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  • About 3

    The project is aimed to map out and document Pangasinan traditional and folk songs, make a video recording of them, and perform them. However, the project is not limited to songs using the Pangasinan language. It has included songs using the Bolinao language because of the same reason that there is a little known documented Bolinao traditional or folk songs. The Bolinao language is one of the threatened languages in the Philippines and it is spoken only in thewestern part of Pangasinan, particularly in the towns of Bolinao and Anda. Meanwhile, although the Ilocano language is also prevalent in Pangasinan, especially in the eastern and western portion of the province, Ilocano songs were not included for the reason that there are already lots of documented Ilocano music and folk songs like “Manang Biday.”

    A project team was created to conduct the research and documentation of songs. Since such project is inherent in its programs, the Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO) automatically monitored and supervised the development of the project and extended logistical
    assistance to the project team.

    A training-workshop on how to go about the Music Geography Project was conducted by the NCCA Technical Consultants for the project team. Topics on Music Ethnography and Music Theory, and cultural mapping of intangible cultural properties were part of the discussion.

    The project team created a target-mapping plan and categorized the Pangasinan traditional and folk songs into the following: 1.) Work-Related Songs (Fishing, Farming and Boating); 2.) Rituals and Chants (Religious songs, Gozos); 3.) Social/ Life Cycle Songs: (Love & Courtship, Weddings and Marriage, Fiestas & Celebrations, and Lullabies); 4.) Songs about Nature (Animals and Plants); and 5.) Bolinao Songs.

    Initially, the project team short-listed thirty-six (36) Pangasinan songs and five (5) Bolinao songs. From the said shortlist, fifteen (15) Pangasinan songs and four (4) Bolinao songs were documented.

    The project team also faced some challenges even before the actual mapping started. The project was delayed due to circumstances beyond their control like the change in administration in the provincial government and the transition phase that has to undergo with it. Thus, the project was extended two times with the approval of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

    Along the way of the mapping and documentation, the project team also had to deselect some of the targeted songs due to lack of materials or absence of resource persons or culture bearers in the field who know the songs. In Bolinao, the culture bearers requested to deselect one of the songs because for them it is like taboo and runs against their morals and value as a community.

    In spite of all the challenges, it was an amazing experience for the project team to map Pangasinan Traditional and folk songs because they were also able to discover other songs that are not commonly sung anymore in the community. Nonetheless, the project pushed on and
    was completed.

    The project team believes that there are more Pangasinan traditional and folk songs out there that need to be rediscovered and documented before they are gone. Time is, indeed, of the essence in doing such project in mapping intangible cultural assets in the community. Logistical and financial support is necessary in pursuing such a noble endeavor in order to preserve and promote these traditional and folk songs, and eventually safeguard our intangible heritage and sustain them up to the future generations.

    This Pangasinan Music Geography Project may just be the beginning of a more comprehensive cultural work in the coming years to map and document our cultural heritage in the province.

    May this project become a catalyst in pursuing similar works in the future, and may this project inspire our young generation to appreciate our songs and music and take pride in our identity as the culture from panga-asinan.

    Nathaniel Joel M. Daroy
    Project Development Officer III, PTCAO

  • About 2

    Kabayawasan tradition: a font of intangible cultural expressions in Panag-asinan

    Pangasinan people are fond of music. The songs that they have produced through the years are concrete indications of this aspect of their rich culture and creativity.

    Pangasinan traditional and folk songs have emanated from the Pangasinan oral traditions, and the popular of these is the rich kabayawasan tradition. In her PhD. Dissertation entitled “Pangasinan Folk Literature”, Dr. Perla Samson-Nelmida stated that Pangasinan Folk Literature is rich, varied, and a continuing tradition, and from this the rich kabayawasan songs came to be as these songs are sung by the native folks under the bayawas or guava tree while resting from their work in the fields.

    Dr. Samson-Nelmida described that the kabayawasan singing tradition is unique to Pangasinan and that it is improvisational in nature, which suggests that Pangasinan people are good in composing words and tunes. They can easily put words into the tunes or fit some tunes to any existing words or anlong (poetry) as this developed into what we call the cancionan or singing joust.

    Pangasinan folk songs vary in range in terms of purpose or occasion. From love songs, work related songs, to children’s songs, Pangasinan people can describe various emotions like happiness, delight, sadness, loneliness, anger, despair, longing, or dispositions of humor and endearment.

    Our religious songs or himnos are greatly influenced by our Christian faith brought by the Spanish culture. These have been interpreted through the local Filipino/Pangasinan devotion to their respective town or barrio patrons or to the Blessed Virgin Mary which we also call gozos.

    Pangasinan songs or music also had social functions during weddings where songs like Patanir or the Panangabalayan are sung or played for the bride to bid farewell to maidenhood and for her to be welcomed and accepted in the household of the groom. And when the wedded couple bear children, the tambayos or lullabies are sung to put babies or little children to sleep.

    Songs were also put into practical use during the War times as they deliver encrypted or its subservient messages that are sung in sarsuelas. Another practical use of these songs is they are used to teach values to children.

    Much of these traditional songs, however, are seldomly heard nowadays as popular songs from other countries pervade the mainstream entertainment media to which our Filipino youngsters are very fond of.

    Our traditional songs about nature, about birds and the fishes, like the “Walay Manok kon Taras” or the “Dalem na Dayat” are now a strange tune among the younger generation. Only by chance during school plays or contests are these songs are ever played, or our instrumental Pangasinan music are heard during Folk dance competitions in the various academic levels.

    Gone now are the days that pëtëk or harana is done during courtship that love songs like “Rosing songs” or “No Siyak so Mangaro” are heard or sang, with the exception of course of the “Malinac Lay Labi” which gained international popularity due to the various choral arrangement made in choral competitions due to its enchanting melody.

    The traditional oral way of passing down these intangible cultures now befall the disinterested youth of this generation who happens to advocate more the KPop (Korean Pop Songs) counterpart of the Filipino OPM.

    If these traditional Pangasinan Songs (Folk songs) don’t get a chance to be taught in schools in the regular curriculum, how can these rich intangible cultures survive? How much more if they are not documented and recorded, then what materials about them can we use to teach the future Pangasinan generation?

    Time is crucial in marking off as much Pangasinan traditional and folk songs and documenting them in such a way that it will survive up to the next generations.

    Mapping out the songs and tunes of Pangasinan

    Pangasinan music is rich. Pangasinan traditional and folk songs abound, but there is a dearth of documented literature about them.

    Small steps have been made to map out these Pangasinan songs through pockets of cultural mapping projects conducted by a number of local government units in the towns and cities in Pangasinan. But there is still much more to be done in order to preserve and safeguard these intangible cultures because once the remaining culture bearers are gone, these songs will be forgotten and become extinct. The threat of losing them is real and imminent.

    When an opportunity was presented by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to map out Pangasinan Traditional and Folk Songs, the Provincial Government of Pangasinan grabbed this chance and availed of the competitive grant of P500,000.00 to conduct the Pangasinan Music Geography Project.

  • About 1

    Pangasinan

    Music Geography Project

    From pre-colonial roots to the modern-day influence

    Rooted-ness of Pangasinan, a barter of cultures

    Pangasinan has a rich cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. This is due to its colorful history and various encounters and convergences of the many influences from other cultures from the western world. Sharing of edifying experiences is the key to the progression of civilization in our land.

    These colonial influences were also instrumental in shaping much of who we are now as Pangasinan. However, a deep-rooted impact still prevails from our pre-colonial roots, and much of it is seen in our myths and legends, traditional practices, and belief systems that still run in our blood today.

    It was not only trade items or products that have been exchanged among and between us and the foreign traders, vis-à-vis, the colonizers. It was not only gold, or porcelain, or silk, or salt that was exchanged from one hand to another in order to create a sustainable economy using the barter system.

    Moreover, ideas and ideals have also been exchanged, much in the likes of religion or education that affected our perspectives. All of these influences are evident in our music, songs, dances, literature, our food and clothing, our shelter, our art and how we express ourselves during fiestas and celebrations.

    Our intangible culture in the Philippines varies from region to region, from island to island. Pangasinan has been much influenced by the Chinese, Spanish, and American culture. Thus, their traces are extant in the way we think and express ourselves, especially the people in the urbanized areas. However, our oneness with our natural environment also effected a praxis reflective of our knowledge of the universe as seen also in our community practices like when to go out and fish in the seas, or when to start plowing the fields after the first rainfall in the month of May.

    The whole point is that Pangasinan, although influenced by various colonizers and foreign traders of yore, still maintain its rootedness in nature and the practice of the old ways handed down by our ancestors. This is our heritage, this is our tawir.

  • About the Project