Course Title: GE 224 Ethnographic Literature

Brief Course Description: An introductory course on ethnographic

representations of diverse Filipino society and culture through literary expressions
and texts.
Time Period: Prelim
Instructor: Adrian Y. Franco
Lesson: 07.1
Topic: Cebuano Literature Feature – Aginid, Bayok sa Atong Tawarik (Glide
on: An Ode to Our History): An Ethnographic Study
About the author:
Jovito Abellana is the quientessential Cebuano a renaissance man who once
dabbled in sculpture, painting, was a prolific playright, historian, poet and
eskrimador. “His contemporaries were painters Teofilo Abellana, Lucas Perez of
Cabancalan, Mandaue and Jose Trinidad Alcoseba, patriarch of the Alcoseba Art
clan.” The antiquarian was born of humble background on February 15, 1907 to
the large Abellana clan of Mambaling in the district of San Nicolas.

His early passion for history was inspired by his maternal grandfather
Eulogio Sanchez. The floods and rain that battered their ancestral home in
Mambaling destroyed many of the written documents that his grandfather left him.
Fortunately the Aginid was one of those documents that were spared by the floods.
The Aginid written in Cebuano hieroglyphic (alibata) was probably the most
priceless inheritance that Abellana acquired from his great grandfather.

Jose Vano a close associate and a resident of Parian one of the earliest
commercial hubs of colonial Cebu, gave Abellana documents to attest to the
authenticity of the Aginid.

Jovito Abellana comes from a pedigree of writers, patriots and politicians

and raised by a family with a modest means. His mother Maria Sanchez was a
well-known dressmaker of Cebu’s elite matronas. Jovito’s father Gregorio was also
a writer and among his most notable works was Ang Kagubot sa Sugbo batok sa
Katsila in the magazine Bag-ong Kusog where he gave a first-hand account of the
anti-Spanish war headed by Pantaleon Villegas a.ka. Leon Kilat and General
Arcadio Maxilom. Gregorio was orphaned at a young age and was adopted by the
frailes. He experienced the harsh cruelty of his foster parents that eventually
compelled him to join the rebel movement.

During the Philippine American war in 1898 Gregorio Abellana served as

first lieutenant of the Fifth Company of the First Reserve Battalion under the
command of Lt. Col. Nemesio Maxilom.while his brother Andres was
Commandant and Chief of Arms in the Second Regular Battalion. After the war
Andres Abellana became municipal councilor in the first American sponsored local
elections.

In one of those rare occasions that Mr. Abellana accomodated an interview

by members of the Cebu Eskrima Society led by Al Cuizon, the patriarch of
Cebuano history and language intimated that he was once an active practitioner of
eskrima and even had plans to write a treatise on the indigenous Cebuano Martial
Art that was supposed to be entitled Pagpanalipud sa Kaugalingon. The project was
shelved in lieu of other priorities such as the documentation and translation of the
classic epic Aginid, Bayok sa atong Tawarik. He also confirmed what we have
always been eager to hear from a man of impeccable integrity and values - there
was no kali in Pre-Hispanic Cebu.

Aginid, Bayok sa atong Tawarik (Glide on, Odes to our History)

Legends and myth have been told about how the ancient name of Cebu City
or as some old timers fondly call Sugbo originated. None of these versions so far
have held up to the scrutiny of scholars and historians until Jovito Abellana
published his book Bisaya Patronymesis Sri Visjaya where he extensively wrote
about Aginid, Bayok sa atong Tawarik (Glide on, Odes to our History). The
Aginid a discovery made by Jovito Abellana’s great grandfather is probably the
only pre-colonial chronicle of the history of Cebu written in ancient alibata script
on pandan leaves and other indigenous materials. Unfortunately, most of the
materials were lost in the subsequent upheaval that followed the Spanish defeat by
Cebuano guerillas and the ensuing Filipino American War. Amidst strong support
by some scholars to institutionalize the Aginid, the Cebu Normal University
published it in 1998. Abellana wrote it in alibata (Cebuano hieroglyphic) form with
an English translation. The Aginid tells of the fiery story of pre-colonial Cebu then
known as Sugbo – which means scorched earth. This version on the origins of
Sugbo, is important as it establishes the basic hypothesis why eskrima was
invented in the first place – in defense against Moro invaders. And to add credence
to the discovery of the Aginid by Jovito Abellana, other cognates of the word
Sugbo can be found in the Cebuano lexicon such as: sugba – to grill, subu’ – to
forge steel, sug-ang – set a cooking fire, sugnod – to burn. Let us go back to the
story of how Sugbo got its name. In the olden times Sugbo (now present day Cebu
City) was part of the island of Pulua Kang Dayang or Kangdaya. The ancient poem
Diyandi tells us that so many hundred years ago natives had burned the town
Sugbo as a way to drive away Muslim invaders from Mindanao. The natives would
then flee to the mountains and later launch a counter offensive against the
demoralized and exhausted invaders. The first ruler of Sugbo Sri Lumay who came
from Sumatra successfully repulsed the invaders with his scorched earth tactics.
Thus the place became known as Sugbo or scorched town. Jovito Abellana
translated the Diyandi which was written in ancient alibata script and probably
written during the time of Datu Tupas. It is a stirring chronicle of the story of the
rich culture and colorful history of pre-colonial Cebu.
Extracted from Marivir Montebon’s book Retracing Our Roots – A Journey
into Cebu’s Pre-Colonial Past are excerpts of the story of pre-colonial Cebu
according to the Aginid, Bayok sa atong Tawarik (Glide on, Odes to Our History)
as translated by Jovito Abellana:

“Sri Lumay of Sumatra settled in Sugbo with his son, Sri Alho, ruling the
south known as Sialo which included Valladolid, Carcar, up to Santander. His
other son, Sri Ukob, ruled the north known as Nahalin which includes the present
towns of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela, Danao, Carmen, and Bantayan. As a
ruler, Sri Lumay was known to be strict, merciless, and brave. He assigned
magalamags to teach his people to read and write ancient letterings. He ordered
routinary patrol by boats from Nahalin to Sialo by his mangubats (warriors). A
strict ruler, Sri Lumay was a loving person that not a single slave ran away from
him. During his reign, the Magalos (literally destroyers of peace) who came from
Southern Mindanao from time to time invaded the island to loot and hunt for
slaves. Sri Lumay commanded to burn the town each time the southerners came to
drive them away empty handed. Later, they fought these Magalos (Moro raiders)
so that they leave the town for good. The town was thus permanently called Kang
Sri Lumayng Sugbo, or Sri Lumay’s scorched town. Trading was vibrantly carried
on by Sri Lumay’s people with merchants from China, Japan, India, and Burma in
Parian, located at the northeastern part of the city. The archipelago was
strategically positioned in southeast Asia that it naturally became part of the trade
route of the ancient world. Agricultural products were bartered for Chinese silk
cloths, bells, porcelain wares, iron tools, oil lamps, and medicinal herbs. From
Japan, perfume and glass utensils were usually traded with native goods. Ivory
products, leather, precious and semi-precious stones, and sarkara (sugar) mostly
came from the Burmese and Indian traders. Sri Lumay was killed in one of the
battles against the magalos and was succeeded by his youngest son Sri Bantug who
ruled Singhapala (Mabolo district today). Bantug carried on his father’s rules
throughout his reign. He organized umalahukans (reporters) to urge people in
Nahalin and Sialo to obey his orders, especially on agricultural production and
defense. During Sri Bantug’s time, Sugbo, Nahalin, and Sialo thrived on
subsistence, sel-sufficient economy. He died in an epidemic which spread in the
island and was succeeded by his youngest son Sri Humabon. Under Humabon, the
sibo or sibu in Parian became more progressive. Here, the “sinibuayng hingpit”
(meaning a place for full trade) was carried on. The word Cebu is thus coined from
the old word sibo, an old word for barter, trade, swap. At this time, Lapulapu
Dimantag arrived from Borneo and asked Humabon for a place to settle. Being an
orang laut (man of the sea), Humabon offered the Opong island but Lapulapu was
later convinced to settle in Mandawili (now Mandaue) and make the land
productive because it was impossible to cultivate food crops in Opong because of
its rocky terrain. Under Lapulapu’s leadership, trading in Parian further flourished
because of the goods which he brought from the land and sea in northern Cebu. It
did not take long though that his relationship with Humabon turned hostile.
Lapulapu eventually became a mangatang (pirate) who ordered his men to loot
ships that pass by Opong island. This had lowered the trading transactions in
Parian, thus creating tension between Humabon and Lapulapu. Opong island thus
earned the ill-reputed name mangatang which later evolved into the word Mactan.
In 1521, the Spanish conquistadors came to the Visayan shore. Humabon thought
that they came to Cebu to establish ties with his kingdom as did the other traders
from Asia. The blood compact between him and the Spaniards and later, a mass
baptismal, all meant to signify goodwill as far as Humabon was concerned. But the
Spaniards did not see it that way. For them, it was the start of the colonization of
the island, signified by the planting of the cross. It was only a little later that
Humabon realized this. With the baptismal, Humabon’s subjects embraced a
religion which they vaguely understood and without knowing that they had been
converted at all, or so the Aginid said. Known to be a wily man, Humabon
encouraged the Spaniards to fight Lapulapu, his enemy. Thus the battle of Mactan.
Lapulapu proved to be a true warrior in that battle. He instructed his men not to
waste their spears and bolos on the Spaniards. Instead, he taught them to strike
with pestle or with a club so that when the armor coat of the ugis (white man) is
dented, the man inside can never move. It was when they should hit hard with their
keen tools for warfare. Humabon’s men merely observed the battle but helped in
putting back the wounded white men in their boats. Lapulapu, who was also
wounded, lost 29 men. The Aginid narrated that while the battle of Mactan raged
on, the Spaniards who remained in Sugbo raped the women. This angered
Humabon but he remained outwardly polite as he carefully planned his revenge.
The chief prepared a feast for the Spaniards by the beach. When the white men
were drunk enough, the natives began to slaughter them. A few managed to escape
and return to the three ships, the Concepcion, the Trinidad and the Victoria. Since
the Spaniards were considerably reduced in number, those in the Concepcion
transferred to the other two ships. Later, the natives set the Concepcion on fire off
the sea of Bu-ol (Bohol). After the Spaniards left, the natives uprooted the cross
which Magellan had planted annd returned to their animistic religious practices. It
was replanted later, upon the plea of Humabon’s wife Juana who, according to the
poem, acted on her constant dream of a boy child who asked her to put up the cross
again. When Humabon’s wife found out that the boy in her dreams had the same
image of the infant Jesus Christ the Spaniards gave her during baptismal, Humabon
obliged to replant the cross. Thereafter, the dream no longer recurred. In the
succeeding years, Humabon and Lapulapu rekindled their friendship. Lapulapu
decided to return to Borneo with three of his wives, 11 of his children and 17 of his
men. Humabon thus ruled a much larger area than before. After Humabon, Sri
Tupas reigned. He was the son of Sri Parang, Humabons’ elder brother who could
not rule because he was limp. During the time of Tupas, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi
came to Cebu, and another era of fierce battle ensued. With Legazpi at the helm,
Cebu and the entire archipelago were subdued by the Spanish crown for more than
three hundred years, in the name of Christianity.”

This excerpt from the Aginid is presented not to emphasize the battle of
Mactan or the so-called “kali” prowess of Lapulapu as what most of the kali
advocates would want us to be believe, but rather to highlight the narrative of
Magalos (Moro) raids in Cebu and the rest of the coastal villages throughout the
archipelago in pre-Hispanic times. While indeed there is graphic description of
strategy deployed by Lapulapu, nonetheless it is not conclusive evidence to prove
the existence of kali a highly sophisticated martial art that was supposed to be the
mother of modern eskrima, arnis and estokada. Moreover, of the 60 soldiers that
waded ashore on that fateful day only 9 were killed alongside their leader Magellan
versus more than 1,000 men of Lapulapu. Pigafetta probably padded the figures of
Lapulapu’s strength to save face in this debacle. Nonetheless, Magellan’s men
whether they were grossly outnumbered or not had to maneuver the sharp coral
embedded shores of Mactan, most of them malnourished and sick after several
months at sea. The arquebuses they carried were practically unreliable after
prolonged exposure to the elements - salt water, humidity, and corrosion; they
would not have made an effective equalizer against the primitive warriors of
Lapulapu. To imagine that more than three quarters of them survived the “battle”,
is either a testament of the Spaniards’ fighting prowess despite overwhelming odds
or a proof of how sloppy Lapulapu’s men were? Definitely it wasn’t a classic one
on one fracas as dramatized in the annual reenactment called Kadaugan sa Mactan
(Victory in Mactan) festivities celebrated by the people of Lapulapu City to
commemorate this event. Did Lapulapu practice a martial art? Definitely, but not
kali, maybe an embryonic and primitive form of weapons combat but absolutely
not a fighting art anywhere close to present day eskrima. Eskrima, arnis and
estokada that we know today will not achieve the zenith of its technical
development and sophistication until the year 1635 during the administration of
Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera.
Aside from the Aginid other folk epics exists that left behind a rich legacy of
tales that recount the adventures and bravery of tribal heroes, customs and
traditions and the practice of an earlier animist religion. These arduously long epics
are expressed in song and poetry and in some cases would take more than a month
to perform. These epics remained unwritten because chanting is the mode by which
these have been produced and passed on from one generation to the next. They
portray tribal society before the coming of the Muslims (1380) and the Christians
(1521) and serve as vehicles for the transmission of tribal customs and wisdom.
Meaning if one wants to learn things in the past, like kali, these epics may provide
information. There is no mention of kali practiced by the hero in Biag ni Lam-ang.
Likewise the hero Aliguyon of the epic Hudhud did not practice kali. There is also
no mention of kali in Labaw Donggon of the Sulod (in Panay, where kali was
supposed to be taught in bothoan schools- already proven a fake by William Henry
Scott), the Ulahingan of the Manobos, the Sandayo of the Subanon (Zamboanga
peninsula) and the Darangen of the Maranaos.
Like the Aginid there is no dearth of information if we are to dig deeper into
pre-historic myths and legends through these epics, in fact, the Humadapnon, one
of the longer of the epics, takes two months to be chanted in its entire length. Thus
if kali really existed, then there is a high probability that one can find and read/hear
the word kali, in these many epics. There is none.
 However, there is one traditional wedding dance called the Solili in the
island of Siquijor (southwest of Cebu) which dates back more than a hundred years
and still performed today that incorporates certain elements of stick fighting in its
choreography.
Following the battle of Mactan, textbook history later recounts that the
vanquished Spaniards returned with one ship the Concepcion with the remnants of
Magellan's expedition under Sebastian del Cano, proving for the first time, that the
earth is round.
“The second Spanish expedition to the Philippines headed by Miguel Lopez
de Legaspi and Andres de Urdaneta reached Cebu on 27 April 1565. As in the
earlier experience, the native reception of Legaspi was initially amiable with a
blood compact with Sikatuna, chieftain of Bohol. Later, Tupas, son and successor
of Humabon, battled with the Spaniards who easily killed some 2,000 warriors,
who were equipped merely with wood corselets and rope armor, lances, shields,
small cutlasses, arrows, and decorative headgear. Their native boats "built for
speed and maneuverability, not for artillery duels" (Scott 1982:26) were no match
to Spain's three powerful warships. Legaspi, accompanied by four Agustinians,
built the fort of San Miguel on 8 May 1565. This was the first permanent Spanish
settlement in the archipelago. Tupas signed a treaty tantamount to submission on 3
Jul 1565 for which he was given 13 m of brown damask. On 21 May 1568, shortly
before his death, Tupas was baptized by Fr. Diego de Herrera- an event which
propagandized Spanish rule. On 1 Jan 1571, the settlement was renamed the
Ciudad del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus (City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus) in
honor of the image of the Child Jesus found in an unburned house in the wake of
the Spanish invasion of 1565 (the site of the present Augustinian Church). It was
believed to be a relic of Magellan's expedition, the same one given to "Queen
Juana" upon her baptism. Cebu was the capital of the Spanish colony for six years
before its transfer to Panay and then to Manila. Many Cebu warriors were recruited
by Legaspi, Goiti, and Salcedo to conquer the rest of the country. ”The foregoing
account by Gwendolyn Ting is self-explanatory if we are to find a direct link of the
strong Spanish influence on eskrima among the early Cebuano warriors. When
Legaspi moved the capital to Manila, the Moro pirate attacks on Sugbo and
outlying coastal villages from Oslob and Moalboal in the south up to the Bantayan
group of islands in the north intensified. The Cebuanos sans the aid of colonial
firepower once again had to fend for themselves to protect their coastal villages
against the Moros of Mindanao. It wasn’t until sixty years later under the
command of Spanish Captain Juan de Chavez that the Cebuanos turned the tables
around as invaders when 1,000 Creole Spanish speaking volunteer warriors set sail
for Mindanao to build a permanent fortification in Zamboanga. Never in the
history of Spanish colonization had their been a recruitment of a native warrior
class with such high morale motivated by only one thing – revenge. This was to be
the turning point in the innovation and development of the deadly art of eskrima
and the introduction of the Chavacano language in Zamboanga.

Sources:
Retracing our Roots, A Journey into Cebu’s Pre-colonial Past by Marivir
Montebon
http://litera1no4.tripod.com/cebuano_frame.html#history Cebuano by Gwendolyn
Ting
Local Art Hero, Life & Leisure, Sun Star Daily December 2, 2003 by Ritchie
Landis Doner Quijano
The War against the Americans by Resil Mojares