Lam Ang
Lam Ang
The Iloko Biag ni Lam-ang is the oldest recorded in Philippine folk epic and the only complete epic to come down
to us from the Christian Filipino groups. The earliest recording of the poem was given by Fr. Gerardo Blanco to
Isabelo de Los Reyes, who published it serially in El Ilocano from December 1889 to February 1890 with a Spanish
translation in prose, and also reprinted in his El Folklore Filipino, vol.2 (Manila: Imprenta De Santa Cruz, 1890),
under the title ‘’Vida de Lam-ang (antiguo poema popular de Ilocos)’’ with the Iloko text and prose translation
in Spanish. Important subsequent editions of Lam-ang are those published by Canuto Medina in 1906; the one
serailized Le Lucha from Feb. 20,1926; the Parayno version of 1927; and the composite version of L.Y.Yabes of
1935.
Coming to the light as it did just when the awits and corridos (metrical romances) were becoming popular, the
story of Lam-ang inevitably came to be retold also in awit form. As a matter of fact, it is the awit versionof Lam-
ang, published in 1927 by the Imprento Parayno Hermanos (Calasiao,, Pangasinan), which specialized in the
printing Iloko awits (or panagbiags), which became the most popular version of this folk epic. It carries the long
title characteristics of awits, Historia a Pacasaritaan ti Panagbiag ni Lam-ang iti Ili a Nalbuan nga Asaoa ni Dona
Ines Cannoyan iti Ili a Calanotian, and opens with a religious invocation, also characteristic of awits. According
to Manuel, Yabes relied mainly on this Parayno version when he did the composite version of Lam-ang in 1935
and translated into English. The Yabes English translation of Lam-ang, is by the way, the most widely known
translation in the Philippines today.
Summary: Namongan gives birth to Lam-ang, a baby of incrediblestrength and courage. The boy asks his father’s
whereabouts and learns that he has goneto fight the Igorot. Lam-ang arms himself with charms and decides to
look for his father. From a dream, he learns that his father Don Juan Panganiban had been killed by the Igorot.
Later, Lam-ang finds the Igorot in a sagang, a feast celebrating a successful headhunting expediton. His father’s
head is displayed in the feast. Lam-ang slays them all with his spear and mutilates among the last among them.
When Lam-ang returns home, 99 maidens wash his hair in the river. For his shampoo, he burns so much rice
straw that the communities near the river are alarmed by smoke. The dirt from his hair kills all the fish in the
river. He then kills a crocodile and carries it on his shoulder ashore amidst the applause of his companions. Lam-
ang hears of a beautiful maiden named Ines Cannoyan, daughter of the richest man of the town of Kalanutian. He
tells his mother of his desire to court the maiden. Although his mother disgcourages him, he goes anyway, dressed
in gold and accompanied by his pet rooster and white dog. The giant Sumarang blocks his way and belittles him.
Lam-ang defeats him in a duel and hurls him nine hills away. Later, Sarindadan tries to seduce him, but Lam-ang
rejects her advances.
Reaching Kalanutian, he impresses Ines with his magic. His rooster crows and topples a small outhouse. His dog
barks and the outhouse is rebuilt. Ines invites him to the house where the rooster acts as Lam-ang agrees to give.
Lam-ang returns home to prepare for the wedding and the presents. He and his townfolk sail on two golden ships
to Kalanutian where Lam-ang and Ines have a Catholic wedding. The townspeople board the two ships to
Nalbuan, Lam-ang’s birthplace, to continue the celebration. After the celebration, Lam-ang agrees to hunt rarang,
a shellfish. He is swallowed by the giant fish berkakang, as he has dreamt so. However, a diver recover his bones.
The pet rooster flaps its wings and ressurects Lam-ang. Lam-ang rewards the diver and lives happily with his
wife and pets.
The text reproduced below is that by Fr. Gerardo Blanco, the English translation by Angelito L. Santos.
The Ibalon is 240-line ‘’fragment of a certain manuscript in verse’’, which is contained in Fr.Jose Castano’s
account of the origin, superstitions, and beliefs of the ancient Bicolanos, and publishedin 1896 in Wenceslao E.
Retana’s Archivo de Bibliofilo Filipino, vol.1. The ‘’fragment’’ is in Spanish quatrains. The version below was
translated into Bikol and into English by Jose Calleja- Reyes.
Summary: Yling a bird reputed to talk, asks Cadugnung, a wise man, to sing of the ancient story of Handiong.
This is the story he telles: Bikol was a land of wide plains and fertile fields; anything planted in its soil and of the
race Lipod. His linsa, or gabi plants, were the lushiest in the place, but were destroyed by a great Tandayag boar.
Furius, Baltog pursued the boar and killed it, not with a lance but by breaking its jaws with his own strong arms.
The supersized boar had jawbones as wide as two arms extended, and tusks which measured about two-thirds
longer than the handle of his lance. He hung the gigantic jawbone on a talisay treen near his house in Tondol. All
the people who came from as far as Panicuason were struck by the monstrous size of the dead boar.
Soon after, Handiong came to Bikol and destroyed the wild creatures roaming the land. In Ponong he slew, after
a ten-month fight, the beasts with one eye and three throats, winged sharks under the sea, wild carabaos, and
man-eating crocodiles bigger than boats. To the mountain Kulasi, he exiled the sarimaw, and buried in Hantik
all the serpents whose voices rang like sirens. One elusive snake, however, he failed to subdue despite all his
effort. Known as Oriol, the snake was sometimes serpent sometimes woman. To Handiong, Oriol was a challenge,
for even if he would bind her a thousand times, she would scoff mockingly at him and cleverly untie her knots.
With sweet words she would entice Handiong, who would search the forests for her. But she was seductive as
well as deceitful. She would thwart his labors and interfere with his battle, although there were occasions when
she helped fight and kill the animals infesting the place. In the fight with giant crocodiles, whish colored red the
Bikol river, he emerged unhurt, while the apes of the pongo and orangutan variety who had watched with horror,
were finally driven to the mountain Isarog.
Having thus freed the land from wild beasts, he doveted himself to a settled life. He exhorted his people to plant
linsa and rice. He built the first boat ever to ply the Bikol river; its rudder and sail were contributions of
Guimantong, one of his men, who also invented the plow, harrow, and roll, inlcuding the ganta and other
measures, the yoke, bolo and hoe. Hablon invented a weaving loom and bobbins. The native of Dinahon worked
on the jar, claypot, stove, earthen bowl, and other household utensils. Sural carved a Bikol syllabary out of stone
from Libong, and polished to shine by Gapon.
Handiong and his men built towns. The houses of varying sizes hung from the branches of the banasi and
kamagong trees. The reason was that it was only up in the moog, as the houses were called, that one could escape
the heat and swarming insects and wild animals. Laws were set to insure protection of life and honor, and accord
equality to all without distinction. With this, respect for rights of heritage and succession were guaranteed, and
slave and master kept to his own place. Suddenly the great deluge caused by tempests brought havoc and
destruction to the growing civilization. The catastrophe completely transformed the land. Three volcanoes,
Hamtik, Kulasi, and Isarog, erupted simultaneously, and caused a strip of land, now known as Pasacao, to rise
from the sea. Torn apart from the mainland was Malbogon, now an islet, where lived two witches named Hilan
and Lariong. The Inarihan river turned its course and overflowed to Ponong.In Bato, a big mountain sank, and,
in its place, up came a lake which supplied fish to all of was wiped out as the gulf of Calabagnan overflowed.
Handiong had a close companion, the young warrior Bantong. To him, Handiong entrusted the job of getting rid
of Rabot, a fierce monster, who was half-man and half-beast. How many of the people that came near his lair
were turned into stone by the beast? The plague of the land, he was also known as the great liar.
Smart Bantong first tried to find out about the monster’s habits. And he guessed right: Rabot slept heavily all day
long as he simply rolled over the ground. After watching him for days,