BICOLANO LITERATURE

- Bicolano literature has flourished providing a lively literature flavor

unrivalled by any other literary tradition
- Has its roots in orally transmitted poems and mythical narratives that
reflect the history of the people.
- Mariano Perfecto is the first Bicolano writer who published the Bikola
Newspaper, he was also responsible for the development of the first
printing press named “Imprenta de Nuestra Senora de Penafrancia”
- While the latter development implied that Bikolano literature was
dominated by religious writing at that time.
- Protest drama became a form of expressing the people’s growing
resentment of the Spanish rule.
- “Comedia” writers such as Sabas Armenta, Juan Alvarez Guerra and Juan
Miraflor have protest plays credited to their names.
- The dramatic genre of the “corridor”, which was popular among the
Tagalog-speaking folks, was adapted into the local “Bikol Corrido” with
“Magamang Pobre” being a popular example.

BICOLANO AUTHORS AND THEIR LITERARY PIECES:

 Day on the Farm by Luis G. Dato

 A Cloud Named Looking-For-You by Marne Kilates

 Ang Duwende by Damina Ligon Eugenio

CEBUANO LITERATURE
- Cebuano, dubbed as “The Queen Of The South”, distinguishes itself with
its rich and vibrant literary tradition.
- Cebuano literature refers to the literary works written in Cebuano, a
language widely spoken in the Southern Philippines.
- These included the “balak” (which contains “balaybay” or metaphor),
the “tigmo” (riddles), “panultihon” (proverbs), and “garay” verses.
- “Balitaw”, a poetic debate that required the participants (a man and a
woman) to improvise and even sing their lines, was also popular in the
place.
- Tomas de San Geronimo’s “Soneto sa Pagdayeg can Santa Maria Gihapon
Virgen” (1751) is the first of many religious compositions that show a
loss of the mysterious symbol and metaphor of pre-colonial verse.
- The “pasyon” is considered the longest poetic form. It is a verse
interpreting the life and suffering of Jesus Christ that is read during the
Lent season.
- Cebuano Literature is probably weakest when it comes to the Drama,
even though there are few writers like Claude Al Evangelio and Allan
Jayme Rabaya whose writings were continued.
- Cebuano playwrights have slowly turned to radio and TV-scriptwriting
triggered by the worry they had regarding thoughts unusual to writing
for theater, like curiosity in publication and facing the standard of the
theater arts.