HINILAWOD- Our Intangible Heritage

     The Philippines boasts of four World Heritage Sites, many natural wonders and terrific scenic spots which are gaining proponents of preservation for our progeny. What we have yet to work on is preserving those that are intangible.

     HINILAWOD is an epic narrative that is chanted on special occasions. The story unfolds over a period of three days straight given sleep and meal breaks. Three weeks tops when chanted only in the evenings after dinner. Hinilawod is one of the longest epics known having 28,155 lines in verses making it even longer than the ILIAD which only has 15,700 lines. What's so special about it is that it is chanted from memory. None of it is written down so it is passed on orally from one babaylan to his ward.

     The story revolves around HUMADAPNON who searches for a beautiful lass, NAGMALITONG YAWA who lives  near the Halawod River. He sees her in his dream through the help of his spirit friends Taghuy and Duwindi. As he searches for this beautiful woman, he is lured by enchantresses led by Lubay Halawod who imprisons him in their lair, the cave of Tarangban for seven years... doesn't it sound familiar?

     The discovery of  HINILAWOD was  borne out of a sense of frustration and a challenge to then budding writer and archeologist F. LANDA JOCANO whose literature professor told him to search for FILIPINO literature in the mountains and hinterlands. He did! He went to Panay where he came across a babaylan chanting HINILAWOD to his grandson while Jocano  was out shopping for provisions for his trip to the mountains. He lived with the SULOD imbibing their culture and norms. It was during his immersion with the Sulod that HUGAN-AN, the go-between spirit and material worlds gave him permission to record the HINILAWOD for future generations. With a borrowed magnetic tape from the University of the Philippines Jocano recorded the epic tale chanted in native Kinaray-a language.

     Thank goodness Jocano recorded the HINILAWOD out of a sense of  FILIPINO nationalism and pride for our culture and heritage. Otherwise, our heritage would have again been pillaged by other nations who have the resources and technology. Some of the recordings of our chanted epics can be found in the best libraries of France and Spain. Very few complete ones may be found in our archives. Some theater groups have managed to present it in theater form but then when that's done there is something lost in translation... the authenticity is somewhat lost...

     What can we do about that? I wonder... I guess we need more people like Jocano.