Chapter 2

• Intended Learning Outcomes

  • List down the Oral lore from the period
  • Categorize the gist of the oral lore in the Philippines
• Oral Lore or Oral Tradition


  A form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas, and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another through speech or song, including folktales, ballads, chants, prose, or verses
• Philippine folk literature


  • Refers to the traditional oral literature of the Filipino people, covering ancient folk literature of the Philippines' various ethnic groups and folklore that evolved since the Philippines became a single ethno-political unit
• The diversity and richness of Philippine literature

  Evolved side by side with the country’s history
• The average Filipino’s unfamiliarity with his indigenous literature was largely due to the impression that his country was “discovered” and Philippine “history” started only in 1521
• Present-day Filipino writers, artists, and journalists are trying to correct the inequity by recognizing the country’s wealth of ethnic traditions and disseminating them in schools and in the mass media
• The inspiring of nationalistic pride in the 1960s and 1970s helped bring about a change of attitude among a new breed of Filipinos concerned about the “Filipino identity”
• Our ancient literature shows our customs and traditions in everyday life as traced in our folk stories, old plays, and short stories long before the Spaniards and other foreigners landed on Philippine shores
• Our ancestors had their own alphabet different from that brought by the Spaniards, similar to the Malayo-Polynesian alphabet
• Baybayin is a pre-colonial writing system widely used in various parts of the Philippines, an abugida script where each character represents a consonant with an inherent vowel sound
• Records left by our ancestors were either burned by the Spanish friars or written on perishable materials like barks of trees, dried leaves, and bamboo cylinders
• Some folk songs passed on by word of mouth reached publishers or printers who took interest in printing the manuscripts of the ancient Filipinos
• The Spaniards who came to the Philippines tried to prove that our ancestors were fond of poetry, songs, stories, riddles, and proverbs, which still exist today and showcase the true culture of the Filipino people
• Publishers or printers interested in printing ancient Filipino manuscripts

  • Not specified
• The Spaniards who came to the Philippines tried to prove that our ancestors were fond of poetry, songs, stories, riddles, and proverbs
• Riddles (Bugtong) or Palaisipan


  1. A statement or question that requires a concrete answer or presents a puzzle to be deciphered

  2. Made up of one or more measured lines with rhyme and consisting of four to 12 syllables
• Riddles

  • I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I? - An echo
  • I have keys, but no locks. I have space, but no room. You can enter, but can't go outside. What am I? - A keyboard
  • I am taken from a mine, and shut in a wooden case, from which I'm never released. Yet, I am used by almost everyone. What am I? - A pencil
  • I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and rivers but no water. What am I? - A map
  • You see me once in June, twice in November, and not at all in May. What am I? - The letter "E"
  • Buhok na mahaba, telang makapal. Ngipin kong matatalas, hindi ito inuurungan. - Gunting
  • Kaisa-isang plato, kita sa buong mundo. - Buwan
• Proverbs or Aphorisms

  • Called salawikain or sawikain in Tagalog or sarsarita in Ilocano
  • Contain sayings prescribing norms, imparting lessons, or reflecting beliefs
  • Express norms, codes of behavior, community beliefs, or instill values
  • Offer wisdom in short, rhyming verse
• The extended form of proverbs, tanaga, is a mono-riming heptasyllabic quatrain expressing insights and lessons on life
• Extended didactic sayings

  • Basahanon from Bukidnon
  • Daraida and daragilon from Panay
• Not specified: 'A broom is sturdy because its strands are tightly bound. - Matibay ang walis, palibhasa'y magkabigkis'
• Creation Myths from the Philippines

  • How the World Was Made
  • The Creation (Igorot)
  • How the Moon and the Stars Came to Be (Bukidnon)
  • Origin (Bagobo)
  • The Story of the Creation (Bilaan)
  • In the Beginning (Bilaan)
  • The Children of the Limokon (Mandaya)
  • The Creation Story (Tagalog)
• A legend is a form of prose about the origin of a thing, place, location, or name, reflecting old Filipino customs and aiming to entertain
• Stories

  • In the Beginning (Bilaan)
  • The Children of the Limokon (Mandaya)
  • The Creation Story (Tagalog)
• In a certain wide region of Luzon, there was a village frequented by young men. The town was full of trees, beautiful flowers and a river where clear waters flowed.
• What attracted the young men more than the scenery was a beautiful nymph-like maiden named Maria
• Maria had lots of suitors who came from afar and fought for her hand, but she remained unconcerned and very choosy
• Maria's test for suitors

  Bring a big, live, and strong serpent
• Ilog, known for his bravery, promised to bring the serpent to Maria
• Ilog returned with the serpent, proving his bravery
• The two Spaniards were startled by the beauty of Maria and the events that unfolded
• Lo-as is a folk tradition reflecting the creative or poetic intuition of the Ilonggo folks
• Lo-a encapsulates the creative mind of the Ilonggo folks, including ordinary individuals like housewives, farmers, and students
• The sensitivity of the Ilonggo folks' external senses to their surroundings results in the orchestral and musical versification of lo-as
• The richness of the Ilonggo language contributes to the musicality of lo-a, evoking direct visual, auditory, and tactile sense experiences
• Ilonggo language


  Has the power to evoke direct visual, auditory, and tactile sense experiences or pure internal sensations
• Words in the Ilonggo language create mental pictures of things or situations
• Situations, objects, or circumstances in the Ilonggo language are as they are spoken
• The folk mind explores the possibility of the Ilonggo language by playing on words and combining sounds and images
• Examples of wordplay in the Ilonggo language


  • Rosas, rosas nga kamantigue
  • Soltero nga waay nobya, agi
  • Bulak, bulak sang tangkong
  • Dalaga nga wala sang nobyo, bingkong
  • Tapakan ko central, gupi
  • Guwa kalamay, puti
  • Didto sa Bohol
  • May isa ka lalaki nga manol
  • Panawag sa kasilyas, City Hall
  • Nonoy hinugay paglabay-labay
  • Sa atubang sang amon nga balay
  • Basi malagari ka ni Tatay
  • Mawasi gid ang imo nga tinday
  • May ara lugar ako nga ginhalinan
  • Sa parte Aurora, nayon sa sidlangan
  • Madamo nga bulak ang akon gin-agyan
  • Solo gid ikaw Inday ang naluyagan
  • Tintin ka na uwak
  • Latay sa margoso
  • Margoso nga mapait
  • Mataas nga lamesa ang akon ginlakbay
  • Kutsara kag tinidor ang akon kaaway
  • Wala ko pagbaliha ang akon kabudlay
  • Para sa soltero nga maanghit
  • Tubtob lamang makita larawan mo Inday
  • Kon si papel man ang lumupad-lupad
  • Kag humapon diri sa akon palad
  • Kusniton ko lang kag ipilak
  • Dili gid makatintar kay bulak
  • Didto sa amon sa Ajuy
  • May nadula nga balinghoy
  • Duda gid ako sa imo Nonoy
  • Ara sa imo gataboy-taboy
  • Sa idalom sang taytay
  • May army nga napatay
  • Bulag-bulag ang lawas
  • P’ro gatindog ang armas
  • Palayo, palayo
  • Ang buho nga mabaho
  • Palapit, palapit
  • Ang buho nga manumit