Tag Archives: Subanun

Reaction to the Lecture of Joy Enriquez on the Subanen Festival Called Buklog

I must have been five years old the first time I attended a grand buklog. At that time I did not have any idea what it was all about except that there was much cooking and eating going on, and chanting which to me did not have any meaning at all.  I remember the house moved like a giant trampoline and there was a great mixture of strange sounds of people in jubilation, of the sound of gongs and shields, of voices of chanters and singers and the sonorous sounds of anklets and bronze bells and of the rustling of the  rattan leaves.
Much later, when I was High School in another town and boarding with the distant cousin of my mother, a Chavacano, she told me stories of month-long buklog in the house of my great grandfather, Thumuay Imbing who ruled the Subanos in Baganian Peninsula and what presently makes up the first and second districts of the Province of Zamboanga del Sur. The house of my great-grandfather was in Sung Lupa which was then  the seat of Subanen power. Today Sung Lupa is an eerie and “mesena” place, that is, a forbidden place held sacred by the people for here is found the burial place of Thimuay Imbing and his wives and other relatives.  It was in this place where Thimuay Imbing received Governor General Leonard Wood who was escorted by white and black American soldiers on horseback. As my grandfather, Datu Purohan Imbing tells it, the sight of the strange animals with black men on top of them sent the Subanen running into the forest. Only when the black men alighted from the horse that they realized that the horse and the black man were two separate beings. And that the black men were really black because when they took a bath in the river, the skin color did not wash off. Lola Loleng Domingo, my landlady, during my high school days (she is still alive and living in Zamboanga City has described vividly to me the food, the merrymaking on the khogan (buklog platform) and the whole town across Dumanquilas Bay being fetched in a kumpit and brought to Sung Lupa. This town is Margosatubig and it is the mother-town of all municipalities in Zamboanga del Sur. Margosatubig has been a town since the Spanish times when Pagadian City was not yet on the map. Lola Loleng says that the sound of the buklog can be heard across the bay, its rhythmic cadence melting with the night air, seeming to embrace one with a warm invitation.
Much later, I learned that it was during a buklog in Shelembuyan that my mother, a Chavacano pioneer teacher, was paired off with my father. At that time, my father was only 17 but before that year ended, my dad and mom got married, first in a Catholic ceremony and then later in a Protestant ceremony.

As I was growing up my father used to go on long trips – to distant Subanen communities to attend buklog festivals. The journey was usually done on foot since during those days good roads were rare or non-existent. In 1969, my father’s cousin Guinonghop I. Sia sponsored a buklog but her death the following year was attributed to the non-observance of the complete rituals attendant upon the celebration of the buklog. This particular buklog was held to welcome then Executive Secretary Ernesto Maceda who was proclaimed an adopted brother to the Subanens and conferred the title of Thimuay Lenghap. Then in the early 70’s, my dad’s cousin, Mayor Coco I. Sia was “in charge” of a buklog held in Pagadian City. The occasion was the anniversary of the foundation of the Province and at that time the honored guests was headed by the Australian ambassador. Expenses for the buklog was shouldered by the Governor.
The following year after this buklog, Uncle Coco died, and again the people in Lapuyan pointed to the buklog as the cause of his death. Some people say that the buklog is sacred and it is held in honor of the gods in thanksgiving or supplication and that, there-fore, it is sacrilege to hold it purely for display and entertainment. It is amusing to note here that within the week of Uncle Coco’s death, his cousin Manonggilid Imbing also died, barely a few months after he sponsored a 3-day buklog, the purpose of which was to secure healing of his arthritis.

In 1976, my paternal grandfather, Datu Purohan ordered the excavation of heirloom jars which lay buried for 53 years. The jars were originally a collection of 500 pieces and which were buried often the end of a one-month buklog, celebrating the first death anniversary of Thimuay Imbing. But we unearthed only 59 pieces, 13 of these damaged and broken by robbers. We found out the robbers were excavating under cover of darkness for the last 20 years or so.

The “last” buklog held in the family was that sponsored by Lantay Imbing sometime in 1975(?). It was a 3-day affair held to prove his worth to take on the leadership.

This was the buklog Joy and Tony Enriquez filmed on video. In the history of the Subanens, this was the very first time that a buklog was documented on video, camera and tapes. This is a turning point for the tribe. As I watched the video in this hall, I am overwhelmed with nostalgia and great sadness. The chanter shows on film, Si King Bagutao is one of the last of her kind alive. Perhaps in the years to come, a Subanen with some buklog blood in his veins will raise up anew the “khogan“. Chanters will surely be absent. In their place, will be high-tech equipments. As my Apu Dlibun used to exclaim, “Sugghata!”

Subanun Folklore

Introduction

Prior to the coming of the Spaniards, many Philippine ethnic groups already had epic singers, their songs being a part of their daily life and activities. During their revelries, those endowed with good voices sang or chant them. One group that possesses a rich lore is the Subanun of Sindangan. They are the descendants of Indonesians who constituted the first wave of immigrants from Eurasia that settled in our country. Their legends, tales and myths, which are elements of social cohesion with supernatural powers and their mythical rulers, usually showing their relationship with the life of their forebears.

The Subanun’s form of social organization is based on an agricultural  and culture that abhors foreign elements. Their social life, authority structure and customary laws fully satisfy their needs so that they are averse to outside power, thus fostering the continuity of their ancient culture. In the words of Datu Agdino Andus of Sindangan:

Tibaqan boq sasuko pagligawatan migsarabi ami, boq di
ami malyagdon bElongan nami sogposakaq nag
makaguran. Donig baliyan na Marikano na pabolongEn
siya di nami sog batad nami. Sugaq maqo si Datu Tangkilan
Andus, lingatan gopyaq boq migbaksay tanan sabaq
longatan. Daq ami pagpatod di nila, boq pidiyonan nami
sogbatad nami.

Freely translated, this runs:
Our family and our subjects are so closely bound together
we do not want our customs and traditions to die. Once
American missionaries came and proselytized us and told
us to do away with these traditional laws. My father, the
late Datu Tangkilan Andus, roared with anger, refused them,
and we continued our simple way of life.

For their livelihood the Subanun today raise enough food on the the hillsides through the kaingin method of cultivation(swidden agriculture) and engage in hunting wild animals and fishing. These activities allow them to store enough foods and permit them to have ample leisure for social and aesthetic pursuits. They have developed rituals and ceremonies where chants and folksongs have become essential elements. The folksongs also serve them in their daily activities, and as entertainment after coming home from work or during feasts.

The majority still live the way their ancestors did centuries ago. They still follow age-old customs and shun modem conveniences precisely because, economically speaking, they cannot afford the latter. Those who are already acculturated and educated have, however, adopted some modem conveniences of life whenever they are able to.

The Subanun are mostly cut off today from one another by mountains and rivers. They are usually found in the remote areas of Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur. In one local group, they may number only from 20 to 30 families. Their tools and weapons are primitive and include spears, traps, bolo, bow and arrow and poisoned darts. They raise a few pigs and other domestic animals.

It is saddening to note that among the present Subanun generation their folklore legacy seems to hold no binding and deep interest anymore. They are little by little corrupted by what they hear from the transistor radios and alienated from their cultural heritage. The present setup of society has changed their way of life to a certain degree. Most Subanun youth in Sindangan love to listen more to the radio programs after their work in their kaingin rather than sing their own songs.

Sindangan in the past was called Giyakowan. It is one of the important towns of Zamboanga and is now a very progressive
municipality composed of several barrios and sitios most of which are inhabited by Subanun. Every barrio has a river or tributary named after the place, except Mandin, which is the name of a former datu.

In Sindangan Bay alone, Subanun number more or less 2,500 and most of them are already educated. There is still a great number who are ignorant and suffering from poverty.

H. Otley Beyer (1911) describes the racial characteristics of the Subanun as being of very mixed physical type, with the Indonesian traits predominating. Both the short and tall mongoloid types are fairly numerous, but the Negroid types are rare. An exclusively Papuan Australoid mixture is evident, and in the Indonesian types the Caucasic element often predominates

The Subanun today are of slight and slender build, fair-complexioned, with high forehead but a rather flat nose. Their bodies are not deformed. They usually have well-rounded limbs, clean and supple. Young women are gracefully pleasing in person, very modest, shy. and industrious.

A Subanun has well-set, expressive and suspicious eyes. He can be temperamental when his pride is hurt, but stays calm when in his proper mood. Men have a peculiar way of standing while they converse. They lean on anything, on a post, or on a wall, standing on
one foot while the other rests on the knee like a heron. When tired,they just shift their weight to the other leg and resume the same position.

Although living in a fairly warm region, the Subanun are clothed colorfully, resembling the Muslims. The men at times wear turbans, tight-fitting shirts open at the chest, and loose, baggy pants. The women wear skin-tight, long-sleeved jackets and skirts, mostly in loud colors, and have their ears pierced. A great number of them  no longer wear the old kind of clothing today since they have found out that they can be comfortable with our modem way of dressing. In the past, both sexes grew long hair, tied into a knot and held onto the head by a colorful turban. Today, most of them sport short hair, but he turban remains in use by some. Young Subanun girls, unlike other ethnic groups, are not separated from their parents at the age of puberty. They stay home with their family, recognizing their father as head. The young women keep their virginity until marriage.

A Subanun obviously presents a culture more primitive than other ethnic groups like the Ifugao. His social organization is typical of the primitive type which moves freely from one large forest area to another, felling trees and cultivating the clearing as a kaingin, and after two or three harvest periods abandons it for another virgin forest. The Ifugao in this respect are superior, for they make their rice terraces and irrigate them; more importantly, they have permanent villages. On the other hand, a Subanun plants rice that needs no permanent system of irrigation. He depends on the rain. He calls this system of planting gobod or sawd. A Subanun cares little about his farm, leaving his rice to struggle for existence side by side with cogon. If the rice outgrows the cogon, he gets a good and abundant harvest. He spends a great deal of time hunting, fishing and gathering food for his livelihood. Aside from the rice, he grows root crops like gubi (sweet potatoes), ginampay (ubi), lampan (yam), and banggala (cassava). There are Subanun in Sindangan proper, however, who are already practising wet agriculture, a system which they have learned from the Visayans.

Most Subanun are outwardly friendly, although inside they are still suspicious of foreigners and fear outsiders. But most of them are hospitable, even more respectful than any Christian could be. There are however, among them turbulent and fierce individuals. These stay in the most remote places and are called Manggahat. Even the good Subanun fear the Manggahat, probably because these make no exceptions in their attacks. These Manggahat, deep in the night, bring bamboo spears which they use in piercing the floors of houses to satisfy their murderous proclivities. Very few of the Manggahat, however, are said to exist today.

Beliefs

The Subanun are polytheistic for they believe in different gods and spirits whom they worship the way they are conceived, either as malevolent or benevolent. Superior gods or spirits are called diwata who instinct the Subanun medicine man on how to perform and practitioner rituals. Their Supreme diwata is Gulay (Gulai) or Asog. The Subanun believe that the spirits of diwata possess the power of causing conception without any human intervention and the offspring becomes an efficient balyan.

They call their priest gulilegan (shaman) who is responsible for performing rites and ceremonies during feasts and other community activities. The Subanun have greater respect for the gulilegan (shaman) than the balyan. The gulilegan is consulted in case of epidemics when he performs a liqing. A gulilegan is also called to interpret the good omens when a new site for a house is selected and is consulted in the choice of a forest for a kaingin clearing. While the most important duty of the balyan is to cure the sick, they believe that the gulilegan also has powers to cure. Like the balyan the gulilegan also possesses a certain degree of knowledge of plants used for curative purposes. A gulilegan does not interfere in civil affairs. There is nothing that prevents a headman from becoming a gulilegan if he meets the qualifications; that is, he must be able to talk to spirits, cure the sick, and perform rites through the use of supernatural powers. The Subanun usually know the datu’s power and limitations and can easily judge the quality of a performance which is extraordinary.

A gulilegan is not only employed to drive away the evil spirits. He is also able to do good and evil, to cause a disease, to defeat an enemy or cause his death. People in the past believed themselves lost and helpless without them. In marriage, the datu performs the ceremonies. However, a gulilegan’s blessing, though not necessary, is at times asked for by the couple so that they will have a happy home and raise healthy and happy children. When a gulilegan dies, the Subanun believe that he is only asleep so he is not buried but is left in a little house built solely for him. They believe that some gulilegan attend conferences in heaven with the supreme gods and return after being dead for some time. Stories of resurrection have been told by them. Thus, when gulilegan Oknip, Liyo’s father, died, he was not buried for five days because he remained warm although he was no longer breathing. After five days, he came to life again. Only twenty years after this incident did gulilegan Oknip finally meet his death.

The balyan are wizards, both men and women, who have mysterious associations with the spirits of diwata and are believed to possess healing power for all forms of illnesses. In a Subanun society, a medicine man of repute is one whose eccentricity verges on insanity. This characteristic does not lessen the credibility of the balyan. It is taken as perfectly natural that a man possessed of spiritual power can be dominated by spirits and can be weak in concerns of ordinary things. A balyan s vocation is usually decided during some long period of sickness and depression in early life and even during adolescence. One balyan recounted that during an illness in his youth he heard a diwata calling and telling him that he would be his familiar spirit. As soon as he recovered from his illness, this man entered into a kind of discipleship under a balyan by learning the varied rituals for several years after which he himself became an expert. A medicine man of renown claims to have a special friend among the diwata and it is these spiritual beings that he calls on for important occasions. During festivals when many bukar (altars) are set up, he always builds one for his special diwata friend. Most balyans are sincere, but to impress people they sometimes overact and fake supernatural phenomena.

In treating a patient, several steps are observed. When the balyan is called, he listens first to the story about the ailment. He diagnoses based on his concepts of ailments and diseases. He can differentiate one skin disease from another except that no criteria of the diagnosis of the disease are considered. Then anything that the patient has done lately which the balyan thinks might have angered the gods or one of the spirits of his tribe is reviewed and interpreted for anyone of them might have brought vengeance on the patient. No one among them supposes or knows that the illness comes from something wrong in the bodily processes. The balyan is convinced that any disease is the work of an offended spirit.

Frake, in his 1961 study of the diseases of the Subanun, found out that their diagnosis does not measure up to etiological criteria. He explains it in this manner:

Etiological criteria are diagnostically significant responses
to questions of “etiology”, how did the patient encounter
his illness? These questions ask, “Why did it happen to
me?” rather than, “What causes this kind of disease?”
Diagnostic knowledge of the kind of disease does not give
knowledge of on “etiology” in this sense. Confident
determination of etiological circumstance requires
communication by divination or séance with the
supernaturals. Since this kind of communication seems to
be costly, patients reserve etiological searching for cases
when ordinary medical (kabulungan) treatments
premedicated on diagnosis have not met with success.
Etiological determination generally enables the patient to
undertake propitiatory rituals (kano) with therapeutic value.
But some etiological circumstances, notably those
involving human agency, cannot be counteracted by
propitiations of supernaturals. These cases require
treatment with specially acquired medicines such as charms
(pegbelingen), amulet (bulung penapu‘), potions (gaplas),
and antidotes (tekuli‘).

Consequently, if the patient has a stomachache, the balyan believes that a cruel spirit has entered the patient’s body and is tormenting him. The medicine man proves himself a good match for the enemy. He drives away the evil spirit by his spells, incantations, charms, and potions. He is really a wizard skilled in all magical devices for the protection of the human body.

As soon as the patient recovers from his illness, a kano (rite) is performed. Offerings like chicken, pork and eggs (cooked without salt and spices), betel chew, and pangasi are placed on the bukar (altar). The balyan performs the kano by calling and invoking the gods and goddesses to dine. He prays to them, thanking them for the recovery of the sick.

A balyan usually has two functions: performing at festivals and curing the sick. He can be in a trancelike condition when a spirit speaks through him. He perspires all over during the trance. Some can dance up to a frenzied state and then act as a medium. But very few have the power to communicate with a spirit.

If health is not restored through the interventions of the balyan, then the Subanun believe that the sins of the patient may be too difficult for the diwata or the spirits to forgive; otherwise, why were the offerings not given due importance? Under such circumstances, they believe that greater offerings must be made even to the extent of resorting to human sacrifice.

A balyan of repute may ask only for a minimal fee since the people feel it is his obligation to perform at rituals. The amount paid to a balyan for ceremonies is 16 panels of coarse imported cotton cloth and 4/5 of a picul of husked rice which is certainly enough for his needs. To earn a living, the balyan works on a kaingin like any ordinary Subanun.

The Subanun believe that Gulay or Asog, who lives in the heavens, is the head of all the diwata. Gulay and Asog is the Supreme Being, the greatest and the most powerful diwata, and creator of all things including people. He is well disposed toward people and defends them, their homes, and their crops from the attacks of evil spirits. he is the most just and good god who gives happiness to everyone. He has a keen foresight for the end of all, and ultimately, he is the “master of life and death, is very ancient and eternal.” He can punish evildoers since he possesses a power that controls lightning and thunder.

Supernatural beings, according to the Subanun, act according to their spiritual attributes. In most cases they cause illness because they want to be remembered with sacrifices and offerings. The spirits do not desire wealth but want sumptuous food and drink, particularly rice wine. They do not make extreme demands by causing illness or epidemics, but first give the people ominous warnings like the hooting of birds, dreams, thunder and other threatening events to remind the people of their obligations.

The Subanun believe in the existence of evil spirits which can be divided into three types: the munluh who are of gigantic size and who dwell in the mountains and forests; the gwak-gwak who are earth-dwellers, winged and devourers of human flesh, with the power to change themselves into a bird of unusual size and color; and the mitubu and mamanwa (goblins) who dwell in caves, trees, and rivers.

The call of birds of omen has much significance to the Subanun. The glimon (wild dove), which has a special relationship with people, is believed to be interested in human affairs. This belief originated from the Negritos who lived with them for some time in the past. This bird is believed to be the receptacle for the soul of the ancestral infant who died at a tender age. From the bird, the soul enters the womb of an expectant mother in order to give life to the infant she is soon to deliver. Aside from the glimon (wild dove) and the sibukok or kokok, the Subanun believe in two other birds as heralds of ill fortune: the bulatok and the tamiqang. If these birds alight on a new house, Subanun will abandon the new dwelling. They make sacrifices to the tiboghok and the ginaghaw, birds that take the shape of Dipuksaya, the goddess who dwells midway between heaven and earth. In these rituals, done by a balyan or a shaman, the favorite foods of that spirit one offered. The food they serve during the offering is not eaten; the Subanun believe that it is only the gimud (spirit) of the food that this spirit partakes of.

The kano-makers are simple and humble folks. The kano is their highest form of community gathering and their most artistic expression. Here, they bring the best that they are able to create like dances, music, songs, costumes, and ritual practices. The kano is a time for paying obligations for special favors and where there is more to eat and drink than usual. Kano performances require some sort of ceremonies. Some types of kano offerings are:

• boklog – The most expensive of celebrations, it is a feast lasting five days or more. The celebration is grand, bewitching and interesting, and requires preparations of a month or two. During the celebration, the Subanun dance days and nights on a specially built swaying bamboo platform called the boklog. The shaman and the balyan take care of the rites and ceremonies.

• gampang – This is performed at the mouth of a creek or river, the purpose of which is to appease the angered gods and spirits that bring illness to the people as a punishment for their offense.

• Marriage kano – This is the specific prayer of newlyweds entreating the gods and goddesses for good health and a happy married life.

• Baptism kano – This prays for the long life and good health of a child. The person who sponsors the child is called the minganak.

• papilis – Before opening the forest for a kaingin, a Subanun asks permission from the spirits of farming ventures to allow them to work there.

• kanolupa – While the plants are growing, they hold a prayer asking that the plants be spared from pests and other destructive forces of nature.

• kano for the sick- Without the use of medicine, this kano is performed with the hope of appeasing the angry gods, asking them to heal the sick.

• pasungko– This is held after harvest as a sort of thanksgiving to the gods and goddesses.

A ceremony may be complex or simple depending on whether one or more offerings are held. Ceremonies are named after a constituent offering, the boklog being one of the features.

It is only in the marriage kano where the chieftains accept money. The fixed amount for a wedding is fifteen pesos to be divided among the three chiefs: nine pesos for the datu, three pesos for the timuway, and three pesos for the saliling.

Food and Drink

Drinking plays a very important part in Subanun social life. Gasi or pangasi is offered to a visitor of rank whether a stranger  or not. Pangasi is considered as essential as food especially during feasts. To them, it is rude to refuse the drink offered. To make pangasi, rice is pounded and then mixed with parts of certain plants like the roots of the grampic, sili fruit (pepper), ginger, roots of onions, roots of jackfruit, tungog tree, bosiyong, leaves of lindang plant, roots or leaves of pineapple, and rice husks.

The mixture is first cooked and laid aside to ferment. Later, this is made into balls and dried. These balls, termed tapay, are stored. They cook again another amount of rice. They spread this cooked rice on the mat and while it is still hot, some powdered tapay are poured into it. The mixture is laid aside for some hours (24 hours being the most) until fermentation is well underway. This mixture is called ginamon. The ginamon is poured into the bandiq (big Chinese jars) and then water is poured in to cover the ginamon. Sometimes, rice husks are not used.

The resulting liquor is drunk sooner or later according to the desired taste. The longer the liquor is kept, the stronger the intoxicating quality becomes. They flavor it with vegetable ingredients to give it a pleasant odor. Wild ginger mixed with sweet smelling herbs are mostly favored. Subanun sometimes make some beverages from sugarcane juice and alcoholic drinks from honey and millet.

In the boklog, a drinking rivalry becomes an introductory part of the gaiety. Before the drinking begins, the datu designates an influential man to tie knots in various pieces of rattan attached to the wall, in a conspicuous place, each knot representing a certain unit of value of gongs, brass, jars, or pieces of cloth. The datu then shouts to the audience that the knots represent the amount of fines which will be imposed on any man who commits offenses during the feast such as quarreling, stepping on people, and hurting the women. In case trouble arises, the man offering the drink is punished along with the culprit.

In drinking, no glass is used. Before the jars are served, there are rice straws arranged nicely by cross-sticks to keep the reeds steady. The people sip the pangasi through the reeds. They drink one at a time and after each drink water is poured in to fill up the jar. This water is poured into the jar with cups of coconut shells, each of which has a hole in the center. The hole is plugged by a finger which can be released to allow water to flow into the jar. Several cupfuls of water are added to replace the amount of drink for each one. The amount drunk by each one is carefully recorded. The drink becomes more and more diluted as the drinking continues but the drink is transferred to a fresh jar before it becomes very weak.

As the drinking proceeds, the participants become less formal and the turban is allowed to fall off. When they are quite drunk, they start reciting verses and chanting songs, especially parts of the epic, Ag Tubig Nog Keboklagan. During the drinking, big gongs are beaten together with the kolintangs for many hours at a time. The younger men, after drinking awhile, sometimes jump and dance by pairs or in a ring. Men and women join hands and dance rhythmically around the Maypole in the boklog. Men, women, and children are allowed to drink, eat and sleep in the host’s home until the feast is over.

Rituals for the Dead

One finds the Subanun united most especially in death. When the balyan has exhausted all his means to cure the sickness which they believe is caused by evil spirits, there is loud wailing and weeping in the house for sometime. The datu is informed of the death. It would not take much time for everyone in the village to know. Soon every Subanun gives his contribution, either in cash or in kind. Preparation for the funeral is then started.

Funeral customs differ from one district to another, although differences may be slight. An example is the following ritual for a dead wife narrated by Datu Agdino Andus:

The dead was cleaned first and then wrapped with a
white cloth by the balyan and then placed in a coffin
(hollow log) with some provisions. The balyan burned
incense, beat the bowl and murmured prayers. A cock was
killed and its blood smeared on all parts of the room
including the feet of every person present. This is to drive
away the evil spirits who may be present. Next, the coffin
was covered and the widower went around the coffin seven
times and under the coffin also seven times. As the dead
was carried away, the widower held on to a stump to let
the dead proceed alone to her own destination.

The coffin was brought to a grave half a mile away. In
the early days, only the coffin bearers went with the funeral.
The graves were quite shallow so that wild animals could
dig them out. It was not uncommon to see bones scattered
all about. Friends and relatives did not go with the funeral,
only the coffin bearers. Today, most of them have adopted
the Christian custom of burying the dead.
Before the coffin is placed in the grave, pieces of wood
are placed under so that the coffin would not touch the
ground. Pieces of wood and leaves are placed over the
coffin before covering it finally with earth. The people
throw the loose earth on it until it forms a mound.
After the burial, all those who went with the burial
will have to get a piece of banana petiole dipped in ashes
and then throw it away before going up the house where
they would eat, to counteract any misfortune brought by
them from the burial place. The bearers of the coffin had
to take a bath in the river before coming up the house so
that bad luck which may have been brought along with
them will be washed away.

Henceforth, every time the widower eats, he always leaves a place at the table for his dead wife and invites her to eat with him for three successive evenings. He mourns for her for a week or two or until such time when he can hold a timala or pimala (a kano for recent death). Until he holds the timala he is under strict restrictions. The timala or pimala is held to appease the spirit of the dead and to save the soul.

Some restrictions on the widower are:

1. He is prohibited from remarrying before the timala.

2. Gong-beating, which is related to happiness and other gaiety,
is not allowed.

3. No gay or loud clothing can be worn, especially red, which is
a gala color. White is their mourning color. Black also can be
used.

4. The chief mourner should not comb his hair so he looks untidy.
He should not clean himself but put on shabby clothes. He
changes clothing only after the timala for the spirit of the
dead might be slighted.

5. He cannot operate any business.

6. The mourners must always stay in the house so that their labor
is uninterrupted.

Widows, just as well, have to observe the timala restrictions. All these restrictions compel them to give a prompt performance of the timala.

The Subanun believe in life after death. The souls of the good who die go to goliqan or langit (heaven), while the bad souls go to the Mekalang (a river). As a punishment, the soul keeps on swimming in this river continuously. To save and appease the soul, the timala is performed.

While still alive, the good feel rewarded if they have good health and good crops from their kaingin. As a reminder the old folks always tell this to the living:
“Pasiya kasungka adon, paglalatan
nagmagbabayaq.”

Translated freely as:
“Always be good and Heaven
will reward you.”

This ceremony is simple. A bukar (altar, about a foot square made of bamboo or twigs) is built and rice, chicken meat, cooked eggs, tobacco and wine are placed on it. These are all cooked without salt and spices. If they like to use a binabalay (a bigger altar) they may do so. After the rites, large gongs are hung in the house and Joyfully beaten and the widower goes outside, changing his clothes. His severe mourning is over. After the pimala, he can marry again.

Boklog Puluntuh (Causing the Dead to Rise to Heaven)

The boklog puluntuh is the Subanun’s most expensive feast so that only the well-to-do could perform it. A time comes when the datu calls the entire Subanun community to hold a common boklog. Everyone contributes and the feast is prepared. This boklog takes a month or more in the preparation and lasts from five days to one week. This is not held in a house but on a platform made of bamboo and raised 10 to 18 feet from the ground. This structure sways but is supported at the comers by upright beams. At the middle, a paglaw (beam) passes through like a Maypole. Below, it reaches to a durugan (a thick hollow log as big as a large coconut trunk and almost three meters long), laid horizontally on the ground. It lies over a number of large empty earthen jars sunk in the earth, which serve as resonators to the durugan when struck by the paglaw (beam). A few leaves and sticks intersperse to prevent the jars from breaking. A long pole, serving as a crosspiece, joins the long central pole and makes it go up and down with the latter when the Subanun dance, causing a very full, loud, booming sound which reaches up to some kilometers away.

The most important features of this boklog are the feasting and drinking. The balyan and the gulilegan take charge of the ritual ceremonies. The dancing, however, is only incumbent on the balyan and the gulilegan. As long as the two perform their duties satisfactorily, they believe that the spirits are kept in a good mood and will not interfere with their gaiety. The boklog is usually performed for a death anniversary, which they remember and celebrate like Christians do, and also for the recovery of the sick, the thanksgiving after a good harvest, and for the weddings of those who can afford.

Early in May 1969, this writer personally attended the Puluntuh nog Malinatay (puluntuh for the dead) in honor of the death anniversary of Datu Agdino’s father. Puluntuh is translated by the shaman as “causing to rise,” that is, causing the soul of the dead to rise to heaven. It takes a month or more to prepare for this because of the pangasi-making which requires a much longer time.

Two little altars are built in preparation for this particular ceremony, one under the dancing platform (boklog) and another one outside. One altar is reserved for the male mEnluh and the other for the female mEnluh, The mEnluh grows malevolent, they believe, when not treated with due respect. MEnluh becomes good at times and drives the manumad, who are evil, away from the boklog.

The ceremony done, the killing of a suckling pig follows. They smear blood on the posts of the swaying platform. They invoke the Diwata Dipuksaya, believed to dwell midway between heaven and earth. Here, another altar is made where food again is served. Five gulilegans take turns, two of them women, in making the invocation. After the invocation, the five dance at one time though not more than eight times around the altar. This is followed by a ceremony on the path going to the platform. An altar is erected on.

the pathway to the datu‘s house for two birds: the tibughok and the ginaghaw whose shapes Diwata Dipuksaya sometimes takes. There is no dancing here, but the birds are invited to partake of the food. The gulilegan take turns dancing in these ceremonies for they have to perform from sunset, through the night, until the next day. The performances are continuous.

The fifth altar stands in the house of the datu. It is for the spirits mitubu or mamanwa. Aside from the usual food prepared, the mitubu is served wine while the mamanwa only water, for it does not care for wine. Diwata mitubu, the source of the stream, defends the people from the manumad or manamat.

The sixth and the last ceremony is the most important and the most colorful, though in the olden times it included inhuman acts. In this ceremony, only the widow or widower gulilegan can officiate. A big altar is put up draped with men’s and women’s clothes in the belief that the spirits of the dead will wear them. Favorite foods are placed on the altar. Burning of the incense follows. The gulilegan wraps a stick with man’s clothes (like a scarecrow) while alluding to the deceased and dancing around the altar. He is followed by another gulilegan dancing, and bearing a stick wrapped in women’s clothes, in honor also of the dead. The three dance around the altar, then take a rest, and repeat the ceremony after some minutes.

A long pause occurs. The highlight of the puluntuh, the ceremonial killing of a white cock, is to come. The cock is tied to the floor. The principal gulilegan sits near it, then sings and chants inaudibly. Slowly he loses his voice chanting and with a large stick beats the head of the cock killing it instantly. His words are inaudible and unintelligible. He refuses to repeat for the record because it will counteract the ceremony.

In the rancheria of Ley, a part of Sibuguey Bay, the Subanun there possess a tradition concerning a great chief who frequently sought relief from physical exhaustion by the sacrifice of one of his slaves whose blood and heart he consumed while these were still
warm. A mound on a steep bluff overlooking the river at Ley is claimed to be the sepulcher of the famous and greatly feared Subanun chief. This tradition, however, died away with this chief for today these Subanuns no longer follow it.

Here are the general categories of those who are considered
participants in these ceremonies and rituals:

1. Getaw– These refer to any person or persons interested to attend the offering.

2. Kanaq-kilawan- Supernaturals. These are the diwatas.

3. Gimud– Souls. These are the spirits living in trees, rivers, streams, etc., who are invoked during the offering.

4. Getaw telonan– Demons. These are the spirits living in the deep forests.

5. Manumad (manamat)– Ogres. A collective name given by the Subanun to malevolent spirits. They are malicious and stupid. They live also in thick forests, big trees, in rivers and streams.

6. Getaw SindupEn– Sunset gods. The spirits who rule the region where the sun sets. They roam about and when they are hungry cause injury to people so they will be given some offerings.

7. Mamanwa or the mitubu (goblins). Good spirits who drive away the evil ones from the feast.

8. Diwata– Skygods. Gods and spirits living beyond the earth.

9. Ocean gods- gods or spirits who rule the sea.

10. Getaw SEbangan– Sunrise gods. They rule the region where the sun rises.

11. Getaw-bayag– Underworld gods. They rule the underworld.
12. Kilawan– Mortals. The people or the sinners.

13. Sug minanu don– Functionaries. They are the ones responsible for the performance of the ceremonies.

14. Balyan (balian)- Professional functionaries.

15. Bataq balyan– Invocators. They can invoke spirits but do not have the ability to talk to them.

16. Gulang balyan or shaman– Mediums. These are the ones who can speak directly to spirits.

17. Shaman– gulilegan – These are the priests.
18. Menindoway– Interviewers. Those people who get information.
19. Sug pikanuqan don– Beneficiaries. Those who are responsible for holding the kano.
20. Sug suminawop don– Audience. The general public.

Folktales

We get a glimpse of life’s canvas through the people’s folklore which gives us ideas on their concept of creation, customs and traditions, values, behavior or character, beliefs, and oral literature. The essence of folklore can hardly be contained in a definition for it exists side by side with the people’s experiences, their physical feats, and mental skills which have been handed down orally from one generation to another.

The Philippines, since ancient times, has been known to possess a rich folklore, though this remained uncollected and unrecorded for a long time. Dean S. Fansler, professor of English, and Professor H. Otley-Beyer, anthropologist, took turns in handling  the folktale courses in the University of the Philippines before the Second World War and did a great deal of collecting through their students. After collecting from 1908-1914, Fansler was able to put out Filipino popular tales in 1921. Since that time, collectors, notably E. A. Manuel (1955a and 1955b) and many others, have followed suit. They emphasize more, however, the collection of folklore from ethnic groups.

The Subanun, like other pagan groups, have their own folklore, little of which has found its way into print, though it forms a significant part of Philippine oral tradition. Their folklore includes accounts of their customs and traditions, folktales, accounts of festivals (kano), proverbs, poems, riddles (gatok), legends and myths, and numerous folksongs (babat).

BetabEt (Myths & Legends)

  1.   Ag Teriponan Neg Mona Buwaya

Don daw denganto dig benowa neg Gayan, Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte, don neg  gido don. Ag panday megabil ngalanen si Logoloqan sarabok daig bataqen.
sa negendaw balenen merigo dig tubigan. Sa metobos merigoq enig mitagen, tanowaqan neg gonap dig posoqen. Anig balenen merigo sa megendae poq milingasa togarang.
Dagid meteranta don sa tedo merigo don demaig mitowa neg gonap dig lawasen.
Mendali tenaroqen tog bataqen endiqen na migaya megenEng dig tasan (balay neran). Sinogoqen tog bataqen balan neg balay tog tubig poq dito na pegbenowa.
Mesaqel da isya sog gembataq ampora baig matanen saba sa alanen.
Dagid sogoqan ma nog ginaqen. Mendadi megbenowa na si Logoloqan ditog diyalem nag tubig.
Tenaroqen tog bataqen bendowan sog Timuway, endig meg pedlak neg mematay metetobo dig tubigan. Dagid meglangit sog Timuway sa medengEgen, patuloy sinogoqen sog goripEn meg peglak neg menatay metetobo tog diyalem galad ni Logoloqan. Mendadi sinilabat ni Logoloqan sog menatay neg bebaqen, dayon ginebEn sog galaden. Sa memitaqen sog bataqen bisan merat dig ginanen senomalem dig tubigan. Andayon nito ag teriponan neg buwaya.

Source:
Filemon Dagongdong
Liyos Ambog

Legend of the First Crocodile

Many years ago in the village of Gayan, Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte, there lived a widow. She was a weaver named Logoloqan. She had only one son.

One day, Logoloqan took a bath in the river. After her bath, she was surprised to see a fish scale on her feet. She continued taking a bath everyday since she always felt very warm. She was surprised to note that every time she took a bath, another fish scale grew on her body.

Finally, when she had so many scales all over, she told her son that she could no longer stay in their house. She requested her son to build a fence by the bank of the river where she could live.
With tears in his eyes and sadness in his heart, the poor boy obeyed his mother. So by the river bank Logoloqan lived by herself.
There she again requested her son to tell the Timuway and his followers not to throw any dead animal into the river. At this, the Timuway got angry and asked one of his slaves to throw a dead fowl over her fence instead. Logoloqan caught the dead animal in her mouth and broke out of her fence. She bade good-bye to her son and swam away into the river. There she wandered and became the first crocodile.

2.   Ag Teriponan Nog Mona Niyog

Don neg megdoway don neg batagan. Sog gembataq meyak neg sedaqan. Mengadoy yen sa endaq idon neg sedaqan. Gamaqen boq ginaqen megsokat neg sedaqan gendaw-gendaw.
Megsala delabong sog gembataq mengadoy. Megsak neg gemay. Megsak sedaqan. Megtaroq sog ginaqen, “andon tadon daidon sedaqan. Misekeg dopiq. Endiq ita mikepenengaw sedaqen, poq medelm na.”
Kini bataq kini endiq na mesek pa mengadoy. Mendadi sog gamaqen, sog Niyog, merarat boq meminog boq megsilabo dig lupaqan.
Mingadoy sog sawanen, “Megandon ka don?” Menalap sulo sog sawanen. Pikimaniman sog sawanen dig lupaqan, dagid endiq na meta nog sawanen. Meteranta na sog sawanen. Sog gembataq mesekpa na mengadoy. Sog gamaqen enda na dema puliq.
Megsesalem ig benowa meta nog sawanen merangas neg pegimolan ditog kileboqen ni Niyog. Don naig ganitan, panganten tubilen, boq bonganen.

Sog Niyog anda na uli. Mengadoy sa gid puli sog gembataq. Po daidon neg sedaqanan. Enalap nog ginaqen sog pegseboqananen. Beneklaqen, ma nanam neg sedaqan. Ba merengas. Benigayen tog bataqen. Boq megtaroq, “an mo yen. Yon merangas neg sedaqan niya. Kin lama sog gama mo.”
Tedo denganto en neg ngaran neg gayokuwin Niyog. Eningeranen neg Niyog tedo pa tog getaw denganto kito.

Source: Pulqueria Bentilan

The Legend of the Coconut

There was a family with an only child. The child wanted some viand. He cried when he ate without viand so the father and mother had to prepare some for him all the time. One day he asked for some viand. Mother said, “Sorry, we do not have any. It is raining. We cannot go and look for some. It is already dark.”
The child kept on crying. So Niyog, the father, pitying the son, went down. He hurried downstairs. But down he fell on earth.
Mother cried, “What happened to you?” Mother got a lamp. She looked for her husband downstairs. Mother did not find him. How worried Mother was! The child kept on crying. But Father did not come back.
Early in the morning. Mother saw a beautiful plant at the place where Niyog fell. It had roots, trunk and palms.
Niyog did not come back. The child cried for food again. But there was no viand. Mother got the fruit downstairs. She split and tasted the meat. It was good. She gave it to her son. “You eat this. This is good viand for you. This is your father.”
From that time on people called that tree Niyog. Niyog was named after the lost father, Niyog.

3.    Ag Teriponan Neg Gutong

Ag gasal neg Subanen gegoden megabEl. Bisan pa nemon megabEl da sog doma. MegabEl dag baka, megabEl dag gapas.
Sog denganto donig mona enaq. Don daw wig bataqen. Gembataq kini pengeranen si Gutong. Gutong meliyag meglimit. Gendaw-gendaw balenen meglimit. Sigi lak megleksowan, manek dig gatep. Endiq sog megpitod tog ginaen. Bisan alandon mitaqen alapanan. Donig gendaw  sog ginaqen megabEl. Laong nog ginaqen, “Gutong, peglemit ta tog liyo.
Donig baleng ko dini. Tog Iiyowa peglimit gopiya. Diya peg lEkso-lEkso dinig gopido. Diya pemenek dik gatepan. Melaboqa bos dini nan.”
Indaq meben milabo sog Gotong. Milaboqoren sog balenen. Mendadi liningitan sog ginaqen. Migbaksay neg langit, “Nema mesaba mo sog baling ko.”
Pegowaden sog goyanan. Pineglaken sog goyanan tog Gutong. Megtaroq soq ginaqen, “tamo pe tuboqan ka gikog tuboqan ka neg bok. Angaya tog gorangan. Ditang ka pagbenowa.”
Mendadi sa maniya! Sog gayanan mitana tog gembata. Andaq mesano tinoboqan na bok. Empangitig gongaren. Melega ig matanen. LinomEkso tog dongawan. Mekogog. Mendadi senomampak tog giyowanen. Megodas dayon tog ginaqen. Metaroqen, “Mangayo tog gorangan. Penengaw mo lak dito sa embogaqa dinaqen.” Mendadi enito ag tereponan neg gutong tedo dig bata neg Subanen garanen si Gutong.

Source: Conchita Perlada

The Legend of the Monkey

Weaving has long been a Subano industry. Even today they are still weaving. They weave abaca fibers. They weave cotton thread also. In a village there was a mother. The mother had a naughty son. The boy was named Gutong. Gutong liked to play. He played and played all day. He jumped and jumped. He climbed the roof. He did not obey his mother. He liked to get things he could see.

One day the mother was weaving. Mother said, “Gutong, please play outside. I have work here. Outside you can play. Do not jump and jump around my work. Do not climb the roof. You might fall on my work.”

In a moment Gutong fell down. He fell into the loom.
So mother got mad. She shouted with anger. “Oh, you destroyed my work!”

She took the shuttle. She threw the shuttle angrily at Gutong cursing him. Mother said, “I hope you will have a tail; you will have hairs. Go to the forest. You should live there.”

What evil luck! The shuttle stuck to the boy’s back. Little by little hair grew on him. His face became queer. His eyes became bright. He jumped out of the window. He jumped and jumped. Then he jumped down the trees. He bade goodbye to mother. He said, “I’ll go to the forest. Find me there if you miss me.”
Monkeys are called guiong in the Subanun dialect. They originated from the naughty boy, Gutong.

4.  Ag Kalibugan Tedo dig Subanun

Sa mangaya to Kipit, meta mo ig benowa megeranen Bayangan. Sog begoden pa kini Kipit mekepenglaw pa daidon nog layen meg benowa don longkan pag Subanun. Lak pa si Timuway Sukli boq sog ngodanen Memowan boq dalag peglegetawanen.
Si Timuway Sukli embero mekison asma pegendekan nog dalag gensakopanen. Poq bisan maganto metawar embetad mekison imbantay dig ginsakopan. Ig berogqanan boq kekesonen medepit dig kereyoqan beqowa. Metiba nag geranan besiyap denen dagid endiq da embaloy.
Mendadi don nog geranon boq dalag peglegetawanen tedo pa tog Meka. Ni iliyag geran domap dig dalag Subanun balen nog goripen.

Sapulo dekso na pegoberoberay dagid endiq malap si Timuway Sukli. Liyaganen don endiq da mekolangen nog dalag Subanun.

“Sa dan poq metas peg gomoro diyo meliyag don oripenan nog gensakopanen ko,” tenaroq ni Sukli, “di niyo ami oripenay poq don daig
mibiba dinami mani pasiyag.”

“Sa kiya meliyag mampo dinami dalag geranon megtagi ita sampay somol. Liyagen tag dagat nog Bayangan pametangan nog dalag getaw nog megaped sekayan. Ayen sog dagen dig tagi ta kini papas meg megpendag.”

“Edanan ta mendaqo,” taron si Sukli. “Yaqa mag mememoras yaqa pegona.” Kini Kipit kini enig teglenganta.

Sog Salip megona ag misilag sakayan putaw enig benalen neg gendanan, linolid tog dibabaw dagat. Duwa dekso empoliq dayon mipuli dito neran. Sog dalag geranon megbeksay poq ilan na daw ig megpendag.
“Nadaw, diyan niqa na gid,” tenaroq nog Salip. “Bal niqa gekteb megagamo, po sa dagengka amo ig goripEn namo,” sara tawan Geranan megtaroq.

Monday si Sukli, megendeg tog dagat dayon menenabi. Boq miseripot sog godanen si Memowan meniyan tog gopeden. Dayon menendeg tog dibabaw nog dagat. Mada minindig dig pesaqan nog geksoden. Mipanaw megdayon peglimbaylimbay. Pigilibidlibiden sog puro nog Bayangan. Pito dekso megdayon empoliq ditog pesaqan. Megbeksay sog dalag peglegitawanen sabe liliyag mendadi sog dalag Geranon endaq pegataroqtaroq.

“Nandaw, memendag gami. Pegtinoday niyo sog dalag pegligitawan. Amo nandaw goripEn na name,” megtaroq sog dalag Subanun nog Besowan. Sog Salip boq sog gensakopen endaq pegtaroq taroq.
” Bisan ita di name oripenan ba nyo”. Inig teroqeng ko. Awo bo dala gensakopen ko megbenowa dini niyo sampay omol. Amo pegbentay ko.”
Si Timuway Sukli, ito dan mekison ma, miliyag na donn sogtoro nog Salip. Mendadi mibantay iran na di Sukli. Mendadi sog dalag getaw megdipag boq megdipag dig tubig Kipit iran meg benowa.
Sa menatay na si Sukli, sog Salip enig megligemo don sasuko dalag remetar bo dalag kebebuwan megera neran emoway di Sukli. Merengas sog Kubolen. Benal pa dig bEto neg merayo dig tubigan. Sa meg maqanto na sog dalag Subanen nog Mebilin ditog Salip megiselam na iran nog pangilanan nog kalibogan. Domag  kalibogan meta ta dig  layen benowa. Sog genda peg geselam in nandaw ig mibelen nog Subanun. Ag subanon don nog begaden bow pekisonan.” Donig dalag lagaqen tedo dig pengapo pa nog pemgapoken nog don da demig kiliwat do dalag, geranon.

Source: Giobano Bernardo, Labason Zamboanga del Norte.

The Origin of Kalibugan (From a Subanun)

If you happen to visit Barrio Kipit, you can see an island offshore. This is Bayangan Island
Long ago, Kipit and tMs island were not inhabited by people other than the Subanun. Only Timuway Sukli, with his brother Snake, and his people lived there.
Timuway Sukli was such a powerful and brave man that he was respected by all people. Because he was kind and helpful, he was loved and honored by the people very much. His bravery and power were known in near and far away places. Many Moros attempted to capture him but in vain.
Soon a Salip (a Muslim title), with his men, arrived from Mecca. They wanted to convert the natives to Islam. Timuway Sukli refused. He wanted to preserve his Subanun beliefs.

“So long as I am still alive, my people and I cannot be made Mohammedans,” Sukli said. “I  have my own customs and traditions which were handed to me by my forefathers,” he continued.

“Well, if you don’t want to be converted to Mohammedanism, let us have a contest to prove our wit. We shall cross the sea to Bayangan by foot or any means with the exception of a boat. Whoever is defeated in this contest will become a slave.”

“Well, I’ll try my best,” said Sukli. “You are the invader so you have to cross first.” Kipit Beach was the starting place.

The Salip used a big iron bowl as a means of transportation. He started. The bowl moved fast across the sea towards the island. It went two times around the island and returned to the shore. The Moros shouted and applauded, feeling assured of victory.

“Now, this is your turn,” said the Salip. “You do your best or else you will get captured and be our slaves,” said the Moros.

So Sukli stood on the sea and prayed heartily. All of a sudden his brother Snake passed by him. Then he stepped on the surface of the sea. As he stepped one foot after the other dry sand received his feet. He walked on the surface of the sea easily and swiftly. He went around the island of Bayangan seven times and returned to the shore. His people applauded with happiness while the men of the Salip remained silent.

“Now, we won the contest,” said the natives in chorus. “Your chief went by some means while our chief went by foot. You shall all be captives and be our slaves.” The Salip and his men remained speechless.

“Neither one of us could be slaves anymore. I may have this to say. My people and I will live with you here for the rest of our lives. I may adopt your own way of life.”

Timuway Sukli, who was kindhearted, agreed to the appeal of the Salip. He adopted Salip. So the two people lived side by side along Kipit river for some time.

After the death of Sukli, Salip attempted to bathe the grave of Sukli. The grave cracked and there was a violent earthquake so Salip discontinued pouring water. Some of the natives, however, were baptized. Those who were baptized were made Mohammedans now called Kalibugan.

Some Kalibugan are found in many places of the Archipelago. Those who refused to be Mohammedans, have remained as of now Subanun.

 

5.   Uma Ig Baboy Man ma Pegemolan

Don daw denganto Subanen migbenowa dig geksod gorangen. Don neg meka benalanen pegimolan nog ratpenganen. .

Sala megendaw initaqen sog dala pegemolanen longkan na lak daw ganit. Paglikan na baboy talon. Sala bagiyen pegbintayanen sog benalanen. Eniglodanen boq megpitang nog terawanen. Andaq meben diya na sog dala baboy talon. Donot penongkalen sog dala gonEd enanen sog donen. Linengetan sog Subanen. Eninaten sog torawanen donot tenegbakanan sog meselagdon. Misogat soglawas nog baboy dagid mikegebek pa dig merayo.

Tenentol dema nog getaw sog dogo nog tenegbakanen sompay menatang dig lipo. Don meg goway mengentobo ditog lipo kini. Enowoten megdayon menangay tog diyalem pegonotenen ig dogo. Sa menatang na tog goksed nog lipo en neg menitagen ag mekigorang pegbelilid dig toroganen. Meteranta sog Subanim mansi don nog ganeren kini ma sog mekegorang. En meg meqenaqanaqen mansi meglekan tog benalanen kini megorang kini. Sambot kinayangen sog karisan penotolsinen agolo sog mekegorang.

Tebaqan domanen minita neran sog kepatay nog konotan neran. Mitaksiya da neran negembero da siya. Sa ma niya geneted neran sog Subanim. Dayon gomabek sog Subanun en lak mekita don sog gembata memenowa. Menatengaran tog dibabaw, en neg medengeg neran ag dala beksay subay daw endiq na mengentubo sog goway. Anen da neran ag pegemula nog Subanun.

Dito mesonay nog mona Subanun ig baboy menambelongen deg memenowa ditog kontan neran.

Source: Patricia H. Zamora

Why Pigs Eat Root Crops

There was once a Subanun who lived near a forest. He had a small farm planted to root crops.

One morning he found some dug-up roots. They were eaten by wild pigs. The following night he watched over his farm. He hid on a tree stump with his spear. At last the wild pigs came. They ate the root crops and even the leaves. The Subanun got mad. He took his spear and speared the biggest one. He hit the body, but the pig was able to run away.

The farmer traced the drops of blood from the pig till he reached a cave. There was a rattan growing at the bottom of the cave. He went down there and saw traces of blood. When he reached the bottom of the cave he saw an old man lying in bed. The Subanun was surprised to see the deep wound and fresh blood of the old man. He believed that this was the pig that ate all his crops. He drew his bolo and cut the neck of the old man.

All the relatives of the old man heard of the death of their leader. They avengened their brave leader. They chased the Subanun farmer. But when they were climbing, the rattan was cut by the Subanun. Only a mother fairy and her son survived. With a loud voice they shouted and promised to kill the Subanun and eat all his rootcrops when the rattan grows.

The Subanun believe that wild pigs are fairies that avenge the death of their leader.

 

6.   Sog Nonok tog Sicayab

Sog denganto pa, Diwata megregit digkilawan. Ag dala getaw megpematay. Sog dala gimud misigwag dig dala gembenowanan. Ag doma megbenowa dig Sinipaqan boq dig tubig. Sog doma ma pituboqen. Sog duma dig gorangen.

Dig Dipolog don neg baryo pengilongan Sicayab. Tog Sicayab don nog gembagel nonok don. Pengindikan nog dala getaw. Poq pegbinuwanen daw mEmenwa. Sa mendawan, medeng-eg tatengteng nog pangan sa linsag wala dig gabi. Megrimet nog piyano. Mekitawa eran, mengembarot ig gins.

Ag dalag getaw mendak meg perani dito. Megpitod iran don niyamEmenwa (mamanwa).

Source: Lourdes Torrino, Sindangan

The Balete Tree of Sicayab

Long ago, God punished the people. The people died. Their souls went to different places. Some lived in the brooks and rivers. Some lived as animals. Others lived in trees.

In Dipolog, there is a barrio named Sicayab. In Sicayab there is a balete tree. The people are afraid of it. They fear the spirits living there. During full moon the spirits make merry after the bell rings at eight o’clock in the evening. They make sweet music. They laugh. They dance. The air becomes sweet.

The people are afraid to go near it. They believe that there are spirits living there.

 

Gokayton (Folktales)

 

7.   Si Ibid boq si Likpaw

Don daw dengan to gibid boq likpaw megsambat boq migbales ilan daw patik. Denganto pa pengriroken ni Likpaw ag lawas nog gibid. Petangas ni Likpaw sog yanog gibid. Pengrirokanen sog gibid nog medarag, melonaw boq metem. Megtaro sog likpaw, “endiqa perigo sa gabi.”

Dadi sinmokle sog gibid. Rinerukanen dema sog likpaw. Ag kenoroken tog Likpaw metem boq gemputi.

Mitakaw neran medengog ag gosig. Andaq metobos nog gibid menlgkso iran dayon dig tubigan.

Tedo denganto sampay nandaw ig Likpaw sa mekedengig nog gosig gito menglikso dig tubigan sog gibid endaq empareng sog kosoken poq puti pase senomampak dig tubig menegan paig sa gabi. Mesanag gopya ay kerok nog Likpaw poq ma mogasay nog kisampak nog likpaw endiq ma nog gibid.

 

The Ibid and the Likpaw

(The Big Lizards)

Once upon a time Ibid and Lipkaw (two lizards) agreed to color one another. They gathered dyes.

Lipkaw painted the body of Ibid. Lipkaw used the best design. He painted Ibid yellow, green, and black.

Lipkaw said, “Do not take a bath for a day.”

Then Ibid did his turn. He painted Lipkaw also. He painted Lipkaw black and white.

Suddenly a dog barked. Ibid was disturbed and began to paint Lipkaw faster. They they both jumped into the water.

From that time on and the until now the big lizards swim in the water when they hear a dog bark.

Lipkaw’s design was coarse. It was coarse because it was hurriedly done. However, Lipkaw has a brighter color than Ibid because Ibid’s was washed before the day was over.

 

Source: Giobano Bernardo, Labason, Zamboanga del Norte.

 

8.    Ag Bulatok GoripEn Nog Koo

Sog begodan pa megsambat ma siyag Bulatok boq Koo.

Mendadi sogmegduway nog koo, meg balilan megsalag neran dig pokot nog belagen. Mendadi sa meningemo na sog koo, gilaqen may nog bulatok. Indaq meban mesonan nog koo boq mesekopanEm dayon. Migbisala iran dayon  tog tipole, endaq pekegaya sog bulatok. Endayon nog selaqan nog bulatok, megbal nog koo, megluwang nog gayo. En mendaqo ig bulatok megbal nog salag nog koo, menglowang nog gayo.

Source: Dyamelon from Sioran.

The Bulatok, a Slave of Kalaw

Once upon a time, the kalaw and the bulatok were close friends.

Once a kalaw couple made a nest among the vines. When the kalaw laid eggs, the bulatok took them. Not long after, the kalaw caught the thief. The case was brought before the eagle who was responsible for settling their problems.

The bulatok was found guilty and he was sentenced to be a slave of the kalaw. He was to make a nest for the kalaw as soon as the kalaw had bored a hole in the tree.

 

9.   MEngluh boq Maya

Endiq meketorog sog mEngluh saba taroq meg dala maya. Dayon daw okapay nog mEnluh sog sarabok maya. EnemenEn dayon sog maya kini. Laong nog maya, “diq mo daliqanay, kemEngluh.”

Metaroq sog mEnglu penginod poq mendek don sa mekegowa sog maya.

“Megoksog poq dali,” laong nog maya. Tenomko sog mEngluh.

Laong nog maya, “Nemong laong ito da ina torogtorog nilan.” Miginod sog mEnglu, “oo—oo—oo.”

“Nemon nito sa ina bebehlid na iran.” Mengenod sa gosay. Mengenod da gosay sog mEnglu.

“Nemon nito si ina boq amaq megikep na iran.” Meketawa sog mEnglu, ha—ha—ha—ha—ha—ha. Endiq do sinipitay poq meratan.” Lenomayog dayon sog maya sa meketawa sog mEngluh.

Source: Itip from Sioran.

The Giant and the Maya

The giant could not sleep because the maya were very noisy one day. So, he snatched one of them and put it in his mouth. The maya pleaded, “Please do not eat me yet.” The giant nodded, “Oo—oo—oo— 00,” for fear that the maya might escape. “I have a story to tell you,” and the giant nodded again. The maya said, “By this time Mother and Father must be going to sleep already.” The giant nodded. “Now Mother and Father must be lying down already,” and the giant nodded. “Now Father and Mother must be embracing already,” and the giant laughed loudly and said, “Don’t continue, that is indecent.” The maya immediately flew away.

 

10.    Susoq boq gosa magbanta

Begoden megsambat peg gosa boq susoq sog mona pag tempo. Sog gosa linomebog dig sapaq meteba susoq don.

Laong nog susog, “patEd, meglomba ita gomabak.” Meketawa sog gosa, “yaqa miliyag meglumbaq?” Laong nog susoq, “mata, sula megrikirado yaqa da gosay ig mesikad?”

“Andon meg bato ta? laong nog gosa. Daidon ma lak, basta iposan ta sa ita ig dagen dinita,” laong nog susoq.

“Sa somEbang ig bulan police dini poq meglumba ita.” laong nog susoq.

Megbisala dayon meg dala susoq. Sa meg baksay sog gosa, megsembag giran. Andaq meban senomebang ig bulan boq mitowa sog gosa. Laong nog gosa, “na patEd, toreponan ta na.”

“Wa-a ba menebEn na ami mengandam,” migtaroq sog susoq.

Dayon neran meglumba. Ginomabak dayon sog gosa dig pEntad nog sapa. Megebik sog gosa manga duwa binalan, megbaksay dayon, patEd susoq, ayenka ma? “Kini do,” laong sog susoq. KaliqEn iposay
mitaqen sog susoq tog sapa. Gumabak na giday, mga pat binalan dagid dito da padon sog susoq. Saba lingit nog gosa, pensotenen sog dalag susoq, poq dininlotEn na sog dilaqen saba baktosan. Inig tereponanen, neg susuq sa tempo sebang endiq gomowa poq mendek dig gosa.

Source: Monmon from Sioran.

The Deer and the Snail

A long time ago, the deer and the snail were close friends. Once, the deer went to the stream where there were many snails.

The snail said, “Brother, let us have a race.” The deer laughed, “You want to race with me?”

“Why not, is it because I am slow and you are fast?” said the snail.

“What shall be our bet?” asked the deer.

“Nothing, just to see who will win,” said the snail. “Come back during a moonlit night.”

At once all the snails gathered to confer. When the deer shouted at them, they shouted back.

At last the moonlit night came and the deer went to the snail saying, “Let us start our race, brother.” Oh, yes, we have been waiting for you.”

They started and the deer ran as fast as he could. When he had to run a Kilometer he shouted, “Friend snail, where are you?” The snail answered right there on the spot where he stood.

The deer ran again almost four kilometers. He shouted at the snail and there there it was before him.

The deer got angry and he squashed all of them. This is the reason why snails do not go out on moonlit nights.

 

11.    Ag Manok-Manok Kulago, Na Meg Tuyod Ma

Sog begadon pa gendaw don neg gido libon, megbenowa tog dadaqen. Pegorapan ma ni a sog gembataq, po daidon neg megorangen.

Donig teinpo, sinogo megorang sog gembataq, “angayaq tog lekaw,” laong nog Dadaqen. Sa mekaqEn dagid sog dala gutong dito, diyali dim poq pitayengko yaqa.

Mipanaw sog genbatag andaq tanan pegelemonsal, ito dan goripEn ma. Sa menatang tog mesan, inig medetenganEn sog dalag tugong dito peglekan na nog dalag mais. Benogaw nog gembatag dagid eni ma megpetod sog dala gutong.

Endaq meben diya na sog Dadaqen, migpataypatay lenget, poq moma endaqen ma bogaway sog gutong. Dagid mitakesiqan da tanan nog Dadaqan.

Pegbentolbentol nog Dadaqen sog gembataq taman endiq na mekegina. Meteranta sog Dadaqen poq sog gembataq tenoboqan mag bimbol, emgnga ig matanen, donig gektokan. Mibaloy dayon nog manok neg kulago.

Inito ig tereponan nog manokmanok kulago sog bata kini.

Ami dalag Subanun migpetod dig kulago sa megtaroq, di meben domg matay, poq megtuyod ma.

Source: Liyos, the informant.

The Owl, the Bird that Curses People

Once upon a time, there was an orphan living with his aunt. He was treated harsly by the aunt.

One day, he was ordered by the aunt to watch the cornfields. “Go to the cornfields and watch carefully for the monkeys might come and eat the corn,” said the aunt. “If the monkeys eat them I will kill you.”

The boy left without without breakfast. He was being treated like a slave. As he arrived, the monkeys were already eating the corn. He drove them away but the monkeys ignored him.

Not long after this, his aunt arrived and became very angry at the sight of the monkeys eating the corn. She whipped the boy so hard he  fell unconsious. She was surprised to see that the boy grew feathers, his eyes were big, round and sharp and he had a long beak. He became an owl. That was the beginning of the owl.

The Subanun believe that when the owl hoots it is cursing the people so that the death of someone in the community soon follows.

 

12.    Ag Melibegon Dinomato

Donig bego megdoway milibigon sog laki. Mendadi meglegebo iran dig buwid gorangen, adon daidon nog bawang neran. Sa maniya na kiya, megbenowa na iran dirog benowa neran poq endiq ma tonen miligay ig laki kini sa eponan pag langaw sog sawanen.

Don nog gindaw metektaken neran nog masin boq sadaqan. Laong nog sawanen, “Ale daidon nog masin ta boq sedaqan, usoga.”

Menosog dayon sog lakenan. Tog dalan iran don nog mesalag nonok. Maglanan don nog laki kini kenebit dig likod, dayon meglingay. Mitaqen ag merengas libon begat. Megtaroq sog libon diya mendak, donot tenendoqen sog nonok, sadarok mibaloy magbalay neselag. Laong nog dim poq pitayengko yaqa. libon kini, “ayenka anpy?” Laong nog laki, “Mangayo, menabo.”

“Pemonon ko yaqa”, laong nog begat ini, “Taroq mo tog lakeyo moliq di poq megbataqo mesait neg teyangko.” Donot tenoranan nog libon begat sog laki nog gangit bayo.

“Umani,” laong nog laki. “Inon sog mekawa nog rerong nog memenowa,” laong nong nog libon.

Mendadi endaq na pegeben sog laki, poq merart ma tog libon kini. Endaq mebEn medayag na nog laki sog taboqan. Mendadi eniginompitin sog tenoro nog libon kini ayen sog mitas getaw dito nog lumakpaw dig taboqan inito sog sawanen.

Midayag tito nog laki kini sog getaw nog mitas pagsobwat nog salapi belisanen nog don gayo. Pegtoqosan nog laki kini megpomping dig poq nog niyog. Enig metaqen telo lompokan nog salapi nog linompok nog laid memenowa.

Anda mebEn medelendem nog laki melegibon sog gangit benigay nog libon begat.

Kinebitan megdayon sog laki memenowa, meglanantan, “Mona mitamoniya?” laong nogmitas laki. “Bigayan mo nog sawamo nog gangit nog gayo, poq moliqa daw mesait tog tiyanen megbataq daw. “Ayan ma sog gangit gayo?” laong nog laki mitas. “Kini da,” donot pinita nog laki senogo sog gangit gayo.

Sinelabit nog memenowa sog gangit gayo, “uliq mo dinan,” alap mo na kito salapi kiya, tedo lumpokan. Dengan misilabit nog getaw mitas sog gangit gayo endaqen na dayon meta sog memenowa.

Gnmabak dayon moliq sog laki malibigon pagpisan nog sako mipeno nog salapi. Endaq na tanan saloy nog masin saba liliwagen. Inito dayon tereponanen dinomato iran, boq megawa Iran dayon tog bego neran poq mendek iran elapen poliq nog memenowa.

Source: Dyamelon of Sioran.

A Jealous Husband Gets Rich

Once there was a couple. The husband was a jealous man. They steyed in a cave in the mountain so they would not have neighbors, They lived a very miserable and lonely life. The husband wouldn’t even allow a fly to land on his wife.

There was a time when they ran short of salt and viand. The wife said. We have no more salt and viand; you go down and buy some.”

At once he left and passed by a big balete tree. He was surprised when someone touched his back. He looked back and saw a pretty pregnant woman. The woman said, “Fear not,” pointing to the balete tree which turned into a palace. The woman asked, “Where are you bound for?”

“To the cockpit to buy our needs,” he replied.

“May I ask you to tell my husband to come home. I am feeling labor pains.” She gave him three bundles of roots.

“What are these for?” asked the man.

“So you will see my husband, the mamanwa,” said the woman. He didn’t tarry for he pitied the woman.

Not long after that, he saw the man described by the wife as the tallest of all the people inside the cockpit. He was gambling. He received money and replaced them with leaves.

The man hid behind a coconut and looked at the mamanwa and went to him who exclaimed in surprise, “Why can you see me?”

“Your wife gave me roots to make you visible to me so I can relay to you the message that your wife is feeling labor pains.”

“Give me back the roots,” and the mamanwa snatched them from the man. The man could not see him an5nnore. He took the bundles of money and went home at once. The couple left their home in the cave and moved to another place where they will be away from the mamanwa.

Introduction to the Epic,
Ag Tubig Nog Keboklagan

During the first week of May 1968, this writer went to Sindangan to ask Datu Agdino Andus if they would be holding another boklog (this writer had already attended previous boklogs). At that time they were already preparing some pangasi, gagongs and kolintangs which were brought to the datu’s house, and many were giving their contributions for the great event. They told this writer to be back on the 14th of the month so she would have enough rest since the rites would be started on the16th.

Equipped with camera, tape recorder, and provisions, this writer, with her husband. Col. F. C. Ochotorena, proceeded to the place. It was in that revelry where she heard Liyos Ambog sing the epic which bewildered the audience, since the singing was continuous from early evening up to about one or two o’clock in the morning. She only stopped when she needed some pangasi to clear her throat. The song continued off and on for several days but the writer could not record the song because of the noise made by the Subanun when they shout and danced on the boklog, the sound of the gagongs and kolintangs, and the sound of the durugan. This writer proposed to record it in the house of Liyos in Bunawan, Salug (some 20 or 25 kilometers from Sindangan).

During the one week celebration of the boklog, she took time to interview the bEgelal (respectable men in the Subanun society). At times she had to stop the interviews to attend rites. Lieut. Lucas Sumaoy and Sgt. Galicano Enrico, whom her husband requested to come along, helped her in the interviews.

The epic was finally recorded on the third of November, 1968, during the semestral break. It took time to start since the singer at first seemed to show some discomfort and refused to sing. After some time, she got adjusted to the situation and the final taping was done.

The tapes used were small rolls so that frequent stops had to be made in the changing of the tapes; also, the noise of the crowd prompted us to go off and on for some time. Even if we made several stops the chanter never got lost. The whole epic recorded consumed forty-eight rolls of tapes. The taping started usually at seven in the evening and went up to one or two o’clock in the morning. Sometimes it was started at eight and ended at three. The writer lost no time in recording the song because the old woman was sickly. Just after the recording, the old woman had a breakdown. The writer had to take her to her home in Dipolog City to put her under the care of a physician. After a month, Liyos was able to go home.

A Family of Epic Singers. Subanun love to listen to this epic but no one else can fully sing it today. No one cares to memorize it. Mongkos, the older brother of Liyos, used to sing it but he is too old and sickly to sing now. Liyos’ children, Dyamelon, Lopya, and Minda can sing only little portions of the epic. Liyos’ ancestry takes pride in the fact that they are the only ones who can fully sing this epic.

Ocnip, the informant’s father, died a centenarian in 1962, while his wife, Anaya, died at the age of 80 in 1956. Today, Liyos, the thirteenth generation from their remotest ancestor, Banug, is the lone singer of this epic among the Subanun in Zamboanga del Norte. In her younger days, she sang to the accompaniment of a kutapiq (a two-stringed instrument) which she herself played. Now older, she seldom plays her musical instruments.

Liyos chants the epic with flair and relish during evenings, but she does it languidly at daytime. As a matter of fact, she does not want to chant the epic at daytime. In the evening the silence allows her voice to float in the air, which arouses in her the spirit to chant. She rarely uses an expressive modulation of her voice so that her chanting becomes matter-of-fact. But there are staccato effects in the chanting. This style of singing and the fact that the epic narrates an adventurous love story, full of the courage of their own people who were endowed with supernatural powers in the past, attract Subanun of all ages to listen to the epic. The audience keeps alive and gay so that the singer would not feel drowsy.

The epic Ag Tubig Nog Keboklagan identifies the Subanun in more than one, aspect of their culture, including their customs and religious beliefs, their manner of dress, speech, and character as a people with poetic insight and lyrical taste. It depicts the beginnings of their kinship with the Muslims.

Most of the places mentioned in the epic have more names than one, simply because it is traditional among the Subanun to name these places according to meaningful events, beauty, or the nature of the things or people therein. The various names given to a place in the poem render the lines more poetic, thus fitting their desire and poetic purpose at the same time that they are given more freedom of expression.

Sindangan is variously called Sirangan, Minirangan, or Limakwasan, all of which mean “land of the rising sun.” Keboklagan (refers to Cotabato) means “a kingdom that cannot be trampled upon by the ignorant” (here referring to the Subanun). The Muslims believed and were aware that they were more advanced in culture than the former.

Dibaloy (meaning “on the other side”) is Zamboanga del Sur province; Walo-Sabang or Tonagan (meaning “melting place”) is Lanao, the place of the Maranaw Muslims who are very famous for brassworks like brass trays, brass wall decorations, big brass vases, etc. As far as the informant and the Subanun people are concerned, this epic is an oral lore handed down from generation to generation since the time of their ancestor Banug, the earliest ancestor that Liyos can recall.

The epic depicts Subanun customs, beliefs, and traditions and also their social intercourse with the Muslims. Their customs and traditions are vividly and richly illustrated, giving the reader a clear idea of their lives in the past. Foremost among these is their belief in sacrificing a person as an offering to the spirits. Timuway suddenly cut off the head of one of his men in the boat when it refused to glide over the salty waters. Their boat was described as having a crocodile front and a snake-tail, with carved sides and fully decorated. This shows that the people are lovers of intricate designs and have an artistic taste and feeling. This artistic sense can also be seen in their colorful way of dressing which almost imitates that of the Muslims’.

In their daily activities, mamaq (betel chew) is indispensable to them, it being a symbol of their hospitality. It is even considered food by most of them and is shown in many parts of the epic. Most of them eat very little, then take their time for the mamaq.

Dowry in marriage is clearly shown when Taake offered his own to the bride. Polygamy is also practised, as evidenced when later determined based on the content and action when the epic was their God, Asog, announced that Taake will have a first and second wife.

Prominently shown is the relationship between the Magindanaw (Muslims under the sultanate of Magindanaw) and the Subanun. Though there had been conflicts in the past, many Subanun men have married Maguindanaw women and out of those unions came people known as the Kalibugans.

Trade with the Muslims, which has been going on for many years, is likewise depicted in the epic, their principal attraction and interest among the Subanon products being upland rice.

There is a vivid depiction of their boklog which still exists in all Its realism during the celebration of weddings and other feasts promised to the deities. The virtues of their women: shy, modest simple, and industrious are also described.

The epic is composed of 7,590 lines. This writer, for convenience divided it into eight songs: (a) Death and Birth in Two Families; (b) Childhood at Sirangan; (c) Love and Courtship at Keboklagan, (d) Taake and Tomitib’s War at Keboklagan; (e)Rendezvous with Death in Walo Sabang; (f) A Brief Sojourn at Pampang Gogis Bulawan; (g) Rest and Merriment in the Kingdom of Dibaloy; and (h) Return to Sirangan.

The stanzas, however, are irregular. Most of them are kilometric, ranging from four to thirty lines or even more. This is so because it is conversational, repetitious and full of stereotyped phrases. Much difficulty was met in the determination of stanzas because neither in the pausing, the breathing nor the halting in the chanting can the stanza be determined. The singer stops wherever her voice and her breathing, allows her to stop. The phrases Diyan ta padaw giday (At this time), Dayon (Then), Patuloy (Continue), Sadinan ta pema don (At this instance), and many others serve as leading words to start a line though this is not true in all cases. The stanzas were later determined based on the content and action when the epic was being transcribed.

In her interview with the informant the researcher was able to establish three generations of singers. Liyos, the informant, learned the song from her mother, Anaya; Anaya learned it from her mother, Sapar. Sapar was only six years old when she learned the song according to Liyos. Liyos usually sings this epic in festivals except when sometimes invited by some groups of Subanun to sing even if there is no important occasion at all because they enjoy listening to her. Oftentimes she is invited to sing at Sindangan proper by the Subanun there. According to Liyos, Ag Tubig Nog Keboklagan has another melody. She prefers however, the melody she used earlier. She shakes with laughter when asked to use the other melody. Asked why, she does not give any reason but keeps on refusing.

Liyos Ambog

Liyos Ambog was bom in Lipakan, Salug, Zamboanga del Norte to a known Subanun couple, Oknip and Anaya. The couple were bEgelal (that is, they held high positions in Subanun society), Oknip, being a gulilegan (shaman) during his time and Anaya, a gomanoman (minstrel).

The year of Liyos’ birth is not known because, during that time, the Subanun cared not about their birthdays. However, today she claims she is sixty-five or more. If this is accepted, then she must have been bom sometime in 1905. Her two brothers used to be good epic singers, too, but she is the only one persisting to this day, the two being too sickly and too old to sing.

Liyos had a great, great grandfather, Batug, who was gigantic, according to tradition, but whose brothers and sisters were of normal sizes. Batug was the fourth generation from their ancestor Banug, the remotest ancestor they could recall. Batug was not married because no woman of his size could be paired with him. Batug’s grave can still be found in Lipakan. This is marked by bamboo trees which serve to indicate his size. The grave is more or less ten meters. According to Liyos his breast measured seven palms in breadth from nipple to nipple. During the time when Subanuns were threatened by the Moros, Batug would go to the sea and seize the kumpit (Moro boat) and throw it away, drowning the Moros. The Moros feared this giant.

During the eighth generation of Liyos’ ancestry, the Spaniards came and Litan Banug became a Kapitan (captain). Their eleventh generation ancestor, Godok, was the first Subanun to pay his cedula dunng the Spanish regime. Liyos’ father, Oknip, was of the twelfth generation and was endowed with supernatural powers, for he could transform himself into any size he liked. Liyos partly learned the song Ag Tubig nog Keboklagan at the age of five and the whole of it at the age of eight but she was not allowed by her mother to sing alone in feasts until she was twelve. According to Liyos, this epic has been handed down from generation to generation until it was learned by their family. Since then, Liyos’ ancestry has been known in Subanun society for their ability to sing this epic.

Aside from epic chanting, Liyos also sings the Cambanaq and the Ginarong, plays Subanun instmments and dances well. She plays the following:

1. kutapiq – This is a two-stringed instrument.

2. killing — This is a bamboo instrument equivalent to a harmonica. Sometimes it is called suling.

3. tanggab – Sometimes this is called sanggab. It is an instrument of bamboo with three holes on the upper part and a hole below, aside from the mouthpiece. This is like a flute.

4. sigitan – This is a bamboo instrument with five strings made out of the bark of the bamboo itself. One end of the instrument has a node while the other has a hole. When playing, the hole is covered with the left hand in close-open motion, while the right beats the strings with a small stick. The instrument gives a bass sound.

Liyos married Selmo and has three children: Lopya, Minda, and Dyamelon, the youngest son who helped the writer in the transcription and the translation of the epic. Liyos lives with her son in Bunawan, Salug, Zamboanga del Norte where they found a good forest for kaingin until in 1970 they moved farther to Sioran.

Translation

The hardest problem encountered in translating Subanun is to adequately render meaning in English. The writer believes that a correct translation carries over both the sense of the original and the power of such originality.

A word-for-word translation was attempted at first but the writer soon became beset with difficulty since there are words that are untranslatable to English. What became more practical later was a line-by-line translation. In instances where a word had no English equivalent, a descriptive phrase or clause was used instead.

Untranslatable words, especially names, were retained and provided with footnotes. Some words are already archaic and are not used ordinarily in Subanun daily conversation. In such cases, the help of old Subanuns was asked. Mongkos, Kamoy, Baqeg, Iset, and others helped the writer in this regard.

Although translations cannot be fully exact because of the morphological and lexical differences of languages, and the different social and cultural backgrounds, yet, the writer feels confident enough to say that attempts at being faithful were made and so no major deviations from the original occurred.

The Summary of the Epic

Timoway, a datu of Sirangan, had a wife who was about to give birth. But he wanted to go to other places to sharpen the tools of chiefs and increase his source of livelihood. His wife refused because there was no one to assist her during childbirth. But her husband insisted, since they did not have anything to provide their child with. So the wife finally consented.

Timoway left with Kasanggolan (a datu of lower rank who acts as an assistant to a higher datu) and fifteen of his men from the kingdom. Upon arriving on the shore, he arranged his men and soon they were ready to go when the boat refused to move. They believed it wanted first a sacrifice. Timoway cut off the head of one of his companions and soon the boat glided over the sea as fast as it could.

They dropped by the place of Sakabandar whose wife was also pregnant. Despite her condition, he also departed with Timoway.

While they were on the deep sea, Diwata Pegdaraman, the goddess of the wind, lightning and thunder saw them. She invited them to her place but they refused. Pegdaraman got mad. She sent wind and thunder. Big waves appeared on the sea and their vessel broke into two. They all perished.

The boat, though broken, still sailed back to Sirangan and informed Timoway’s wife of the incident. The wife wept until she felt labor pains. She gave birth to a baby boy at the same time as the wife of Sakabandar.

Timoway’s son grew fast at night and became handsomer in daytime. At seven months, Taake cried aloud without stopping and this disturbed the whole of Sirangan. Gongs (gagong) were beaten and so each one went to their place to help. Just then the baby spoke and asked his mother if he had a father, and that if he had, what his occupation was, what he did everyday, and whether his death was caused by an offense committed by someone. When the boy knew the real story, he was glad that his father died without being killed by anyone.

His mother later gave Taake the hook and line, his inheritance from his father. With this he went fishing in their kingdom’s waters. With the help of some powers, he caught binfuls of fish. He was soon famous for fish.

One time, he asked clothes from his mother because he decided to go fishing in farther waters. This surprised the decided to go fishing in farther waters. This surprised the mother since he had gone fishing for a long time but never did he ask or some clothes. He told her he was ashamed because he often met some Visayan and Muslim girls.

He ventured to fish again. This time he sailed to the deepest water. There he saw a fish as big as a hill with golden scales. He caught the fish as big as a hill with golden scales. He caught the fish with his hook but it pulled harder. It pulled and pulled him for seven months on the water. On the seventh month Taake heard the explosion and roar of the big waves. He was then in the deepest part of the sea. An eel barred his way. The eel told him to go home for the place was dangerous  and added that it was willing to conduct him home to Sirangan. He struck the eel instead  with his sword and the eel drowned. More  big waves came and later Taake lost his balance and fell into the deep sea. He went down, until he saw a shore under the water and there saw a horse with his hook and line in this mouth. He ran after the horse with his bolo but it ran away.

Here, at Keboklagan he looked around and saw a high tow He ran up the ladder made of golden blades till he reached the top. He saw a beautiful girl almost undressed. When she saw him, the lady of Pintawan invited him and offered him mamaq (betel quid). They chewed, and day by day he wooed her. After seven days of wooing, she consented to his plea of marriage and they lived together.

The news about the Subanun was soon known by Towan Salip Satoron and Sorotan Domatong. Angered they were and they summoned the people through their gagong to make Taake their sacrifice.

The lady of Pintoqan who was like a sister to the lady of Pintawan (wife of Taake) told Taake and his wife to return to Sirangan. Taake refused on the ground that he had not done anything wrong. He wanted to face the datu and explain his presence there. But the people of Keboklagan were already preparing to kill him. So he had no other recourse but to fight, and with his strength, coupled with his supernatural powers, he fought.

Back in Sirangan, a datu named Tomitib Manaon, dreamed that he saw a Subanun fighting alone in the Keboklagan kingdom.  He prepared to leave in order to help him. He went to see if Taake was at home but the  sons of Balo Laki and Bata Tubig informed him that they had not gone to his home for sometime. He proceeded to Keboklagan while tlie other two datus followed. Immediately, Tomitib mshed to the place where Taake was fighting and fought hard and dashed at Soroten Domatong until Domatong fell. Taake saw Tomitib and stopped him. He confronted the latter and asked him why he immediately fought without inquiring about the cause of the fight.

Later, when the girls of Keboklagan saw Saulagya Maola, a datu of the place, coming, they explained to him the whole cause of the trouble. Maola remembered a promise he made to his sister, the lady of Pintawan, that anyone who can go up the ladder of karis will marry the girl, be it a dog or a pig. He then called all his datu to a conference and told them about the promise. But, the datu wanted to fight. So Saulagya divided Keboklagan into two, the other half belonging to him agreeing not to participate in the fight. On the other hand, Tomitib Manaon asked Saulagya Maola if he could marry the girl of Pintoqan. Before Saulagya could answer the lady turned Tomitib down for his rough manners. Without any excuse, Tomitib Manaon ran to the crowd and began to fight once more. When the datu of Liyo-Liyo saw the fight, he rode on his horse and went to the battleground. As the fight went on Saulagya Maola kept on beating the gong and the kolintang. The people fought hard while the datu of Liyo-Liyo and Tomitib Manaon were engaged in a hand-to-hand fight. They continued until all the people died. All the Sirangan datu then proceeded to other kingdoms to fight some more.

They marched to the kingdom of Dibaloy. They challenged its chief, Bataqelo, to a fight. Lilang Diwata, sister of Bataqelo, gave Taake a name. He called him Malopanyag meaning, “he fights in all places.” In this kingdom, Taake and Tomitib led the fight until half of the people died. Then they felt pity for the place so they proceeded to another kingdom. They passed by the kingdom of Pimarisan because the people of that kingdom were their kin. Then they went to the kingdom of Todongtodong. Here, they were invited first to a mamaq session before they started to fight. They fought hard until all in the kingdom became lifeless.

All the conquering datu convened and agreed to move on to the kingdom of Walo Sabang ruled by Egdodan Magsorat and Egdodan Sebagan. The eight datu refused to fight and instead they let only their subjects fight. The subjects fought hard but their datu just looked at them. The Sirangan datu were surprised to see that as many men as were cut became alive again. After seven months of fighting, Taake became tired and fell asleep on the battleground. Tomitib fought alone. Just then Taake dreamed of a pretty girl telling him to go to the Walo Sabang pintawan, in the guise of Towan Salip Palasti’s face to get their powerful medicines. He followed every instruction until he succeeded. When he came back, the people whom they felled did not retum to life anymore.

The datu of Walo Sabang knew that Taake had in his possession their powerful medicines so they were helpless. But then Tomitib fell dead on the battleground. Taake became depressed for he was alone, but with the help of the ladies of Keboklagan, who were equipped with supernatural powers, Tomitib came to life once more. The fight then continued until all the datu of Walo Sabang died.

Asog this time looked down and saw that the other world, the world of sinners, was very quiet for there was no life and no fire burning. He went down to earth and told Malopanyag to stop fighting and to return to Sirangan. Upon Arrival, Asog urged him to hold a boklog where each of them would be given his parter in life. Asog fanned the kingdom and all those who had died lived again.

All the datu finally agreed to go home. Upon their arrival at Sirangan, they saw that Taake’s mother was dying because she was pining and longing for her son. When Taake kisses his mother and told her he was her son, she recovered. The whole kingdom of Sirangan came to life, trees stirred, birds sang and everything became alive. They prepared the boklog afterwards. When it was through, all the datu of different kingdoms were invited and there they weregiven partners in life by their god, Asog.