BIAG NI LAM-ANG (Life of Lam-ang) is pre-Hispanic epic poem
of the Ilocano people of the Philippines. The story was handed down orally for
generations before it was written down around 1640 assumedly by a blind Ilokano
bard named Pedro Bucaneg.
Don Juan and his wife Namongan lived in Nalbuan, now part of
La Union in the northern part of the Philippines. They had a son named Lam-ang.
Before Lam-ang was born, Don Juan went to the mountains in order to punish a
group of their Igorot enemies. While he was away, his son Lam-ang was born. It
took four people to help Namongan give birth. As soon as the baby boy popped
out, he spoke and asked that he be given the name Lam-ang. He also chose his
godparents and asked where his father was.
After nine months of waiting for his father to return,
Lam-ang decided he would go look for him. Namongan thought Lam-ang was up to
the challenge but she was sad to let him go. During his exhausting journey, he
decided to rest for awhile. He fell asleep and had a dream about his father's
head being stuck on a pole by the Igorot. Lam-ang was furious when he learned
what had happened to his father. He rushed to their village and killed them
all, except for one whom he let go so that he could tell other people about
Lam-ang's greatness.
Upon returning to Nalbuan in triumph, he was bathed by women
in the Amburayan river. All the fish died because of the dirt and odor from
Lam-ang's body.
There was a young woman named Ines Kannoyan whom Lam-ang
wanted to woo. She lived in Calanutian and he brought along his white rooster
and gray dog to visit her. On the way, Lam-ang met his enemy Sumarang, another
suitor of Ines whom he fought and readily defeated. Lam-ang found the house of
Ines surrounded by many suitors all of whom were trying to catch her attention.
He had his rooster crow, which caused a nearby house to fall. This made Ines
look out. He had his dog bark and in an instant the fallen house rose up again.
The girl's parents witnessed this and called for him. The rooster expressed the
love of Lam-ang. The parents agreed to a marriage with their daughter if
Lam-ang would give them a dowry valued at double their wealth. Lam-ang had no
problem fulfilling this condition and he and Ines were married.
It was a tradition to have a newly married man swim in the
river for the rarang fish. Unfortunately, Lam-ang dove straight into the mouth
of the water monster Berkakan. Ines had Marcos get his bones, which she covered
with a piece of cloth. His rooster crowed and his dog barked and slowly the
bones started to move. Back alive, Lam-ang and his wife lived happily ever
after with his white rooster and gray dog.
REFLECTION
Biag ni Lam-ang (Life of Lam-ang) is indeed a very great
epic. This ain't the first time that I read Biag ni Lam-ang, probably when I
was a grade4 student and 1st year High School and the epic is a remarkable one.
I love the epic because it shows a lot of values in life and the culture of the
Filipino. The values that we get in this epic, are the value of being
Respectful, Lam-ang is very respectful to his mother and other people. He loves
his mother so much. Another is, dertermination, this value reflects so much to
Lam-ang. When he fought to the enemy of his father. Determination because he
wanted to seek justice for his father, though when Lam-ang was born he wasn't
able to see and touch his father because it was captured be the Igorots in the
forest. He did not have an opportunity to experience the love of a father. But
when knew what happened to his father, he grabbed the opportunity to revenge
and avenge for his father's death. See? Lam-ang is very loving, and that is
being Filipino "a family oriented".
Faithfulness and Loving. Inness Kannoyan the beautiful wife
of Lam-ang is very faithful to him and
Lam-ang too. Because of his love of Innes, he killed several monsters
and eventually fought Sumarang, the other dedicated suitor of Innes. He showed
the true meaning of love when he was tasked to get the fish rarang and he
almost died just to prove his love for Innes.
Bravery. Don Juan Panganiban, Lam-ang's father, fought th
Igorots at the forest to defend their tribe even his life in exchange.
Responsible. Namongan, Lam-ang's mother, when Don Juan was
in the battle, he gave birth to Lam-ang and since that, he took over the
responsibility over his husband. She stand as mother and a father. And Lam-ang
grew as a loving and kind person.
From the screen to the ring, to the pen to the king, wheres my crown, that my bling, always drama when i ring, see i believe that if i see it in my heart, crash through the ceiling cuz i reach it for the stars.
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