Cebuano Literature

Module1: History of Cebuano Literature

Posted by:Alma Erana

Source: wikipeda.org/wiki/Cebuano Literature

 

 ________________________________________

This module is intended to:

• Discuss the history of Cebuano literature
• Appreciate the Cebuano Literature
• Describe the Cebuano Literature 

Introduction:


Each one of us, we are unique individual.We have different perceptions in life. As a college student, we are expected to write a scholarly writing papers. So that we can enhance our ability to write.

  Note:     This article is complied  for educational purposes only.

History of Cebu



"Cebuano" comes from the root word "Cebu," the Spanish version of the original name "Sugbo," which most probably comes from the verb "sugbo," meaning "to walk in the water." In the old days, the shores of the Cebu port were shallow, so travellers coming from the sea had to wade in the water to get to dry land. The term is suffixed with "-hanon" to refer to the language, culture, and inhabitants of Cebu; hence "Sugbuhanon" or "Sugbuanon." The Spaniards later modified Sugbuhanon to "Cebuano" and the early Americans to "Cebuan." Today Cebuano may also refer to the speaker of the language no matter where he comes from. The Cebuano are also called "Bisaya," although this is a generic term applying not only to the Cebuano but to other ethnic language groups in the Visayas. The etymology of "Bisaya" is uncertain although it is probably linked either to the word meaning "slaves," for the region was either target or staging area for slave-raiding forays in precolonial and early colonial times, or to the word meaning "beautiful" which was what a Bornean sultan declared upon seeing the islands according to a popular tale. Cebuano is the first language of about a quarter of the Philippine population or around 15 million Filipinos today. It is dominant in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Camiguin, section of Leyte and Masbate, and most of Mindanao. It belongs to the Austronesian family of languages which, in the Philippines, has split up into many language groups or subgroups. The Cebuano language chiefly defines the Philippine ethnic group also referred to as Cebuano. The core area of this group is the province of Cebu, an elongated mountainous island with some 150 scattered islets. Encompassing a total land area of 5,000 sqkm, Cebu province is bounded in the north by the Visayan Sea, in the east and northeast by Bohol and Leyte, and in the west and southwest by Negros across Tanon Strait. Cebu is located in the geographical center of the archipelago. This region-with 4 provinces, 9 cities, 123 municipalities, and almost 3,000 barangays-has a combined population of 4.6 million. The cultural reach of the Cebuano, however, extends beyond Central Visayas. Due to factors like a dense population and a lack of arable land, Cebu and Central Visayas are an important source area for population emigration. It is for this reason that the Cebuano have also come to constitute a significant part of the populations in other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao. Moreover, the role of Metro Cebu, the country's second largest urban concentration, as southern center of education, media and transportation, enables Cebu to exercise cultural influence beyond provincial or regional boundaries. As early as the 13th century, Chinese traders noted the prosperity of the Cebuano with whom they traded various porcelain plates and jars, from the late Tang to the Ming, which were used by the natives for everyday life or buried in the graves. The traders also remarked how the Visayan, when not engaged in trade, raided Fukien's coastal villages using Formosa as their base. Reportedly, the Visayan rode on foldable bamboo rafts, and, when attacking, were armed with lances to which were attached very long ropes so that they could be retrieved to preserve the precious iron tips. In the early 16th century, the natives of Cebu under Rajah Humabon engaged in an active trade which bartered woven cloth, embroidery, cast bronze utensils, and ornaments. The settlement also had small foundries producing mortars, pestles, wine bowls, gongs, inlaid boxes of betel, and rice measures. Humabon himself was finely clad in a loincloth, silk turban, and pearl, and gold jewelry, and was supposed to have demanded tribute from East Indian, Siamese, and Chinese traders. At that time, densely populated villages lined the eastern coast of the island, while the highland villages hugged the streams and lakes. The coasts were linked to the hinterlands either by rivers or trading trails. Communities were composed of bamboo and palm leaf-thatched houses raised from the ground by four posts and made accessible by a ladder, the area underneath reserved for domestic animals. Humabon's large house resembled that common dwellings, towering like a big haystack over smaller ones(Pigafetta 1969). On his way to the Moluccas, Ferdinand Magellan landed in Cebu on 7 April 1521 and planted the seeds of Spanish colonization. Rajah Humabon and his wife, baptized Juana, were Christianized following a blood compact between conquistador and native king. However, Lapu-lapu, chieftain of Mactan, refused to accept Spanish sovereignty. Outnumbering the foreigners by 1,000, his men killed Magellan, 8 Spanish soldiers, and 4 of Humabon's warriors. Duarte Barbosa and Juan Serrano who took command after Magellan's death were also massacred along with their soldiers during a goodwill banquet hosted by Humabon. The remnants of Magellan's expedition under Sebastian del Cano sailed homeward defeated but proving, for the first time, that the earth is round. The second Spanish expedition to the Philippines headed by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Andres de Urdaneta reached Cebu on 27 April 1565. As in the earlier experience, the native reception of Legaspi was initially amiable with a blood compact with Sikatuna, chieftain of Bohol. Later, Tupas, son and successor of Humabon, battled with the Spaniards who easily killed some 2,000 warriors, who were equipped merely with wood corselets and rope armor, lances, shields, small cutlasses, arrows, and decorative headgear. Their native boats "built for speed and maneuverability, not for artillery duels" (Scott 1982:26) were no match to Spain's three powerful warships. Legaspi, accompanied by four Agustinians, built the fort of San Miguel on 8 May 1565. This was the first permanent Spanish settlement in the archipelago. Tupas signed a treaty tantamount to submission on 3 Jul 1565 for which he was given 13 m of brown damask. On 21 May 1568, shortly before his death, Tupas was baptized by Fr. Diego de Herrera- an event which propagandized Spanish rule. On 1 Jan 1571, the settlement was renamed the Ciudad del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus (City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus) in honor of the image of the Child Jesus found in an unburned house in the wake of the Spanish invasion of 1565 (the site of the present Augustinian Church). It was believed to be a relic of Magellan's expedition, the same one given to "Queen Juana" upon her baptism. Cebu was the capital of the Spanish colony for six years before its transfer to Panay and then to Manila. Many Cebu warriors were recruited by Legaspi, Goiti, and Salcedo to conquer the rest of the country. In the 1600s, Cebu had been one of the more populous Spanish settlements in the country, usually with about 50 to 100 Spanish settlers residing there (not including the religious). However, this dwindled sharply after 1604, when Cebu's participation in the galleon trade was suspended. Cebu had annually outfitted and dispatched a galleon to New Spain. Profits were minimal because of restrictions imposed on the items that could be loaded, at the instigation of Spanish officials who wished to maintain the Manila-Acapulco trade, which was the more profitable venture. Moreover, one galleon from Cebu sank in 1597. The nonparticipation of Cebu in the galleon trade greatly diminished its importance, and by the late 1730s, there was only one or two Spaniards who lived in Cebu City who was not a government official, soldier or priest. Few Spaniards owned land in the countryside, a situation further buttressed by a decree that forbade the Spaniards from living among the Filipinos until 1768. The works of Italian traveler Gemelli Careri in the late 17th century and of French scientist Le Gentil both noted Cebu's commercial poverty. The island had become a mere outpost. Inter island trade was further restricted by two factors: the threat of so-called Moro raids from Mindanao and Moro pirates on the seas, which continued way into the late 1790s; and the attempts of the alcaldes-mayores or provincial governors to monopolize domestic trade for their own personal economic advantage. These alcalde-mayores were allowed to purchase the special license to trade to make up for the fact that the Spanish central administration perennially lacked funds to give as salaries to its local officials and bureaucrats. As Spanish officials recovered from the short-lived British occupation of Manila from 1760 to 1762, they began to institute reforms which eventually made the atmosphere more conducive to trade. Cebu's trade slowly rejuvenated. The opening of the Philippines to world trade in 1834- and of Cebu in 1860- stimulated economic activity in Cebu. Sugar and hemp became important cash crops for Cebu's economy. Sugar had already been previously grown in Cebu even before Magellan arrived. Identified as one of the four varieties of sugar to be found in the Philippines during the Spanish period was a strain called "Cebu Purple." The vastly increasing demand for cash crops meant, as in most other areas in the Philippines, a big change in land ownership patterns. Land was increasingly concentrated in the ownership of a few hands, usually through the method of pacto de retroventa, where land was mortgaged by its original owners to new cash-rich landowners on the condition that it could be bought back at the same price on a certain date. This system, which favored the creditors, created a new class of wealthy landlords and a mass of landless agricultural wage laborers, both groups of which began to agitate against the Spanish administration and the power of the religious. This pattern was familiar to the rest of the country. The Cebu revolutionary uprising was led by Leon Kilat, Florencio Gonzales, Luis Flores, Candido Padilla, Andres Abellana, and others. On 3 April 1898, they rose against the Spanish authorities in Cebu. Furious fighting took place on Valeriano Weyler (now Tres de Abril) St. and other parts of the city. The revolutionaries drove the Spaniards across the Pahina River and finally to Fort San Pedro. They besieged the fort for three days but withdrew when the Spaniards sent reinforcements from Iloilo and bombarded the city. Spanish rule in Cebu ended on 24 Dec. 1898, in the wake of the Treaty of Paris signed on 10 Dec. The Spaniards, under Cebu politico-military governor Adolfo Montero, withdrew to a caretaker committee of Cebuano citizens. The Philippine Government was formally established in Cebu City on 29 Dec. 1898, and revolutionary head Luis Flores became the first Filipino provincial governor of Cebu. The American occupation ended the republican interregnum. Under threat of US naval bombardment, Cebu City was surrendered to the Americans on 22 Feb 1899. However, a province-wide war ensued under the leadership of Juan Climaco and Arcadio Maxilom. Cebuano resistance to US rule was strong but had to submit to superior American arms with the surrender of the Cebuano generals in Oct. 1901. In 1901, a civil governor, in the person of Julio Llorente, was appointed in Cebu. The Americans, introduced public education, promoted industry, and reorganized local government. All previous laws and ordinances observed were permitted to continue, although the municipal board positions were no longer filled by the appointment but through popular elections. Cebu became a chartered city on 24 Feb. 1937. Vicente Rama authored and secured the approval by Congess of the Cebu City Charter. The Charter changed the title of presidente to mayor. Alfredo V. Jacinto served as mayor by presidential appointment. On 10 April 1942, the Japanese landed and seized Cebu. Over half the city was bombed. Cebu's USAFFE (United States Armed Forces in the Far East) and Constabulary forces and some ROTC units and trainees surrendered to the Japanese on orders of Gen. Wainwright, supreme commander of the United States Forces in the Philippines. Many fled to the mountains and later reorganized into guerilla bands which harassed the Japanese throughout their occupation and facilitated the American "liberation" of the province. As elsewhere in the country during wartime, suspected collaborators were tortured and killed. Notorious for such summary executions of suspected collaborators in Cebu was the group led by Harry Fenton, who held sway in northern Cebu while James Cushing controlled those operating in central and southern Cebu. For his many abuses against comrades and civilians, Fenton was executed by the guerillas on 1 Sept 1943. James Cushing assumed command of the anti-Japanese resistance movement in Cebu, which was one of the most effective in the country. By the time MacArthur returned to the Philippines in Oct 1944, Cushing had about 25,000 men, half of whom were armed and trained. Juan Zamora administered the city of Cebu during the war. Upon the return of the Americans in March 1945, Leandro A. Tojong was appointed military mayor of Cebu. Following the post-"liberation" general elections on 23 April 1946, Manuel Roxas was elected Philippine president. In 1946 he appointed Vicente S. del Rosario as mayor of Cebu, the first to serve the city at the dawn of the Third Republic. The Charter of the City of Cebu was amended in 1955 to make the post of mayor elective. Sergio Osmena Jr. was overwhelmingly elected mayor. The present city of Cebu recovered impressively from the wreckage of the last World War, and has grown to be the second largest metropolis in the nation . RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES   Many Cebuano, especially the less Westernized and the rural ones, continue to be firm believers in the existence of spirits. Despite the fact that this belief stem from pre-Christian animist tradition, they persist to this day, and are very blended with Catholicism. There is strong belief in spiritual beings who are capable of assuming any form and causing illness to those who offend them. The evil spells they cast on people can be driven away by performing rituals, reciting prayers in Spanish or Latin, making offerings, using the crucifix and holy water. Often times the folk healers or mediums like the babaylan, tambalan, and mananapit are asked to perform rituals to drive away the spirits. Spirits may appear as: the tamawo, a fairy that dwells in big trees, and occasionally falls in love with mortals, who upon death enters the spiritual world of the tamawo; the tumao, the creature with one eye in the middle of its face that goes out only during new moon; the cama-cama, a mountain gnome of light brown color, whose great strength may cause great pain on all mortals who displease it; and the aswang, an evil spirit which can be disguised as a man or a woman at night, helped by its agents like the tictic and silic-silic birds. Birds often act as agents or messengers of the spirit world. When the sagucsuc bird sings "suc, suc, suc," it announces rain. A kind of owl, the daklap, is believed to conceal its nest on the seashore so cleverly that anybody who finds the eggs but keeps the secret becomes a curandero or healer. The hooting of the owl is considered a bad omen, specially if it comes from the roof of the house of a sick person. When the kanayas (sparrow hawk) appears, a typhoon is anticipated as they are the agents of tubluklaki, the god of the winds. Other animals also serve as portents of good or bad omens. Cats are often regarded as possessing special powers. Their eyesight enables them to see evil spirits. Fisher folk and hunters use the eyes of wildcats as charms to enable them to have an abundant catch. A talisman is made by a special arrangement of the bones of a black cat. The arrival of rain is announced when a cat gets wet during a drought. On the other hand, bad weather expected when a cat stretched itself in the morning. Dogs become more ferocious if fed with wasps' nests, and see evil spirits like the tumao when they bark continuously during a new moon. To scare away aswang, cow/carabao horns or tortoise shells are thrown into red coals. People recite the Ave Maria backwards to escape the poisonous stings of the alingayos (wasps). When the dahon-dahon (praying mantis) enters a house, it foretells misfortune for the occupants. Almost all aspects of agriculture are governed by beliefs and practices. The tambalan is often called to perform the practice of bayang or buhat before virgin lands are cultivated. A dish of white chicken or white pork is offered to the unseen owner. Before planting, a table with cooked rice, chicken, wine or buyo is set in the open and offered to the spirits who are asked to grant a good harvest. If planting is to be done during a new moon in May or June, rice is toasted and then ground with sugar in a mixture called paduya. The paduya is then baked, divided into 24 parts, and wrapped in banana leaves and offered the night before planting to the aswang who protects the field. For harvest blessings pangas may also be prepared in a basket from a mixture of rice, medicinal herbs, palm fruit and a wooden comb. There are specific practices depending on the crop being planted. During the planting of rice, one must not hurt or kill the taga-taga, an insect with protruding antennae believed to be the soul of the palay, or else this will cause a bad harvest. A good harvest is likely when its tail points upwards. In planting corn, the first three rows should be planted at sundown. This is the time when chicken and other fowl are in their roosts and if they do not see where the seeds are planted, they will not dig up the seeds. If it rains while the farmer is planting, it is a sure sign that the seeds will not germinate. Persons with few or broken teeth should not plant corn to prevent the corn from bearing sparse and inferior grains. In coconut planting, so that the nut will grow big and full, seedlings must be placed on open ground during a full moon. They should be planted at noontime when the sun is directly overhead and shadows are at their shortest. This is so the coconut trees will bear fruits soon, even if they are not yet very tall. While planting coconuts, it would help if one is carrying a child so that the tree will yield twice as many nuts. Bananas should be planted in the morning or at sunrise with young plants carried on the farmer's back so the branches will have compact and large clusters. Sticks should not be used when planting cassava lest the tubers develop fibers which are not good to eat. Ubi, on the other hand, is a sacred root crop. If it is dropped on the ground, it has to be kissed to avoid divine fury called gaba. Planters must lay clustered fruits on three hills for an abundant harvest of camote or sweet potato. It is believed that planters must remove their shirts, lie on the ground, and roll over several times during a full moon. Crops planted near the diwata'a place or during thunderstorms will become rat infested. During harvesting, if the crops are poor, the farmers prepare biku, budbud, ubas, tuba, guhang, 12 chickens, pure rice, tobacco, and tilad. These they placed under a dalakit tree in the fields as offering to the spirits. Rice harvesting entails more intricate rituals. A mixture called pilipig is prepared from seven gantas of young palay added to ubas (grapes), bayi-bayi (ground rice), grated coconut, and sugar. This mixture is pounded in a mortar and brought out at midnight. At midnight, the farmers call the babylan to chant prayers while they surround him/her with smoke. Fisher folk have their own ways of soliciting the favors of the other world. During a full moon, a mananapit is asked to pray for a good catch and to bless the fishing nets and traps with herbs and incense. To cast off evil spirits, fisher folk at sea mutter tabi meaning "please allow me to fish." They keep a small yellow copper key under their belts to protect themselves from being devoured by big fish. Divers eat the flesh of cooked turtle for greater stamina underwater. Fisher folk avoid bad luck by neither sitting nor standing in front of their fishing gear and by returning home by way of the route used when setting out to sea. To avail of future bounty, fisher folk using new traps must throw back half of their first catches. That spirits are believed to roam the world of the living must be considered in building houses. Spirits like dwelling in caves and ought not to be disturbed by the construction of a house nearby. A good site for a house is determined by burying 3 g of rice wrapped in black cloth at the center of the lot. If a grain is missing when they are unearthed three days after, the site is not suitable for it will cause illness. February, April, and September are the months to build houses. To bring prosperity and peace to the owners, coins are placed in each posthole before the posts are raised. The ladder of the house should face east to ensure good health. A full moon symbolizes a happy home life when moving to a new house. For the moving family to be blesses, they should boil water in a big pot and invite visitors to stay overnight in their new house. A ritual is also performed against evil spirits during the inauguration of public buildings, bridges, and other structures. The Cebuano, like other Catholic Filipinos, are devoted to their patron saints. Their most popular devotion is to the Santo Nino of Cebu whose statue venerated in the Augustinian Church in Cebu City is the oldest Christian religious relic in the Philippines. The Holy Child is believed to be a savior during fires and natural calamities and a performer of miracles big and small, from shielding the island from the foreign invaders in earlier times to playing harmless pranks. A grand week-long celebration during the feast of the Santo Nino is highlighted with sinulog dances and a candlelit evening procession. During other fiestas, novenas are prayed, candles lit inside the churches, and the image of the patron saints kissed in homage and thanksgiving. The masses are preceded by the processions to prevent misfortunes during the year. From 16 to 24 December the misa de gallo, a dawn mass, is held nine consecutive days. There are solemn Lenten rituals, long processions, and religious dramas. Christian folk religiosity is most apparent and typical in the lenten procession of Bantayan Island, held on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. In this major lenten spectacle, the Bantayanon garb their children in angel and saints costumes and follow the carriages of their favorite saints. Apart from the lifesize statues of San Vicente, San Jose, Santa Teresa, San Pedro, and Santa Maria Magdalena, there are around 20 other floats depicting scenes from Christ's passion.       CEBU:

It is not just a promise or potential, Cebu is demonstrated capability with an excellent economic track record.

It is the second largest city and fastest growing economy in the Philippines.

It leads the country in export items such as furniture, fashion accesories, carrageenan and gifts, toys and housewares.

It is the most accessible place in the Philippines, wiht more domistic air and sea linkages than Manila.

Cebu is based to over 80% of inter-island shipping capability in the Philippines. It is not an earthquake zone or typhoon belt, nor are there volcanoes in  the island. Cebu gas one of the best records for peace & order in the country. Its labor forced is oriented towards non-agricultural lives and is one of the most productive in the country.

The development of its infrastructure is balance; it has all the ingredients necessary to be competitive and sustain investments. It is a cosmopolitan area with all the support facilities and amenities needed for an ideal lifestyle.

  Discussion Proper CEBUANO LITERATURE

Cebuano literature refers to the literary works written in Cebuano, a language widely spoken in the southern Philippines. The term is most often extended to cover the oral literary forms in both indigenous and colonial Philippines.

While the majority of Cebuano writers are from the Visayas and Mindanao region, the most recognized Filipino literary outlet for them, including the Bisaya Magasin, is based in Makati city in Manila, while there is also a lively Cebuano community of writers in the language which is based outside the country. The term Cebuano literature, therefore, encompasses not only those Visayas and Mindanao-based writers writing in Cebuano, but all written output in Cebuano, wherever its source.

History:

• Pre-Spanish and Spanish

Cebuano literature, as much as most literature of the Philippines, started with fables and legends of the early people in the Philippines and colonial period, right down to the Mexican (Viceroyalty of New Spain) and Spanish influences. Although existence of a pre-hispanic writing system in Luzon is attested, there is proof that baybayin was widespread in the Visayas. Most of the literature produced during that period was oral. They were documented by the Spanish Jesuit Fr. Ignatio Francisco Alzinal. During the Spanish colonial period, the religious theme was predominant. Novenas and gozos, most notably the Bato Balani for the Santo Niño.

• American Period

The literature during this time was predominantly propagandistic. At this time, the Cebuanos were still seething with resentment at the American betrayal of their hopes and the new colonizers were retaliating with restrictions on the freedom of expressions.

The first written Cebuano literature is Maming, by Vicente Sotto, The Father of Cebuano Literature. The story was published in the first issue (July 16, 1900) of his Ang Suga. Two years later Sotto wrote, directed, and produced the first Cebuano play, Elena.It was first performed at the Teatro Junquera (in what is now Cebu City) on May 18, 1902. The play established Sotto's reputation as a writer. The dedication of the play by the playwright reads, "To My Motherland, that you may have remembrance of the glorious Revolution that redeemed you from enslavement. I dedicate this humble play to you."

Vicente Sotto attacked the decadent forms of linambay in his newspaper Ang Suga. He was challenged by a friend to write his own play as he was always attacking the linambay form. Sotto wrote the Cebuano "Ang Paghigugma sa Yutang Nataohan" (Love of the Native Land) as a response. The play was successful; Sotto organized the Compania de Aficionados Filipinos. Within the year, two more plays were written by Sotto: "Elena", which deals of a girl's love for an insurrecto; and "Aurora", which deals with a scandal involving the priests and nuns of the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion. Realism in Cebuano theater was stretched too much however; even Sotto himself was a victim of the movement he started, when prior to his running for mayor in 1907, a play entitled "Ang Taban" (1906, by Teodulfo V. Ylaya) was released. The play dealt with a kidnap allegation involving Sotto.

During the American period, Ang Suga became the medium for publication of Cebuano writers. A community of writers slowly grow, to include the names of Florentino Rallos, Filomeno Veloso, Marcial Velez, Timoteo Castro, Segundo Cinco, Vicente Ranudo, Dionisio Jakosalem, Selestino Rodríguez, Filomeno Roble, Juan Villagonzalo, Leoncio Avila and Filemon Sotto. (Most of these people were recognized for their achievements by the generation right after them, as evidenced by the use of their names for major streets in Cebu City, but their role in the furtherance of Cebuano culture is lost to subsequent generations.) Juan Villagonzalo was the first to write a Cebuano novel.

Four typical novels on the love theme written by popular writers during the American period would represent the pre-war writers' subconscious but collective efforts in creating a common core of meanings and values in the face of new American culture. These are Felicitas by Uldarico Alviola in 1912, Mahinuklugong Paglubong Kang Alicia ("The Sad Burial of Alicia") by Vicente Garces in 1924, Apdo sa Kagul-anan ("Bitterness of Sorrow") by Angel Enemecio in 1928-29, and Ang Tinagoan ("The Secret") by Vicente Rama in 1933-34. While Felicitas and Paglubong assert the value of marital fidelity and Apdo that of feminine chastity, Tinagoan challenges the emergent value that tolerates divorce. Such novels were seen as fictionalized renditions of their writers' stand or traditions and practices which were subjected to debate in the school stage and within the pages of periodicals.

• Golden Age of Vernacular

The pre-war period in the Philippines is sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Vernacular Literature, with the 1930s marking a boundary between two kinds of popular writing: the predominantly propagandistic and the more commercialized escapist literature that proliferated since the Commonwealth period. In the year 1930, Bisaya Magasin started publishing in Cebuano.

In 1936 Cebuano writers started publishing anthologies; readers engaged in amateur literary criticism; and complaints of plagiarism livened up the weekly news. Periodicals that featured creative writing mushroomed, although most of these were short-lived.

The generally considered first feminist Cebuano novel, Lourdes by Gardeopatra G. Quijano was serialized in the period May 26 to September 23, 1939 in Bag-ong Kusog (literary "New Force"), the most popular pre-war periodical. It has been predicted by no less than the late novelist and Philippine National Artist for Literature N. V. M. González that Philippine literature in English will die, leaving the regional literature (Ilokano, Waray, etc.). In the case of Cebuano literature, this has been the case.

• Post-War

It has been predicted by no less than the late novelist and Philippine National Artist for Literature N. V. M. González that Philippine literature in English will die, leaving the regional literature (Ilokano, Waray, etc.). In the case of Cebuano literature, this has been the case.

Some of the prominent writers and poets in the Visayas and Mindanao who used to write in English have shifted to Cebuano. Among them are Davao-based Macario Tiu, Don Pag-usara, and Satur Apoyon, and Cebu-based Ernesto Lariosa (a Focus Philippines Poetry Awardee in 1975) and Rene Amper (a two-time Palanca awardee for English poetry. These giants of Cebuano literature are now regularly contributing to Bisaya Magasin; their shift to Cebuano writing has influenced young Cebu and Mindanao-based writers in English to follow suit (among them are Michael Obenieta, Gerard Pareja, Adonis Durado, Januar Yap, Jeneen Garcia, Marvi Gil, Delora Sales, Cora Almerino and Raul Moldez).

• Contemporary

In 1991, Cebuano poet Ernesto Lariosa received a grant from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He used the grant to introduce the 4-s in Cebuano poetry: social sense, sound and story. The language he used was slack, devoid of strong metaphors. He used the language of the home and of the streets. Writer-scholar Dr. Erlinda Alburo, director of the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos noted in a forum sponsored by the university's theater guild in 2003 that the young writers (those given above) have given a new voice to Cebuano fiction. They have introduced modern writing styles, experimented with the Cebuano language and explored themes which have never been elaborated before by their predecessors.

There are now emerging number of publications featuring fiction and poetry in Cebuano. The ownership of the de-facto literary journal, Bisaya Magasin, was transferred from the Chinese-owned Liwayway Publishing, Inc. to Napoleon Rama's Manila Bulletin Publishing in 2003, ushering a change in layout, acceptance policies and an increase in contributors' fees.

Aside from the reinvigoration of Bisaya Magasin, Cebu-based publishing houses have also started tabloids in the language (Banat News of Freeman Publications and SunStar SuperBalita of SunStar Publications). These tabloids have bigger circulation than their English counterparts. The U. P. National Writers Workshop every October and the Iligan National Writers Workshop every summer have reserved slots for Cebuano writers. In every edition of these workshops, there are Cebuano works that are being dissected or discussed by the panelists.

In 1998, the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature opened the Cebuano literature category.

Guide Questions:

• Why do we need to study Cebuano literature?
• What are the disadvantages if we are not valuing our  own Cebuano Literature?
• How do we uplift our own Cebuano Literature?