Video Presentation of Philippine National Artists: Ginaw Bilog

Greetings to all viewers! Today, we’ll get to know about the life of Hanunuo Mangyan poet and master
of syllabary Ginaw Bilog including his commendable effort to pass on his knowledge and keep his
ancestors’ cultural heirloom alive.

Ginaw Bilog was born on January 3, 1953, as a member of a certain indigenous tribe in Southern
Mindoro who called themselves the Hanunuo Mangyans. Hanunuo means “true”, “pure” or “genuine”, a
term that members of the tribe used to stress the fact that they are strict in the sense of ancestral
preservation of tradition and practices.

However, a characteristic of oral tradition that distinguishes the rich Mangyan literature from others is
the ambahan. The ambahan, written in baybayin, supports the fact that even before the arrival of the
Spaniards, Filipinos already have a system of writing. It also supports the observation made by Jesuit
historian Pedro Chirino in 1604 in his book Relacion de las Islas Filipinas that ‘there is hardly a man,
much less a woman, who does not read and write’ in the country.

The ambahan is the traditional poetry of the Hanunuo Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro. A rhythmic poetic
expression with a meter of seven-syllable lines and having rhythmic end-syllables. It is usually written on
bamboo in the Surat Mangyan, a centuries-old pre-Spanish script. The syllabic script and the ambahan
poetry have complemented each other, contributing to their continued existence today. It is most often
presented as a chant without a determined musical pitch or accompaniment by musical instruments.

Like all poetry, the ambahan is an expression of an idea or feeling in a beautiful and harmonious
language. Unlike other forms of poetry, however, the ambahan is not poetry for its own sake or the
poet's satisfaction. The ambahan is primarily a poem of social character; it finds its true existence in
society. It is created by the Mangyans to serve practical purposes within the community.

The author of the text is not a single individual but the whole community, in whose womb the words of
the poem sprang. It is used by the parents in educating their children, by young people in courting each
other, by a visitor asking for food, and by a relative bidding goodbye or farewell.

Ginaw Bilog, grew up in such a cultural environment. Already steeped in the wisdom that the ambahan
is a key to the understanding of the Mangyan soul, Ginaw took it upon himself to continually keep
scores of ambahan poetry recorded, not only on bamboo tubes but on old, dog-eared notebooks passed
on to him by friends.

Most treasured of his collection are those inherited from his father and grandfather, sources of
inspiration and guidance for his creative endeavors. Back in his time, Ginaw would share old and new
ambahans with his fellow Mangyans and promote this poetic form on every occasion.

The Mangyan script is one of the four remaining syllabic scripts in the country, and Ginaw Bilog’s work
has been crucial to its preservation. The poet was known for writing ambahan first in a notebook, then
on traditionally used bamboo tubes.

One important thing to remember about the ambahan texts inscribed on bamboos is that they are left
along forest trails to greet strangers or guide travelers. And Bilog, in this essence, had been consistent
with this aspect of ambahan tradition.
By conferring upon Bilog the GAMABA or the National Living Treasures Award for the ambahan tradition
in 1993, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts also made Bilog a conduit for transferring this
knowledge before they are gone or forgotten by the young Mangyan in the community. Bilog had been
teaching young students in his community the art of ambahan.

The man only managed to finish first grade, writing only in the regular alphabet when he is to sign his
name. And there he was, being able to give young Mangyan their old system of writing. He could not
have been happier. Additionally, Ginaw Bilog had also been a recipient many awards including the
National Folk Artists Award (1988) and the Order of Lankandula which have greatly helped in his cause.

On June 03, 2003, Bilog died of a lingering illness at the age of 50. He left behind five children with a 27-
year old daughter as eldest. He was buried near his house in Kalaya.

Before, he died, he was said to have requested not to be buried at once and asked for at least three days
more in case he ‘awakens’ from death. We can only hope that those he left behind will continue the
ambahan tradition, a tradition in which Bilog mainly communicated, a tradition where he found life.