Learning Activity Sheet (LAS)

Name of Learner:________________________________________________________
Grade Level/Section:_______________ School:________________________________
Teacher: ________________________________Date: __________________________
LEARNING EXERCISES IN SPA-MUSIC 9 Musical Advocacies & Issues
I. Learning Competency with Code Displays
Demonstrates understanding of the performance of music pieces with cultural heritage content drawn
from local community resources.
II. Background Information for Learners

          Hiligaynon is the lingua franca of the West Visayas in Central Philippines. Politically labeled Region
6, West Visayas is composed of the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Antique and Aklan on the island of Panay;
Negros Occidental, the western half of the island of Negros; and the new island-province of Guimaras
which used to be a sub-province of Iloilo.
       The mother language of West Visayas is Kinaray-a or Hiraya, the language spoken by the central
and southern towns of Iloilo, all of the province of Antique and most of Capiz. Hiligaynon is spoken in Iloilo
City in all the coastal towns north of Iloilo City, in all of Guimaras, in most of Roxas City in Capiz, and in
Bacolod City and most of the towns of Negros Occidental. The language is also spoken in South
Cotabato, in Mindanao, where many West Visayans have migrated. The northern towns of Negros
Occidental speak Cebuano or Sugbuanon, the lingua franca of Central Visayas. The province of Aklan
speaks Aklanon which, like Hiligaynon, developed from Kinaray-a.
       Though distinctly different from Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a and Aklanon are conveniently considered by
many linguists and literary researchers as subsumed in the lingua franca. Current writers in Kinaray-
a and Aklanonhave shown that it is not so.
       Purely oral, West Visayan literature before the coming of the Spaniards was in Kinaray-a which must
have been the language in folk literature of the ten Bornean datus who, according to the folk account of
the Maragtas,got the island of Panay from the aboriginal Ati in exchange for a headgear of gold and a
necklace that touched the ground.
       Folk literature ranges from brief riddles, proverbs, ditties, ritual chants to elaborate love songs, tales
and extensive epics. A poem is called binalaybay and the tale is the asoy or the sugilanon.
       The paktakon is a riddle while the hurubaton is a proverb. Both are usually in two lines and rhymed.
       Folksongs may be as simple as the ili-ili or lullaby or as intricate as the ambahan, a long song
alternately sung by a soloist and a chorus; the siday which can be a long poetic joust between two paid
poets respectively representing the two families in a marriage suit (siday sa pamalaye); or a balitaw, a
jocose love song sung in a debating manner by a man and a woman.
       The asoy may be a legend or a tale about a folk hero or a local happening. Foremost among the
Panay epics are the Labaw Donggon and the Hinilawod.
       Ritual chants are delivered by the babaylan or healer to please the diwata or supernatural beings or
spirits in exchange for good health and luck in the home and the fields during planting and harvest
seasons.
      
 The coming of the Spaniards and the conversion of the people to Christianity produced new forms of folk
literature. Written literature also started, first with translations of Spanish texts of prayers and lives of the
saints.
       Tracing their origins to the Spanish times are the luwa, the witty quatrain recited by the loser of
the bordon,the most popular game during the belasyon or vigil for the dead; and the composo, the ballad
that sings the life of a folk hero or a significant incident in the community.
       Religious literature flourished during the Spanish times. The Flores de Mayo is a devotional song-
prayer held throughout the month of May characterized by singing hymns to the Virgin Mary and offering
flowers.
       The Pasyon, which recounts the suffering of Christ, is chanted during the Holy Week.
       The gozos of the novena, the nine-day devotional prayer to a saint, stresses Christian virtue or
recounts incidents in the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary.
       Always part of the feast in honor of the patron saint is the coronation of the fiesta queen. The local
poet then delivers the pagdayaw, an extensive ode praising the queen’s beauty and virtue.
      
 Purely secular is the corrido, actually a medieval romance brought by the Spaniards. Most
popular corridoin West Visayas is  Rodrigo de Villas.
       
Two theater forms developed during the Spanish times. The moro-moro  is full of action but is no more
than a morality play celebrating the victory of the Christians against the Moros. The zarzuela is a musical
but later made a vehicle for subversive activities.     
The establishment of Imprenta La Panayana in Iloilo City late in the nineteenth century by a Bicolano,
Mariano Perfecto, engineered written Hiligaynon literature. With his Pasyon, novenas and corridos,
Perfecto published Almanake Panayanhon (Panayan Almanac), the all-time Hiligaynon best-
seller. Almanake, which published literary works by most of the early Hiligaynon writers, is still being
published today by the Perfecto heirs.
       The coming of the Americans saw the so-called Golden Age of Hiligaynon literature even if the
orientation was still heavily Spanish– didactic and Roman Catholic though strongly nationalistic.
       The relatively short period from the 1920’s to the coming of the Japanese is considered the Golden
Age. This produced Angel Magahum (first novelist for Benjamin), poet Delfin Gumban, poet Serapion
Torre, poet-translator (from Spanish) Flavio Zaragoza Cano, essayist-journalist Rosendo Mejica, zarzuela
masters Jose Ma. Ingalla and Jose Ma. Nava, playwright Miguela Montelibano, novelist-poet Magdalena
Jalandoni, essayist Augurio Abeto and Abe Gonzales, and the young novelist Ramon L. Musones and
poet Santiago Alv. Mulato. The triumvirate of Gumban, Torre and Zaragoza Cano ruled it out for years in
poetry, their rivalry magnified by the public balagtasan or poetic joust. The establishment
of Hiligaynon magazine by Liwayway Publications in Manila and of the Makinaugalingon Press by
Rosendo Mejica in Iloilo City further strengthened Hiligaynon literature.
       Jalandoni, Muzones, Gonzales and Mulato wrote their way through the Japanese Occupation and on
to the fifties and the sixties which saw two new novelists, Jose E. Yap and Conrado Norada. The
establishment ofYuhum magazine in Iloilo City by La Defensa Press and of the short-lived Kasanag by
Diolosa Publications, kept literature not only alive but strong. Big names were Ramon L. Muzones,
Santiago Alv. Mulato, Conrado Norada, Abe Gonzales and the forever versatile Magdalena Jalandoni.
Jose E. Yap had started his series of science-fiction novels. New names came like Hernando Siscar ,
Antonio Joquiño and Isabelo Sobrevega.
       The influence of English literature, especially in the short story, became pronounced in the 1960’s
whenHiligaynon writers became more aware of formalist guidelines like characterization, local color and
irony. The short story became popular while the novel with Muzones, Yap and Norada at the helm kept its
position. Emerging from the sixties are important names of the present: Nilo P. Pamonag, Lucila V.
Hosillos, Mario L. Villaret, Romeo Garganera, Ner E. Jedeliz, Jr., Quin Baterna and Jose Ali Bedaño who
wrote under the name of Julius Flores. Two prominent women novelists are Ismaelita Floro-Luza of
Roxas City and Ma. Luisa Defante-Gibraltar of Bacolod.
           Yuhum stopped publication in the sixties and resumed during Martial law. Hiligaynon closed during
Martial law and resurrected in 1989.
       
       Important young writers in West Visayas today include: Hiligaynon–  Alicia Tan-Gonzales, Peter Solis
Nery, Edgar Siscar, Resurreccion Hidalgo, Alfredo Siva, Alain Russ Dimzon; Kinaray-a  — Ma. Milagros
C. Geremia Lanchica, Alex C. de los Santos, John Iremil E. Teodoro, Jose Edison C. Tondares, Maragtas
S. V. Amante, Ma. Felicia Flores; Aklanon –– Melchor F. Cichon, Alexander C. de Juan, John E. Barrios.
       All these writers are either bilingual or multilingual. It should also be understood that West Visayas
has produced a big number of writers in English and a few very good writers in Spanish, but they are not
included here.
IV. Exercises / Activities
Activity 1.
__________1. is the lingua franca of the West Visayas in Central Philippines. Politically labeled Region 6,
West Visayas is composed of the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Antique and Aklan on the island of Panay;
Negros Occidental, the western half of the island of Negros; and the new island-province of Guimaras
which used to be a sub-province of Iloilo.
___________2. The mother language of West Visayas
___________3. the language spoken by the central and southern towns of Iloilo, all of the province of
Antique and most of Capiz. 
___________4. most popular game during the belasyon or vigil for the dead.
___________5. the ballad that sings the life of a folk hero or a significant incident in the community.
___________6. which recounts the suffering of Christ, is chanted during the Holy Week.
___________7. A Purely secular; actually a medieval romance brought by the Spaniards.
___________8. is full of action but is no more than a morality play celebrating the victory of the Christians
against the Moros.
____________9. is a musical but later made a vehicle for subversive activities.
____________10. a long song alternately sung by a soloist and a chorus.

Activity 2.
Make a song cover of Dandansoy
Guide Questions
1. Why is music important?
2. What will be the cultural heritage content drawn from local community resources?
3. How will you materialize your chosen piece?
VI. Rubric for Scoring Rate your work based on the following rubrics below:
PERFORMANCE RUBRIC Activity
1: My Musical Advocacy Rating Scale: 5 – Very Good 2 – Poor 4 – Good 1 – Needs Follow up 3 – Fair
Rating myself:
1. How well did I express my ideas? _____
2. How well did I formulate my performance? _____
3. How well did I organize my thoughts? _____
4. How well did I demonstrate creativity in my work?
_____ Total Score= _________out of 20 points possible

VII. Reflection Make a brief reflection using the quote below.

Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.
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Reference/s:
Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Cultural Center of the Philippines, 1994Hosillos, Lucila V. Hiligaynon Literature: Texts
and Contexts, The Ilonggo Language and Literature Foundation, Inc., Iloilo City, 1992Mulato, Santiago Alv. Ilonggo
Men of Letter, Iloilo City (unpublished)
About the Author:

Leoncio P. Deriada  is a fictionist, playwright and poet who has won awards from Don Carlos Palanca Memorial
Awards, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Asiaweek, among others. He is the author of four books: “The Road to
Mawab and Other Stories” (1984), “The Dog Eaters and Other Plays” (1986), “Night Mares” (1988) and “The Week of
the Whales”(1993). He heads the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino of the University of the Philippines, Visayas.