bottle of Bantugan's soul in hand, the two princes
race back to Bumbaran just in time fro Bantugan's funeral. They open the
bottle and almost instantaneously, and much to the amazement of those
present, Bantugan awakes from his lifeless slumber. Mourning quickly turns
into celebration as everyone greets Bantugan's return to the land of the
living, including his brother, the king, who asks for his forgiveness . Bantugan
is also greeted by Princess Datimbang, who he vaguely remembers as the
beautiful woman who treated him kindly before his death. Their eyes meet,
and Bantugan quickly falls in love.
But amidst the celebration, Miskoyaw enters with his evil cohorts. Seeing
Bantugan well and alive, he orders his soldiers to attack. Bantugan soon
takes care of the odds and faces Miskoyaw. They do battle. When the dust
clears, Bantugan appears victorious standing over Miskoyaw's corpse.
And peace rules over the kingdom of Bumbaran...