The terms 'awit' and 'corrido' are both related to music.

'Awit' is the Tagalog word for song while the

Spanish word 'corrido' means "a metrical story, usually sung to the accompaniment of a guitar, in
fandango style (Fansler 1916:204). Pardo de Tavera, an imminent Filipino scholar, believes that the word
'corrido' was derived from the Spanish 'occurido,' meaning "events" or "happenings" (Eugenio, AC:PMR,
1987, p. 204).

Korido is the generic name for Philippine romances. In Tagalog literature, an awit is distinguished from
the korido basically by the number of syllables in each line. The korido refers to metrical romances in
octosyllabic (8 syllables) verse called 'hakira' while the awit is in dodecasyllabic (12 syllables) verse called
'plosa.' (Eugenio, "Metrical Romances," EP:L, vol. IX, p. 204).

Further distinctions mentioned by Dr. Eugenio [Awit and Corrido: Philippine Metrical Romances, p. xxiv-
xx] from some literary historians and critics are in terms of subject matter, style, and movement.Epifanio
de los Santos refers to the awit as "chivalric-heroic" poems while corridos are "legendary and religious
poems." Gabriel Bernardo on the other hand finds the distinction more in the music to which the
romances are often set and in the amount of time the reader takes in singing or reciting it. "The awit is set
to music in andante or slow time; the corrido, in allegro or hurried time." Further, Bernardo believes that
"the awit is read mainly for the quality of its thoughts and for its beauty and sweetness of expression; the
corrido, mainly for the plot of the story it tells." The Panganibans (Jose Villa Panganiban and Consuelo T.
Panganiban) suggest a distinction in terms of the source of the story it tells; the corrido is based on an
existing tale or legend from European countries while the awit is a story fabricated from the imagination of
the writer although the setting and characters are still European. They are inclined to believe, however,
that the two terms refer to one and the same type of narrative poetry, except that the name ‘awit’ was
later given to it when it was chanted or sung and ‘corrido’ when it was merely narrated.

Another mark that distinguishes an awit from a korido is in their titles [Eugenio, EP:L, P. 204]. The awit
begins with "Buhay na pinagdaanan ni" (life experienced by) or "Salita at buhay na pinagdaanan ni"
(history and life experienced by) while korido always begins with the word 'corrido,' as in "Corrido at
pinagdaanang buhay ni Principe Baldovino." But, as some Tagalog romances titled "corrido" have
dodecasyllabic lines and are therefore awits, as noticed by Dr. Eugenio, differentiating based on their
titles alone may not be enough to classify a romance as an awit or as a korido.

Except for the length of the verses, which is only observed in Tagalog romances, Dr. Eugenio finds no
other valid distinction between the awit and korido. Both are read for the story they tell as much as for
their imaginative devices. This may have contributed in Dr. Eugenio considering the korido as the generic
name of Philippine romances. Resil Mojares in his book Origin and Rise of the Filipino Novel: A Generic
Study of the Novel until 1940 also used the term 'corrido' for the genre since the distinctions offered
between the awit and corridos are all conjectural. However, there really seems to be a difference between
the two terms as Jose Rizal mentions in his letter to Vicente Barrantes. Rizal, antagonized by the article
of Barrantes on the Tagalog theater, reacts through a letter which was published in La Solidaridad.
Though Rizal did not state the distinction between the awit and corrido in the letter, he clearly pointed out
that a difference exist between the two. And judging by the importance he placed on the awit and korido,
the distinction may not be merely be a difference in the number of syllables and its titles. This part of the
letter reads: "Everything Your Excellency says about the 'corridos' might be correct, but the fact is, Your
Excellency does not know what the Tagalogs call 'corridos.' The Tagalog differentiate them from the
'awits,' another thing that Your Excellency does not have to know. The purpose is to insult the race and to
insult it, knowledge is not necessary." (La Solidaridad, Quincerio democratico, vol. 1, 1889, translated by
Guadalupe Fores-Ganzon, Fundacion Santiago, 1995, p. 225.)

[edit] Introduction in the Philippines

It is not known exactly when or how the metrical romances were introduced and took shape in the
country. Vicente Barrantes assumes a Spanish origin and suggests that romances and popular tales of
Spain, which were already altered when they reached the country and were in turn altered by the natives,
may have been brought by the soldiers of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi from Mexico (Eugenio,AC:PMR, p.
xvi). The corridos that took shape in the Philippines thus may have been influenced not just by Spanish
and European sources but also by the Mexican corrido. The corridos, the narrative folk songs of Mexico,
are direct descendant of the Spanish romances (ballad). They narrate legends, historical accounts and
currents events (Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropedia, vol. III, 1964, p. 167). Other sources in written form
may have followed later, Spanish lore and literature: ballad collection (such as Romancero General),
Spanish chronicles and histories, fiction, drama, and poetry. Oral transmission is considered the probable
cause for the very imperfect way some stories have been preserved in Philippine romances.

It is also not known when the Philippine romances were first printed. Dr. Eugenio thinks that they were
probably printed in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, but she is fairly certain that romances
were being written in the second half of the eighteenth century, as Jose de la Cruz, the first known
important writer of metrical romances, is assumed to have written some of his works before the end of the
eighteenth century. She cites both Gaspar de San Agustin and Epifanio de los Santos attesting to the
prevalence of metrical romances even before Huseng Sisiw, Francisco Baltazar, andAnanias
Zorilla became known as poets. No very old copies were preserved. The oldest copy which Fansler
reported he saw was dated 1815.

[edit] Authors