FOLK SONGS FROM THE PHILIPPINES

This is among the most easily recognizable Cebuano-Visayan folk song. Thanks to Yoyoy Villame, this already popular song became even more popular especially to non-Visayan speakers. The comic song is about a fisherman named Filemon who went fishing in the sea. All he got was a small mudspringer ( tambasakan ), which he sold at a dilapidated market for 50 centavos ( kura ) each. His earning was enough to buy himself tuba wine.

This is originally a Cebuano nursery rhyme which became popular to Philippine school children in its Filipino translation. The Cebuano lyrics here given is translated: Tong, tong, tong, pakitong-kitong (Vocables)/ Crabs in the river ( suba ) are known to be hard to catch/ It is only me who can catch, and only I can eat.

Pentik Manok  is a Bagobo song that is often erroneously appearing in Philippine music textbooks as an Igorot folk song. This song is actually collected by Isaias Lim from a Bagobo singer in 1971 around the vicinity of Malita, Davao for the now UP Center for Ethnomusicology. The song was transcribed by Sr. Lilia Therese L. Tolentino and reprinted in a music book which I, regrettably, forgot the title. It later found its way to public school textbooks for Grades 3 and 4 sometime in the late 1980s. This song is translated: Use the sling on the brave chicken/ That is going around the trap/ The downward movement was stopped/ Chop wood now for firewood/ To cook the sweet potato. 

This Kapampangan folk song has among the most easily recognizable melodies as it was utilized for the popular Tagalog nursery rhyme Ako ay may Lobo (I have a Balloon). This song is about a girl who lost a gem-stoned ring ( singsing ) which she inherited from her grandparents. As a consolation to whoever is that man who finds the ring, her heart will be his.  

Annually, Obando town in Bulacan honors three saints – Santa Clara (the most famous of the three), La Virgen de Salambao, and San Pascual Baylon. Each saint has a feast day set aside where they are moved in a procession accompanied by dancing through the narrow streets of the town. The women devotee-dancers are dressed in bright baro’t saya or balintawak with matching flowered hat, waving buri fans which are similarly decorated with flowers and colorful ribbons. Men sport camisa de chinos of old while others use contemporary flowered shirts. Each saint is prayed to for specific favors sought – Santa Clara for a female mate, San Pascual for a male mate and the Virgen de Salambao, for a child. Different saints for different favors cause devotees to pray to a different saint for a different favor in a merry mix-up confusion. The sure-fire solution was to pray to all three in one kneeling. In fact, Santa Clara is always inadvertently approached by barren couples for a child. The Ob...

  Ili-ili Tulog Anay is probably the most popular Filipino lullaby. Thanks to Prof. Prisicilla Venturanza Magdamo who was able to record this gem-of-a-song from a certain Maria Abitang in Bañga, Aklan. It was later published in her Philippine Folk Songs: Songs of the Visayas Vol. 1 (with piano accompaniment), Vol II (fakesheet style), and in Vol. III for chorus.  And the rest is history. The short soothing song simply means: Ili-ili (a crooning word for babies) sleep awhile/ Your mother is not here,/ She went to the store to buy bread/ Ili-ili sleep awhile. The notation below was taken from a learning module available online.

 This Ilonggo folk song about the butterfly is in the polka tempo. Similar to the Tagalog "Sitsiritsit" this song also uses the butterfly ( alibangbang in Visayan languages) as a metaphor of a beautifully dressed woman. In this Hiligaynon version, the woman is wearing a skirt of silk ( sutla ), an embroidered nagwas (an underskirt or slip), and her whole get up is in the Parisian style ( bayong de Paris ). This song first appeared in Emilia Cavan's Philippine Folk Song (1924). It was also reported in the Historical Data Papers of Iloilo Province (1953), as Ang Mariposa . The version below was taken from a learning module available online.

This Hiligaynon folk song is a type of work song sung by a mananggete or those are into making the Visayan tuba wine. These mananggete climb coconut palm trees to gather the sap of the unopened coconut flowers which are left overnight to drip to bamboo containers. Early in the morning, and late in the afternoon, the mananggete collects the sap and pour it in a long bamboo container with a wooden hook called kawit. Before putting back the bamboo containers to collect the sap, these are cleaned with a bamboo implement with whittled end and are tapped on the coconut petioles to remove any dirt in a process called patik-patik . This song was collected by Priscilla V. Magdamo in 1958 in a Hiligaynon-speaking place in Visayas as sung by a certain Angelina Surilla. The notation below was taken from a learning module available online.

One of the most popular Philippine folk is this song about the parting of lovers. Dandansoy is the nickname of the man who is leaving his beloved in their place Payao.  Early version of this song appearing in the American period music book - the Progressive Music Series - Philippine Edition states that this song originated from the town of Culasi in Antique Province and was reported by a certain Fortunata Masipok.  The simple, yet lovely melody of the song truly have a universal appeal that it already have versions in many Philippine languages, primarily in the Visayan regions. The notation of the song below was taken from the thesis of Mr. Cainglet, available online. For classroom instruction purposes, only the first verse is given here.

This old song might have been very famous during the late part of the 19th century. Its music appeared in many scores around that time, say for example, in Manuel Walls y Merino' s La Musica Popular de Filipinas  its music was presented as El Balitao. Merino's short description of this balitaw  (dance-song) is very interesting, and is here quoted in its entirety as translated to English: " This dance is the most popular in the Philippines. It is generally played more than it is danced, and its figures come to be a specie of jota, although without the variety and elegance of this. It is usually played by bands or orchestras, or simply by guitars. This dance is so popular and the Indios have so much affection to it, that it is often said that as an indigenous person hears the balitaw, even if his father has died, he begins to dance it. "   During the America era, this song again appeared in the "Philippine Music Horizons" as the " Kettle Song " or th...

Chua-ay is probably among the most popular Ifugao folk song. This simple song first appeared in Emilia Cavan's book "Filipino Folk Songs" published in 1924. According to this book, Chua-ay is an "Igorot Wedding Song." Nonetheless, it became popular in the academe as the Ifugao "rice pounding song," and the pounding of the pestles are supposed to follow the rhythm of the song. How this sudden change of understanding came down to present-day Filipino students is not known. The song text translation below was taken from Cavan's book, p. "v." Man-child brave, man-child strong, For thee we call, oe!, oe! Brave to fight, strong to work, We bid thee come, oe!, oe! Carry rice from field to town, oe!, oe!

  A Cebuano children's song about a rooster who loudly crows "kukuliya, kukula !" The rooster was later butchered and cooked into a delicious dish.  This is song was collected by Rosemary V. Diaz from a Cebuano-speaking area in the Visayas sometime in 1972. The complete song text is given below. The music transcription of the song below by Sr. Lilia Therese Tolentino, was taken from a learning module, available online.  Akong manok sa buhi pa, akong manok sa buhi pa  Kusog motuktugaok, "Kukuliya, kukula!" Kusog motuktugaok, "Kukuliya, kukula!" Akong manok sa buhi pa. Akong manok sa patay, akong manok sa patay na  Wa' nay motuktugaok, "Kukuliya, kukula!" Wa' nay motuktugaok, "Kukuliya, kukula!" Akong manok sa patay na. Akong manok sa lamisa, akong manok sa lamisa  Lami ang pagkaon, "Kukuliya, kukula!" Lami ang pagkaon, "Kukuliya, kukula!" Akong manok sa lamisa.

            Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut), is probably the most popular Philippine folk song. School children are familiar with the easy tune of the song, and their benefit, they get acquainted with the most popular local vegetables, which according to song, grow around the tiny hut.

            Lubi-lubi is a Waray folk song about the coconut ( lubi ). The song simply means that the Waray folks can enjoy coconuts in all the 12 months of the year. The Waray version of the song (also called Lubi-lubi Lingkuranay ) is about a dwarf coconut (probably an allusion to a small maiden) which a man promises not to climb, after all it was not that tall. The song proceeds the now famous enumeration of the months of the year. The succeeding stanza is a dialogue between a maiden and a suitor who is trying to win her "immature" heart which she likened to a young coconut ( silot ). The maiden warns the suitor to first seek the permission of her parents before even picking one silot.           For those familiar with the song, the third verse, sung for the second part of the music can be sang: Kun waray sin abaniko/ Patay na inin lawas ko/ Lawas ko, ay, ay, madedesmayo/ San balhas nga dimasyado.      ...

 One of the most popular Ilokano folk songs is this serenade. Naraniag a Bulan literally means "radiant moon."