Sagot :
Answer:
Bikol is the language of almost 5 million people in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon that constitute the Bikol Region. The Bikol people have a writing tradition with roots in its ancient folkways. Still extant are charm verses exploiting the possibilities of words in folk poems and narratives with mythical content, and bound with early historical fragments which form part of the people’s lives.
Colonization stifled native writing, however. Only after about two centuries later did the people begin to write poems and plays adapted from Biblical stories – this time in the Spanish writing system. These dramatic tropes were street presentations during May festivals, Christmas, Easter and Lent. In 1890, the first Bikol newspaper An Parabareta (the Newsman) was published by Mariano Perfecto, who also established the first printing press. Imprenta de Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia. In the midst of numerous devotionals and religious poems, there appeared two protest plays – “An Pagguiao kan mga pastores can pagcamondag ni Jesus duman sa portal sa belen” (The awakening of the shepherds of Jesus birth) by Mariano Perfecto and “Comedia na dapit sa Dios o magna cahayagan can pagcamondag ni Jesus” (A play about God or matters concerning the birth of Jesus). The first play says that the people accepted the faith but not the Spaniards; the second tries to localize the character Mary, humanize Herodes and make the coronation of Mary an occasion of revelry through two comic characters.
Corridos or metrical romances became the main reading fare for many years. Translation from Spanish to Bikol were eagerly awaited that writers switched to translating for the money it brought them. In time, Bikolcorridos were written. The most popular was Magamang Pobre (The Poor Father and Son).
The comedia or moro-moro stayed for a long time. Almost every town boasted of a comedia writer and a theater group. The lavish and pompus comedia that Juan Alvarez Guerra saw in the 1880s in Albay has been so well described. Count on the Bikol to write protest comedias – Comedia ni Hadeng Grimaldo sa Reinong Irlandaby Sabas Armenta and Drama en Comedia de la Vida Conde Urbano by Juan Miraflor. The first is a deviation from the Moro as villain theme; the second advocated democracy and favors electing town leaders.
The Commonwealth Period were years of poetic and dramatic productivity. The zarzuela did not escape the Bikol’s questioning bent. Asisclo Jimenez’s Pagkamoot sa Banuang Tinoboan (Love for the Native Land) demonstrated that national change can be affected through armed revolt. Jimenez wrote 25 other zarzuelas in varying themes, mostly social criticism. Crowds would attend the presentations.
By the mid-thirties, shorter plays became the fashion. The new themes were poor vs. rich, laziness vs. hard work and Rizal and nationalism. Outstanding was Anti Cristo by Justino Nuyda who wrote of the inevitable conflict between individual morality and material comfort. This play is still presented today in schools in the region.
The rawitdawit or narrative poem was a vehicle of social and political criticism. Personal poems were most plentiful. The period also produced about twenty translations of Jose Rizal’s Mi Ultimo Adios to Bikol. Four poets and their works stand out: Manuel Fuentebella’s An Pana (The Arrow), Clemente Alejandria’s Pagaroanggoyong(Perseverance), Eustaquio Dino’s Balosbalos Sana (Retribution) and Mariano Goyena’s Hare…Dali (No…Don’t). Great sensitivity and exquisite images are marks of these poems, reaching up to lyricism.
The Post-War Period was unproductive. It was the Cathedral Players of the Ateneo de Naga that sparked the cultural scene. The students led by Rev. James Reuter, S.J. translated english plays into Bikol and delighted the Naga folks with Sunday presentations at the plaza kiosk. In the rural towns they played in church patios and plazas. If post-war writing was not as significant, the Bikol milieu was not encouraging either. The stories and novels written in the fifties were insipid and mere narrations; the novels fantastic and improbable. Writing in the Rainbow journal were largely cerebral and critical of politics, church and society. It was the people’s interest in the folk story, Ibalon, that inspired two musicals the Handyong written and presented by Orfelina Tuy and Fe Ico, and Ibalon Opereta written by Jose Calleja Reyes.