FOREWORD TO THE BOOK TIGSIK OF THE BIKOLS

WHEN ORAL TRADITIONS DIE

Oral traditions are treasures of immense value. What historical documents may fail to confirm, oral traditions can be veritable supplements. When sociologists doubt the sentiments of a certain social period they can turn to oral traditions for a glimpse at how it was.

Over the pageant and the entertainment that oral traditions are often imbued with, they transcend the material and physical and reach out for the spiritual; the reason for their relevance from generation to generation, from place to place.

If there is anything more animating in the preservation and enhancement of social order and values in the family, in the neighborhood, in the community, in the society, in a nation—it must be some form of an oral tradition that delivers lessons and wisdom in a most unforgettable way.

The proverbs excellently impart wisdom. Story telling makes catching values a pleasurable task. Riddles develop mental agility. Epics relate stories and histories in all their glory.

Bikolanos have all these oral traditions that can be helpful in their individual and collective cultural and spiritual growths. But, alas, the ariwaga seems to have become the possession of a few, the paukod is now a novelty, Juan Osong has died with the survivors of World War II, and Ibalong has transmogrified into a transient annual street presentation on an October afternoon.

When oral traditions die, they are lost forever. Memories are blanked out and are consigned to oblivion. And the community that fritters one can never claim to be ever fortunate.

It is our fortune that Bikolanos still have oral traditions and it is our misfortune that we are losing them as fast as the TV changes programs, as fast as the videoke reaches the farthest barangay.

Say, what do we know about harakbotan? Is it still there? How about sompongan? Is there any difference between rawit-dawit and tigsik? Kapoti an ikog ko ta maladop ako.

What is a dipper? The children have water dispensers and bottled water. The memory is on its way to the black hole of oblivion! So it seems.

It is good that Tigsik of the Bikols has come to light. This will be a quintessential guide to a proper understanding and appropriate practice of tigsik and thus helpful to its preservation.

While tigsik is imbued with the characteristics of rawit-dawit, it is essentially not rawit-dawit. Writing a quatrain and opening it up with “Tinigsik ko . . .” does not make it a tigsik, it is a rawit-dawit or a fragment thereof perhaps. Tigsik is an oral tradition that is oral—spontaneous, a verbal joust, occasioned by wine or liquor.

A rawit-dawit of many stanzas with everyone of them with a “Tinigsik ko . . .” as a beginning line does not make it a tigsik. This appears to be the prevalent practice. It is about time to correct it.

My heart goes for Raffi, Jun, and the late Tony for their tigsik study. They have done a masterful work. Tigsik of the Bikols succeeds at tenderly touching the heart of tigsik. I should know. I did my study on the subject in 1978 for my masteral thesis at Ateneo de Manila University.

This is a must read for those who want to understand tigsik; an inspiring work for those studying Bikol oral traditions.



                                                              Susana C. Cabredo, Ed. D.
                                                              Sixth President, Bicol University
                                                              Legazpi City


(Foreword to the book TIGSIK OF THE BIKOLS, Banzuela, Belgica & Guanzon, Legazpi City, J & E Printing Press, 2011)