Why Do I Write in Aklanon?

Why Do I Write in Aklanon?

By Melchor F. Cichon

Revised: May 20, 2018

WHY do I write in Aklanon?

This is a simple question, but it took me some hours to compile my reasons why indeed I write in Aklanon.

Before I proceed, allow me to explain that I am not lifting my own chair. Instead I just wish to share how I started writing Aklanon poetry and the benefits that I have gained out of this endeavor. This might encourage you to write in Aklanon.

I started writing poetry when I was studying in U.P. Diliman in the early 1960s as a result of my frequent library visits. By then I told myself that someday my name would be included in the UP Main Library Catalog. Years later, my dream was fulfilled. And not only in the UP Main Library Catalog but also at the Philippine National Library Catalog and at the US Library of Congress. Here is a screen shot of the bibliographical entries at the US Library of Congress online catalog.

When I started writing poetry, I wrote in English, then in Tagalog, then in Aklanon. Now I write in English, Filipino, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, and Aklanon.

I wrote in English because I really wanted to improve my skills in English. It has been my problem on how to communicate effectively in English. Because of that I read books on English grammar, like the one by Jean Edades, “English for Filipinos.” Together with a friend, we studied the English grammar and did actual writing in English. To test the effectivity of my English, I wrote short letters to the editors of the Philippine Collegian,  The Manila Times, Sunday Times Magazine, and other national magazines. Some of my letters were published.

 I also read newspaper editorials to know how famous writers develop their ideas aside from updating myself on important issues that envelop our country. I also like to read biographies and other reading materials that deal on our socio-cultural and environmental issues. That is probably one reason why most of my  poems deal on social realism. Later when I wrote my first book of poem, I entitled it as Ham-at Madueom Ro Gabii, Inay? Majority of my poems here deal on our socio-cultural and environmental problems. But when I  write my haiga on Filipino women, I praise them to the highest heavens.

Here is one of my haiga:

Then I tried writing poetry in English, mostly about love. Unfortunately, many of my earlier poems are no longer with me.  

But since I did not have any formal training on poetry writing, I thought that the best way to write poetry was to translate Tagalog poems into English or English poems into Tagalog or Aklanon to see how poets write their poems. So I translated the works of Teo Baylen, a Tagalog poet laureate from Cavite and that of Amado V. Hernandez and Robert Frost. I remember the first poem that I translated from the works of Teo Baylen was his Tagalog poem, Talaba, which was eventually published in his book Kalabaw ag Buffalo.

Little by little, I learned some poetry writing techniques.

Then I tried writing in Tagalog as it was much easier for me to express myself in Tagalog than in English.

In the early 1980s, Dr. Leoncio Deriada came to the University of the Philippines in Iloilo (UPI), now UP Visayas (UPV). We cannot deny that majority of today’s creative writers in Western Visayas have been taught by him. And that’s the reason why we consider Dr. Deriada as the Father of Western Visayas Literature.

When he learned that I was writing poetry, he asked me to show him some of my “masterpieces”. When he saw my works, he advised me to throw them away and write new ones. He advised me to have a one-on-one poetry session with him. And we did. Later he told me to attend creative writing workshops along with other aspiring Western Visayan writers. At first by him, later by other noted Filipino writers including Edith Tiempo and Cirilo Bautista. I became a writing fellow at Silliman University, and in Iligan, Baguio, Mt. Makiling, etc. From these workshops, my writing skill was greatly improved.

It was also through Dr. Deriada’s encouragement that I write more Aklanon poems because it would be much easier for me to convey my ideas if I write in Aklanon, my mother tongue.  I accepted his challenge. He would tell me that nobody else would write our literature but by ourselves, Aklanons. Later, more Aklanon writers were trained by him. We held the first poetry workshop in Aklan in the house of Tay Roman de la Cruz in Kalibo in the late 1980’s. Tay Roman was a poet, a short story writer, a journalist, a preacher, a publisher. He authored the 919-page five language dictionary (Panay island). Later Tatay Roman de la Cruz started writing poems in Aklanon. The famous Dominador Ilio was also influenced by Dr. Deriada to write in Aklanon after he served as a panelist in our succeeding poetry workshops in Kalibo. Before this, both Tatay Roman and Mr. Ilio were writing poetry in English. The result of these workshops was the publication of Ani Aklanon published by the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Much later, our poems were anthologized in Mantala,  Patubas, among others.

Here is how Dr. Deriada literary twisted my nick just so I would know how to write poems in Aklanon:

“In my various workshops in Iloilo, Cichon had been there listening to the things I was telling Kinaray-a writers to challenge them. Cichon - and Barrios - took the challenge and soon the Aklan issue of Ani, which I edited with Cichon, et al., was published by the CCP and launched in Kalibo in early 1993. Cichon, who was by then writing in English and Tagalog-based Filipino, turned out to be the leading poet in his language and has the distinction of being the first Aklanon ever to publish a book of poems in his own language. Eventually, Cichon and Barrios won writing grants from the CCP.”

Before that, of course, I was already writing in Aklanon. In fact, my poem “Inay” was the first and only Aklanon poem ever published in the Philippine Collegian. Here is the poem:

Inay

Inay, matuod nga may diploma eon ako
Peru ibis ag dayok man pirmi rang suea.
Pumanaw ako nga owa mag-eaong
Bangud nga indi ko matiis nga Makita kang
Gatangis kakon.

Inay, kon manggaranon eang ako,
Eukaton ko ro atong eanas,
Patindugan kita’t bungalow,
Bakean kita’t kolord TV ag Hi-Fi.

Ugaling, Inay
Hasta makaron
Istambay man ako gihapon
Ay owa kuno ako’t diputadong maninoy.

Source: Philippine Collegian, October 4, 1973, p. 3

When I transferred to UP in Iloilo in 1977, I wrote a poem in Aklanon. This was published in Pagbutlak, the official student publication of UP in Iloilo. That was also the first Aklanon poem ever published in that school organ. The first and only Aklanon poem ever published in the Philippine Panorama (March 27, 1994, p. 29) was written by me, entitled Ham-at Madueom Ro Gabii Inay?

There are other reasons why I write in Aklanon.

Aklanon as a language is still developing like any other languages, although it has no standard orthography and grammar. Although we have three dictionaries that provide Aklanon words, I noticed that there are some words printed in newspapers and in the internet that are spelled in different ways like onga and unga; kon and kun; tagipusuon and tagipusoon. There are also some deviations like ingko or mingko,paris or kamana,pero or piru, etc.

But I usually consult the “A Study of the Aklanon Dialect” Vol. 2 dictionary by Vicente Salas Reyes, et al., 1969, if I am not sure of the spelling.

As I continue writing poems in Aklanon, my Aklanon vocabulary has been expanding. This is probably one reason why some professionals and students consult me regarding their researches/assignments on Aklanon language and literature. At times, I am being asked on Aklanon history and culture. By the way, I together with Dr. John Barrios and Engr. Dominador Ilio wrote a book on the Katipunan of Aklan.

And I also enrich Aklanon language by incorporating words from other languages into my Aklanon works. Example, cocoon has no direct translation into Aklanon, except that it is a house of a worm. But the Tagalog has, so I used higad when I translated the haiku of Rogelio G. Mangahas. Another word which I used is ham-at, from ham-an it. Now this word is well-known especially when I published the book “Ham-at Madueom Ro Gabii, Inay?” I also used tinaipan, the Hiligaynon word for horizon. We do not have one word equivalent for that.

To help myself in writing poems with rhymes, I compiled Aklanon words that have the same rhyming scheme. This compilation is found in my blog, https://aklanonrhymingdictio.blogspot.com/. Aside from this, I published two anthologies of poems written by Aklanons, including a poem that was written before the Spaniards came to the Philippines.

Later I realized that I was not only writing for myself. Some people have noticed my literary works, especially Dr. Deriada. When I published my first book of poems, “Ham-at Madueom Ro Gabii,” he recommended me to the Gawad Pampansang Alagad ni Balagtas. Eventually, I became the first Aklanon to receive such a prestigious national lifetime achievement award. Consequently, I received an award from the Aklan Province as one of the Outstanding Aklanons in the field of culture and arts in 2011, and my hometown, Lezo,  awarded me a Certificate of Recognition for having been selected as an Outstanding Aklanon in the field of culture and arts. My only regret is that, I did not even receive a formal letter from our mayor informing me that I would receive a Certificate of Recognition from my own hometown.  I learned it only through the word of mouth. I did not attend the ceremony.

In a way, not only Aklanons have been reading my literary works but also other people, especially so when I set up the website, Aklanon Literature (http://geocities.com/aklanonliterature)  where I featured selected poems written by Aklanons. Unfortunately, this portal is no longer existing. But before, it folded up, I had transferred all my posts to my other site: Aklanon Literature Archive (https://aklanonlitarchive.blogspot.com/).

I heard that the students in De La Salle University, UP Diliman, UP Visayas, and other academic institutions in Panay discuss some of my works in their classes. Someone from the University of Santo Tomas wrote me saying that she was writing a term paper on my Aklanon poems. In 2017, Dr. Sharon Concepcion Masula, of Aklan State University-Ibajay Campus analyzed 35 of my poems for her PhD dissertation in Manuel L. Quezon University. This yar, 2018, three other Aklanon graduate students had graduated with my Aklanon poems for their master's degree theses. Last year, some of my poems on women were staged at the Aklanon Catholic College entitled Babaye, Base sa mga Binaeaybay ni Melchor F. Cichon. It was directed by Mr. Rommel Constantino of the said college. One of my poems is included in the book Philippine Literature (Focus: The Literature of Western Visayas) by Libertad Bayotas-Chua of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, Bacolod City and in the monumental anthology, Sansiglong Mahigit ng Makabagong Tula sa Filipinas edited by the National Artist in Literature Virgilio S. Almario. I am the only Aklanon in this anthology.  Some other poets included in this collection are Cecilio Apostol, Jose Corazon de Jesus,  Lope K. Santos, Jose Garcia Villa and others. Another significant anthology where my poems and my short story are included is the Sa Atong Dila; introduction to Visayas Literature edited by no less than Merlie M. Alunan. If you happen to teach Aklanon Literature, this book can provide sufficient and high quality materials because one chapter of this book is devoted to selected Aklanon Literature particularly luwa, proverbs,riddles, folk songs, poems, short stories all in Aklanon with English translation.

Through my writings, I have gained some friends not only in my province but also outside. Two of them are Dr. Sharon C. Masula of Aklan State University-Ibajay Campus and the other lady, Sharon R. Gungon of New Washington. As a result, I gained some cooperation with other writers. And perhaps if not because of my Aklanon works, Prof. Tomas Talledo would not have invited me to attend a conference on why people write in their native tongues. The conference was held on May 9, 2008 at UP Visayas, Iloilo City campus. Or probably, I should not have been invited to attend as a fellow to a literary workshop in U.P. Visayas Cebu College, Cebu City, if I were not writing poems in Aklanon.  And if I were not writing poems and stories in Aklanon, I would not be here too.

And perhaps through my example, some Aklanons have tried writing in Aklanon. Now we see some Aklanon poems on the Internet. One book, “Haiku, Luwa and Other Poems by Aklanons,” was published in 2004 as a result of my online poetry workshop who stayed in the United States of America, Canada, Switzerland, and other places here and abroad. Since 1993, I have been teaching poetry writing, among Aklanons either one-on-one or in group both online and off-line, and mostly free of charge.

As I have been saying, I am a librarian by day and a writer by night. I told myself that if I can write one poem a day, that would be 365 poems for one year. Of course, I cannot write a poem a day. But out of these activities,  I have been involved in the publication of the following books:

Ani, Aklanon. Co-editor.  Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila, 1993.

Ham-at Madueom Ro Gabii? a collection of my award winning poems in Aklanon with Filipino translation. Privately printed at Macar Enterprises, Kalibo, Aklan. 1999.

Bigkas Binalaybay: Kritisismo at Antolohiya, co-editor with John Barrios, Jonathan P. Jurilla, and J. I. E. Teodoro. Iloilo City, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Visayas-Sentro ng Wikang Pilipinas, 2008.

The 32 Best Aklanon Poets. Editor. Alta Tierra  Publications, Lezo, Aklan. 2009.

When I Fall in Love; haiku, luwa, tongue twisters and other poems by Mila S. dela Rosa. Editor.  Alta Tierra  Publications, Lezo, Aklan. 2010.

Matimgas  nga Paeanoblion; anthology of poems written by Aklanons. Editor. Alta Tierra  Publications, Lezo, Aklan. 2011.

Maiden; a collection of haiga on Filipino women. Author. Alta Tierra  Publications, Lezo, Aklan. 2012.

Siniad-siad nga kaeangitan (strips of heavens); a collection of Akeanon poems. Author. Libro Agustino, University of San Agustin, Iloilo City, 2012.

Ham-at Madueom ro Gabii?; a collection of Aklanon poems with Filipino translation. Author. 2^nd ed. Kasingkasing Press, Guimaras, 2015.

Mga Pabula ni Aesop sa Akeanon; ginsueat it uman ni Melchor F. Cichon. Author. Kasingkasing Press, 2016.

Mga bueawanon nga hueobaton sa Akeanon; ginpili ag ginbaeay nanday Melchor F. Cichon, Rita Hilda Tabanera-Feliciano ag Pamela Joy Esmeralda Mindanao. Kasingkasing Press, 2016.

Eangit; flash fiction. Author. Kasingkasing Press, 2017.

Aside from these books, my poems, flash fictions, and feature articles have been appearing in Liwayway, in Aklan Reporter, Panay News, and in Almanaque,.

Probably because of my online and off-line poetry writing workshops among Aklanons, the various literary awards that I received and my publications,  my colleagues have called me as the Father of Aklanon Literature. Our Aklanon elder writers did not conduct poetry workshop. They just published their creative works, but they did not share their literary skills through creative writing workshops among Aklanons.

My other reason for writing in Aklanon is to prove that there is a distinct Aklanon literature, not a subgroup of Hiligaynon literature. For many years some people have thought that there is only one literature in Western Visayas and that is Hiligaynon Literature until we the present writers have advocated that Aklanon literature is not a subgroup of Hiligaynon literature, but parallel to it. In the book by Lucila Hosillos,  Hiligaynon Literature: Text and Context (1992), she included the English translation of an Aklanon poem, “Haead Sa Adlaw Nga Kinamatyan Ku Napueo Ag Siyam Sa Akean” by Peping Tansinko Manyas. This relates to the death of the 19 Martyrs of Aklan.

Still other reason why I write in Aklanon is to earn money, although very little, by being asked to translate Aklanon poems, short stories and other works for their theses or researches. As a resource person in various conferences, seminars and creative writing workshops, And as a judge in various poetry contests. I did not only earn some amount of money as a token, but I have been able to travel to diffirent places free of charge and meet new friends. And through these gatherings, I have a chance to meet famous Filipino writers like Virgilio Almario, Eugene Evasco, Dr. Luis Gatmaitan, Hermie Beltran, and many more.

 The latest creative writing workshop that I have conducted was in New Washington Elementary School, New Washington, Aklan on August 4, 2017 with more than 60 participants. On May 8, 2018, I was with 24 graduate students of the University of Antique discussing with them some aspects of Aklanon language and introducing with them my Aklanon poems and flash fictions.

Lastly, I write in Aklanon to expose the social and environmental cancer that ferment in our country and, hopefully, prick the consciousness of our leaders.

To me, poetry is a social responsibility. And to be a poet is to become immortal.

While contemplating on why I write in Aklanon, I cannot take away the problems and some suggestions that should be tackled to uplift Aklanon Literature.

 Here are some of the problems that I see:

Unlike the English and Filipino writers, Aklanon writers encounter a lot of problems.

1.      Aklanons are not well familiar with the correct spelling of even some common words. Is it kun or kon? Is it agud or agod? Is it tagipo-soon or tagipusuon? Two main reasons for this problem are: 1. There is no standard Aklanon dictionary.  2. The absence or insufficient copies of Aklanon dictionaries.

At the moment there are five dictionaries related to Aklanon language. Four of these are:

Braulio, Eleanor Perucho. Akean-Filipino leksicon, 1997-98. Kalibo, Aklan: Macar Enterprises, 1999.

Dela Cruz, Roman A. Five-language dictionary (Panay Island): English, agalog, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Aklanon. Kalibo,Aklan:  Rock Publishing, 2003.

Pastrana, Theodore Acevedo. Mga magkahueogan ag buko’t makahueogan nga mga tinaga sa Inakeanon (a thesaurus of Aklanon words). No place of publication, no publisher. 2012.

Reyes, Vicente Salas, et al. A Study of the Aklanon Dialect, vol two, Dictionary. Kalibo, Aklan: Public Domain, 1969. (This is the first Aklanon dictionary. Volume 1` of this is on Aklanon grammar)

What is interesting in these dictionaries, among others, is the inconsistencies of the spelling of some words. Here is a good example: (for their translation of heart or puso in Akeanon)

tagipusoon (Pastrana, page not stated but found in its Paaman part)

tagipuso-on (Reyes, p. 362)

tagipusuon (Braulio, p. 154, column 2)

tagipusuon (dela Cruz, p. 342). Note: When Braulio was writing her Leksikon, her adviwer was Mr. Roman A. dela Cruz)

Another interesting thing about Aklanon language is how they are being used by some Aklanon writers. They use prefixes as if they were separate words, hence we sometimes read words like these: pag bakae, gin haboy, ka itum, nag paligos, etc.  These should have been pagbakae, ginhaboy, kaitum, nagpaligos.

2. The second problem is the lack of encouragement and financial support from school administrators on the production and publication of Aklanon literary pieces. When I say Aklanon literary pieces, I mean poems, stories, essays, etc. written in Aklanon, not in Filipino nor in English.

3. Very few literature teachers in Aklan discuss the literary works of Aklanons writers in their classes.

4. There is a lack of writing grants, annual literary competitions, a regular local literary festival, publication grant, annual creative writing workshops  or LGU recognition of their efforts  in Aklan. If this is done, more Aklanons will be encouraged to create more literary pieces not only in English, Filipino but more particularly in Aklanon.

5. There is no foundation or local government unit in Aklan that finances an annual competitive free creative writing workshop to help train and develop prospective Aklanon creative writers. Their outputs, after proper editing, can be published.

6. I believe that there are still a lot of uncollected oral literature in Aklan like luwa, komposo, and epics.

7. Except for Dr. Sharon Masula’s dissertation on my poems, and the three other Aklanon graduate students who wrote their graduate theses on my poems, I still have to find other studies on Aklanon literature. Hopefully, our researchers including our theses writers will critically analyze our published literary works to help improve the quality of our literary outputs. At the moment, this is what we need. We are thankful that at the moment some of our Aklanon authors post their literary works in the social media, allowing other people to read our literary works. There are, however, some people who plagiarized.

9. Our academic and non-academic libraries do not have funds to buy locally produced literary works. Most often they just ask for free copies at the expense of the authors for they too are not rich.

10. The Aklan province has no literary arts council to develop, preserve, finance and encourage Aklanon writers to write more in Aklanon. Perhaps, it is high time that our provincial government creates a resolution requiring all colleges and universities to deposit a copy of each theses, school organs, journals/magazines being produced by them to the Provincial Library. This way, more and more people will be able to read more Aklanon creative works.

11. Many of our academic institutions libraries do not have copies of published books written by Aklanons, including souvenir programs during town and provincial anniversaries.  It is high time that our local official will look into this to upgrade our Aklaniana collection. We are lucky that there are some Aklanon writers who share their creative works in the internet. But there are some people who plagiarized our works. It happened to me twice.

12. Our provincial government, under the supervision of the provincial librarian, should evaluate each municipal library in Aklan to determine their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. And to update their Aklaniana collections.

What is next for Aklanon writers?

From the above statements, it is noticeable that Aklanon literature for children like nursery rhymes, short stories, and novels are very scarce. In fact, so far, there is no novel in Aklanon yet, although there are novels written by Aklanons but they are either in Hiligaynon or in English. Perry Mangilaya, the editor of Liwayway, is an Aklano who writes a novel but in Filipino. Likewise, academic studies on Aklanon literature are very few. This writer hopes that this gap will soon be filled up by the present and future Aklanon scholars.

It seems too that Aklanon contemporary writers will still write poetry and short stories. As for the contents, Aklanon poets and fiction writers will still be writing poems, etc. with social relevance as they are still experiencing the impact of poverty, injustices, corruption, environmental degradation, and many other socio-cultural issues.

In conclusion, Aklanon literature has a tradition to think of. Through the centuries, Aklanons have been writing different types of literature: poems, short stories, novels, riddles, songs, maxims, and legends, but generally these are either in Filipino or in English. Through the internet Aklanon writers have been exposed to world literature particularly the short poems like haiku and tanka and fictions. This will surely bring the Aklanon literature to the Phillipine literature mainstream.

Before, I say thank you, allow me to read these two poems.

Si Ambong, Ati

Si Ambong, Ati—maitum.

Kueong ra buhok, gision ra eambong, gasiki.

Gakung-kong, kung-kong ka maeupsi nga eapsag

Gapakalimos sa Jaro Cathedral, sa J.M. Basa Street

Ay gintabog eon ra pamilya sa eugta nga anay ginaayaman nanda’t haeo.

Si Ambong, Ati, maitum, indi kantigo magbasa, indi kantigo magsueat

Maski ka anang ngaean ay sa andang barangay owa’t eskuylahan.

Si Ambong, Ati, ginasinggit-singgitan, ginadela-delaan

It mga unga kon imaw mag-agi sa daean ay maitum.

Ginapahadlok it mga nanay sa andang gatangis nga mga unga.

O sa mga unga nga indi magtueog.

Kon fiesta, ginataw-an si Ambong it salin nga suea

Ginasueod sa plastic o sa bag-ong bukas nga lata.

Kon bukon ngani, ginabagsakan it gate.

Agod makayupyop it sigarilyo, gapamueot si Ambong it upos sa kalye.

Agod makasamit it hamburger o juice sa pakite,

Ginapaeapitan ni Ambong ro nagakaon maski sin-o nga anang maagyan.

Pag-abot it gabii, maeugad si Ambong sa sidewalk o sa waiting shed

Kahulid ka anang maeupsing eabsag—

Mayad eang kon may karton nga banig ag owa’t baha o uean –

Agod magbaskug euman ra tuhod sa pagpakalimos pagka-aga.

Si Ambong, Ati—maitum. Ra ele-ele, ra hibi, ra pangamuyo

Indi mabatian, indi mabatyagan it gobyerno sa siyudad it tawo.

Ra singgit it tabang hay singgit sa Pluto.

Si Ambong, Ati– maitum, indi makit-an it atong gobyerno.

Kon Dinagyang, sa selebrasyon etsa pwera si Ambong.

Eutay kuno imaw sa mga bisitang dumueo-ong.

Si Ambong, maitum, ginatabog it blue guard

Bag-o pa man imaw maka-eapak sa gate it Atrium ag SM Shoemart.

Kunta may Gloria nga magbatak kay Ambong sa libtong it kaimueon

Agod sa ulihi ro gobyerno may buwes nga masukot kay Ambong;

Agod sa ulihi makabakae man imaw it Levis o barong;

Agod sa ulihi makaeskuyla man sa U.P. ra mga inapo;

Agod sa ulihi owa kana’t magtamay, owa’t magtabog

Kon imaw mag-agto sa SM City ag sa Atrium.

Si Ambong, Ati–Maitum. Apo ni Maniwantiwan.

Ag Filipino. Pares kimo, pares kakon.

Kon ham-at owa imaw sa listahan it mga Filipino nga dapat buligan?

Kon ham-at indi imaw makasueod sa atong ugsaran?

Kon ham-at indi naton imaw maagbayan?

Kon ham-at indi imaw makadungan katon magkaon sa restauran?

Siyudad man baea ra’t tawo, indi baea, banwa? Indi baea, banwa?

Ay, Pangabuhi

Gatindog

Ro tawong

Grasa

Sa atubang it sangka

Aquarium.

“Mayad pa ro Gold Fish,

Maski indi makakita it eangit,

Busog.

“Ako, makita ko ro bilog

Nga kaeangitan,

Pero gaeaguok rang tiyan.”

References

Barrios, John E., Cichon, Melchor F., Jurilla, Jonathan P. and Teodoro, J. I. E., eds. Bigkas Binalaybay; Kritisismo, antolohiya. Iloilo City: Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Visayas and Pambansang Komisyon para sa Kultura at mga Sining, 2008. 171p.

Cichon, Melchor F. Belle Nabor: A Filipino Haijin. Posted November 28, 2005. http://www.akeanon.com/. Retrieved: April 16, 2006.

Cichon, Melchor F. Dr. Leoncio P. Deriada: Masiglang Lider Sa Muling Pag-Uswag Ng Malikhaing Panulat sa Western Visayas. Daluyan, the official publication of the Sentro Ng Wikang Filipino, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 8-11, 1994.

De Juan, Alexander C. Ang Pag-ahon Ng Nakasulat na Literaturang Aklanon. Daluyan, the official publication of the Sentro Ng Wikang Filipino, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, vol. 5, No. 2, pp.15-16, 1994.

De la Cruz, Beato. Contributions of the Aklan Mind to Philippine Literature. San Juan, Rizal: Kalantiao Press, 1958. 97p.

Deriada, Leoncio. Literature engineering in West Visayas. Forum, Opisyal na Pahayagan ng Universidad ng Pilipinas, March 28, 2006. http://www.up.edu.ph/forum/2000/03/28/litengg.html, retrieved: April 13, 2006.

Manyas, Peping Tansinko. Tagiposuon Nga Hueowaran. Daeang Rizal, Kalibo, Capiz. 1926. 26p. (Photo-copy)

Nabor, Fiorella I. “An Inquiry into the Ancient Inakeanon Writing System,” Silliman Journal, Ist Quarter, 1968, pp. 54-86 ((Photo-copy)

Reyes, Gabriel M. Toning. Mandurriao, Iloilo, 1925. 35p. (Photo-copy)

Tente Undoy. Mga Bilisad-n ni Tente Undoy. San Juan, Rizal, Kalantiaw Publications, Inc. 37p. (Photo-copy)