The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Philippines’ only land-locked region, consists of the

provinces of Abra, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province and Apayao. Baguio city is the
regional center. The Cordillera region encompasses most of the areas within the Cordillera
Central mountain range of Luzon, the largest range in the country. This region is home to
numerous indigenous tribes collectively called the Igorot.
Cordillera has abundant mineral reserves. These include metallic ores such as gold,
copper, silver, zinc, and non-metallic minerals like sand, gravel and sulfur. Mineral reserves are
found in all the provinces. However, mining is concentrated in Benguet.
Among the literary forms found in CAR are Ibaloy myths, Isneg Riddles, Tingguian Flood
myths, oggood, sudsud, and ullalim.
A writer associated with CAR is Ma. Luisa Aguilar-Cariňo (1961: Baguio City).
 HUDHUD HI ALIGUYON: AN IFUGAW HARVEST SONG
The term Hudhud, in general, refers to narratives that are chanted or sung by tribal
poets of Ifugaw on special occasions; e.g., to celebrate the death of a rich or prominent
person, to give color to the ceremonies usually performed during the harvest, or as a part
of the binugwo, a ceremony occasioned by the digging out of the bones of dead relatives
so that they may be blessed. The hudhuds of the Ifugaws may, therefore, be classified
into three types on the basis of the occasion for singing: that which is sung on the death
of a rich or prominent person, that which is sung when the ancestral bones are dug out
to be blessed, and that which is sung during the harvest. Hudhud hi Aliguyon represents
the third type.
The harvest songs are woven around a central motif the life of Aliguyon and
Bugan. Although there are various versions of the story that the songs tell, depending on
the originality of the singer, Aliguyon and Bugan are always the main characters.
Characters in other hudhuds are in one way or other related to either of these two.
Pangaiwan, for instance, is the father of Bugan and Pumbakhayon is the brother of Bugan.
The complete story of the Harvest Song of Aliguyon, as known to the Ifugaws, may
be summarized as follows:
Aliguyon, a long time ago, was born in village of Hannanga. His father was
Amtalao; his mother was Dumulao. When he was a little boy, his father used to tell him
the stories of his own adventures, in love and in war. His father also taught him the use
of the spear and shield. Aliguyon learned quickly.
When he was old enough, his father made him a top. He taught Aliguyon how to
spin it and how to break the tops of his playmates. His father also taught him how to cut
runo spears and fight with them.
Aliguyon, listening to the war prayers of the tribe, also learned to say the magic
words of the native priests and priestesses. In time, he became the undisputed leader of
the children of his tribe.
When he reached adolescence, he gathered his comrades and led them in a fight
against the enemy of his father, Pangaiwan of Daligdigan.

FOLK EPICS
In Daligdigan, however, he faced, not his father’s enemy, but the son.
Pumbakhayon was as spirited and lustyas Aliguyon, so the fight lasted three years, with
no end in sight or any sign of defeat on the part of either group. Through the protracted
warfare, the heroes learned to admire each other’s abilities. Their fight finally ended in a
peace pact made in Daligdigan, in the home of Pumbakhayon, and at the instance of old
Pangaiwan, Pumbakhayon’s father.
During the conclusion of the peace pact, Aliguyon saw and courted the youngest
of the beautiful sisters of Pumbakhayon, Bugan. Aliguyon brought his bride, a mere child,
to his home in Hannanga, where Bugan grew into a beautiful woman. Then Pumbakhayon
went to Hannanga to witness his sister’s formal marriage to Aliguyon. Aliguyon and Bugan
had many children, and both became prosperous and beloved of the people of
Hannanga…
Pumbakhayon later courted Aliguyon’s sister and brought her to his father’s home
in Daligdigan. There they were happily married and became prosperous (Daguio. pp. 39
– 41).
The version presented here, sung by a woman-poet, Hinayup Bantayan [Bantiyan]
concentrates on the protracted fight between Aliguyon and Pumbakhayon, which ends in
a peace pact sealed by the marriage of Aliguyon to Bugan, Pumbakhayon’s sister, and of
Pumbakhayon to Aginaya, Aliguyon’s sister.
I. Describe Aliguyon using these points: epic qualities, plot development, character
portrayal, and Filipino Values.
II. Directions: Choose one character from the two epics you have read then, complete
the Character Analysis Chart.