PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

Hand –out # 5 (Midterm)

Lesson VI: Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

Desired Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Identify the provinces of Cordillera Administrative Region and its literature
2. Analyze and present the plot of the story the Wedding Dance by Amador T. Daguio
Activities:
 Interactive Classroom Discussion
 Literary Review Plot and Conflict
Assessment:
 Group Presentation of the plot and conflict of the epic discussed
 Quiz on literary pieces, history and provinces of Region 2
Lecture:

Cordillera
 A name given by the Spanish Conquistadors when they first saw the mountain ranges. Meaning
"knotted rope", the Spanish term refers to the jumbled rolls and dips of this long range traversing the
northern part of Luzon Island.
 In 1908 the Cordillera was organized as one administrative region called the Mountain Province with
an American governor at helm. From then on colonization proceeds apace.
 The post- colonial period saw the political reorganization of Cordillera into separate provinces and the
shifting of the regional and provincial boundaries
 Cordillera Central- is a massive mountain range situated in the northern central part of the island of
Luzon, in the Philippines.
 It is composed of chartered city of Baguio and is divided into six provinces and seven ethno-linguistic
groups:
1. Abra (Tingguian)
2. Apayao (Isneg)
3. Benguet ( Bontok and Ibaloi)
4. Ifugao (Ifugao)
5. Kalinga (Kalinga, Isneg),
6. Mountain Province (Kankanaey).
Cordillerans
 ('people from the mountains')- Group of indigenous people of Cordillera. They are called as “Igorot”.
The Cordilleras
 The region is dubbed as the “Watershed Cradle of North Luzon”.
 Hosts 6 major rivers that provide continuous water for irrigation and energy for northern Luzon. Chico
River, Ahin River, Siffu River, Abra River, Amburayan River, and Agno River
 It is the country's only landlocked region-landlocked means that the land is surrounded by other land and it has no
shore or anything else landlocked means not a lot of water but surrounded by mountains

The Provinces of Cordillera Administrative Region

Provinces Capital Languages Spoken Description
Abra Bangued  Ilocano, Tinggian/  Known as the ‘Natural Dye Capital of the
Itneg, and Tagalog Philippines’
Apayao Kabugao  Ilocano, Isneg and  Dubbed as “Cordillera’s Last Frontier for
Tagalog Nature Richness.”
Benguet La Trinidad  Ibaloy, Kankana-ey,  Well-known for its mummy caves which
Ilocano, Tagalog, contain naturally mummified bodies.
and English  The homeland of several tribes,
collectively referred to as the Igorot.
Benguet Baguio City  Ibaloi, Kankana-ey,  Independent city within Benguet
Tagalog, English,  Regional Center of CAR
Pangasinense, and  Founded by the Americans in 1900 at the
Ilocano
CORDILLERA ADMINISTRATIVE REGION LITERATURE- HAND- OUT # 5 (MIDTERM-2ND SEM. A.Y. 2019-2020) 1
 site of an Ibaloi village known as
Kafagway.
 The name of the city is derived from the
word bagiw in Ibaloi meaning “Moss”
Kalinga Tabuk  Ilokano, Kalinga,  Prince of the Highlands
Province Tagalog, and Engish  Declared as the Whitewater Rafting Capital
are widely of North Philippines
understood in all
parts.
Mountain Bontoc  Kankana-ey,  Known as the “Weaver’s Paradise” due to
Province Ilokano, English, and the presence of various weaving centers.
Tagalog  This was a province that practiced the
traditional parliamentary/participatory form
of governance as evidenced by the
presence of the Dap-ay/Ato, a traditional
form of governance led by the respected
elders in the community.
 Known for hanging coffins
Ifugao Lagawe  English, Ifugao,  Ifugao is home to a thriving ancient culture
Ilocano and Tagalog and host to the famous rice terraces.
 The famous terraces had been inscribed in
UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1995 as
“a continuing cultural landscape”
 The Ifugao native huts could probably be
among the world’s first prefabricated
houses that do not use a single nail or metal
to fasten their parts.

Literary Artists
1. Amador T. Daguio
 Was a poet, novelist and teacher during the pre-war.
 He was best known for his fictions and poems
 He had published two volumes of poetry, "Bataan Harvest" and"The Flaming Lyre".
 He served as chief editor for the Philippine House of Representatives before he died in 1966.
 He was in third year high when he broke into print in a national weekly, The Sunday Tribune
Magazine (11 July 1926), with a poem, “She Came to Me.
 Author of the “Wedding Dance”
2. Lakay Gumeng
 Author of “The Alotiit (Banyas) The Rice Guard
Cordillera Literature
 Is in the oral tradition and may be classified as into ritualistic and non- ritualistic
 Ritualistic Literature
 Consists of songs, chants ,and narratives which can only be perform or recited in a
religious context in the observance of certain rituals in ceremonies in divine or
supernatural intervention in human affairs are invoked
 Non- Ritualistic
 Consists of secular forms which can be performed in any occasions, during festivities or
moment of leisure to express personal sentiments or yearnings.
 Epic
 Many Philippine epic in traditions have vanished but at least two long narrative in verse in
Cordillera have been preserved and fully documented – the Ifugao , Hudhud and kalinga
Ulalim
 Like other Philippine folk epics, Cordillera epic and poetry revolves around the daring feats and
adventure of a folk hero who possesses extra ordinary attributes and embodies in the beliefs and
ideals held by the community.

 Hudhud

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  A mythical figure, Alinguyon known for both wealth and powers
 It is sung during the wake of the upper class, at the weeding time, when women work in
the rice fields and during the harvest season.
 It is a harvest song because more often than not during harvest and only women can sing
( sing all parts that pertains to the story itself) and chorus serve as official commentator
on what is presented in the narrative sing alternatively)
 Ulalim
 Are long ballads chanted either by men and men during feasts and other social occasions
such as peace pact assembles. It represents the epic tradition of Kalinga.
 Myth
 Cordillera myths talk about very remote past when the world had not yet taken in present form
and human affairs went on with a lot of Divine intervention
 Their myth is of sacred in nature, hence their restrictions as to when and where they can be told.
They are recited to affirm the propriety of ceremonies, to summon the spirits or to validate
certain beliefs

 Diam
 Recital myth performed by mediums, meant to explain the origin of certain rituals and
hoe these rituals should be conducted
 Examples of Myth- How Balitok and Bugan obtain Children, - Ifugao, Lumawig and
kabigat- Ibaloy
 Legends
 Are considered truthful accounts, although, the event they narrate often takes place at the time it
is more recent than the mythological past.
 The principal character are humans and not supernatural being, and they are not recited as part of
ritual or sacrifice.

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