Luwa in the Moment of Covid 19 Pandemic

Luwa in the Moment of Covid 19 Pandemic

By Melchor F. Cichon

August 25, 2020

The world, including us Filipinos, was caught unprepared when the Covid-19 pandemic attacked us. Because this disease is very fatal, millions of people around the world are forced to stay at home. Like the rest of the people around the world who have been quarantined, many of us have to think of something to make ourselves productive like selling different types of goods. Or do something just to entertain ourselves. And to help push our local literature to the national literature.

Me for example, since writing is my favorite pastime, I spend most of my time with my computer composing poems or short stories. One of the poems that I compose is luwa. In Aklan, luwa is called ditso. In the book Folk Poetry by Amorita C. Rabuco, she called it lo-a.

What is luwa?  

Luwa is a form of poetry that is usually written in four lines. There are also luwa that are longer ones, but each stanza has four lines. Luwa is recited in the house of a bereaved family during wakes to lessen the sorrows of the bereaved family.

It is said that luwa was brought to the Philippines by the Spanish missionaries. One reason for this is its relationship to the religious activities of the Filipinos. 

It used to be the first stanza of corrido, that kind of poetry that relates the exploits of kings and princess. There are also luwa that are used to get the hands of a lady. This is known as enamoracion.

Here are two examples of such luwa:

Mataas nga lamesa ang akon ginlakbay.

Kutsara  kag tinidor ang akon kaaway.

Wala ko ginbaliha ang akon kabudlay

Tubtob lamang makita larawan mo Inday. (Rabuco, A., 2003, p. 91.

Lakat mga tiil, sunod dapa-dapa,

Makadto sa harden, mamupo sang bunga.

Pananglit ako sitahon,

Sugo sang paghigugma.  (Rabuco, A., 2003, p. 90.)

Luwa are recited  during wakes as part of the punishment to whoever loses in the game.

It is said that it is not advisable to recite luwa if one is not in the wake, because it is believed that a member of the family who recites it will die if this is done not in its proper place.

Because luwa are recited in wakes as part of a punishment to whoever is the loser in a game like konggit, truth or consequence, bordon, it is very much appreciated if the lines have rhymes, rhythms, and humor. This is one reason why there are nonsense luwa. The rhythms of luwa are not consistent though, but there are a lot of luwa that have rhyme. This includes the aaaa, aabb, and abab rhyme structures. Occasionally, we can find luwa that have abcd endings.

Here are some examples:

Example of a luwa with an aaaa rhyme:

Pag-agto ko sa Ibajay,

May hakita ako nga patay;

Ginbagting ko ra eagay,

Mas mabaskog pa sa lingganay.

Here you will notice that the endings of all lines are in ay.

For the aabb example:

Pag-agto ko sa bukid

Nakakita ako it ibid;

Paglingot ko sa waea

Gatueok kakon rang nobya.—Melchor F. Cichon (MFC)

Here the first and second lines end in id, while the third and fourth lines end in a.

Here is another ending. The abab:

Igto sa bukid,

May busay nga naga-ilig;

Kon magpaligos igto si Ismid,

May daeang butong nga binulig. --MFC

Kon gusto mo gid ako

Nga mangin nobya mo,

Ro adlaw imo nga tukuran

Agod indi kita madueman.--MFC

There are luwa with Spanish and English words.

Paris it navagante

Sa tunga it travisya

Kinueabos rang suwerte

Hay gulpi nga nadisgrasya.

***

Igto sa bukid

May kwarta nga nagaligid

Nagaligid-naga roll

Dumiretso sa waterfall.

There are other luwa that are bawdy, but full of imagery. Here is an example:

Pag-agto ni Inday sa Boracay

Napusa ro anang tuway;

Pagkasayod ka anang nanay,

Ana imaw nga ginminueay.-- MFC

For a nonsense luwa here is a classic example:

Secut erat en principio

Bisan libat basta gwapo;

En principio secut erat

Gwapo pero libat.

Secut erat is a Latin word that means Glory be, a Catholic prayer.

Here is another nonsense luwa:

Nag-agto ako sa Nabas

May hakita ako nga bayawas;

Akon nga ginpaeas,

May nahueog nga sibuyas.

There are luwa that have double meanings. These are the luwa that belong to the adults, if they can decipher the meaning. Here is an example:

Maligos ako kunta

Sa maisot mo nga sapa

Ugaling ro kinasaea

May guardia civil sa tunga.--MFC

There are luwa that are really metaphysical. Here is one:

Ako mangunguma nga taga-Lezo

Maagto sa eanas agod mag-arado

Rang saeaburan puno’t bungot-bungot

Rang mabuot nga arado,

Indi magdueot kon indi magtindog.-- MFC

***

Ako si Haring Marikudo

Manugtanum it amamakoe;

Pero ro gusto-gusto gid ni Inday kuno

Amamakoe nga sukoe.—MFC

***

Kon gusto mo gid man ako

Nga mangin nobya mo,

Ro adlaw imo nga tukuran

Agod indi kita madueman.

Bordon is a kind of game wherein the participants form a circle, either setting or standing inside the house or outside. Someone called  “pulis” or kuring is inside that circle who will try to catch the participant who holds the stone called singsing, while the group is singing, Ang Singsing.  When the pulis is able to catch who holds the stone, that participant will be punished by reciting a luwa. If the participant cannot recite a luwa, he/she will either sing or dance in front of everybody. At times, the loser will kiss his/her boyfriend/girlfriend if he/she happens to be around. If the loser does not recite a luwa that rhymes, the group would say estangko. But once the group likes the recited luwa, the participants will clap their hands or say bitor.

There is another version of this game, while the group is singing, the participants pass the singsing to the next participant, making sure that the pulis does not know who holds the stone.  When the singing stops, the participant who holds the singsing is punished by asking him/her to recite a luwa. After which, the game continues until the participants stop playing.

The third version of the bordon is instead of using a singsing, the participants use lighted candle. Once the group starts singing, the participants will pass the lighted candle to the next participant. Whoever holds the candle with put off  light is asked to recite a luwa.

Here is the lyric of that song:

Ang Singsing

Singsing papanawa

Palibot-libota asta makalab-ot

Sa hari kag sa reyna.

Ang hari kag reyna

May mutyang trabangko

Dalaga si Inday

Nga mayo-ayo.

Dali-a sa pagpalakat

Singsing sa pagpadangat

Basi kon malipat

Yadtong kuring nga makawat.

Singsing ay abaw singsing

Ay abaw Nena, ay abaw Neneng

Singsing ay abaw singsing

Ay abaw Nena, ay abaw Neneng.

The normal structure of luwa has four lines, but there are also luwa that have two lines only. Here are some examples:

Rosas, rosas nga kamantique

Soltero nga waay nobya, agi. (Rabuco, 2003, p. 17)

Bulak, bulak sang tangkong

Dalaga nga wala sang nobyo, bingkong. (Rabuco, 2003, p. 17)

Covid-19, Covid-19, Inday--

Ro frontliner nga indi mag-face mask, patay.  (Melchor F. Cichon, June 12, 2020)

Here is the latest luwa structure which I invented, a one-line luwa:

Nag-eukso si Inday sa swimming pool, ay kalbo.—(Melchor F. Cichon)

Another luwa structure that I recently invented is what I call hailuwa. This is a combination of haiku and luwa.
 Here are some examples:

There are also luwa that are in five or six lines. Here are two samples:

Paghalin ko sa balay,

Nagbilin tugon si Nanay.

Mangayo katahuran,

Katahuran nga indi ko malimtan:

Maayong gab-i sa inyo nga tanan.—Rabuco, A. p. 124.

Partido sang hari,

Kag kamo nga tanan,

Ini nga sentimiento

Nga akon ginahuptan,

Bulkan nga nagalupok

Sa inyo atubangan. –Rabuco, A., p. 49.

Some of the topics being touched in luwa are love, courtship, death, sorrows, happiness,  disasters, anything and everything under and above the sun.

Luwa on Love:

Inday, kon ako imo nga batunon,

Owa ka gid it ibang handumon,

Ay bisan ro buean ag ro mga bituon,

Sa kama mo akon nga daehon.

**Melchor F. Cichon, June 16, 2016

Igto sa Nabas

May sangka daeaga;

Kon abuton ka paghigugma

Galigid-ligid sa baeas. –(Melchor F. Cichon, 2020)

***

Hambae mo kakon kaina

Ako gid lang ring nobya;

Gali may imo pa gid

Nga ginabuesa-buesa. —(Cichon, M. &  Ureta, C., 2019, p. 41)

Luwa on Courtship:

Inday, maski siin ka magtago,

Maski sa alibutod it nonok;

Tigban ko, barinahan ko

Gugma ro nagasugo.—Melchor F. Cichon

***

Paghalin ko sa baeay,

Nagbilin kakon si Tatay;

Kon ako kuno mangasawa,

Pilion ko gid kuno ro daeaga.-- Melchor F. Cichon

***

Inday, kon batunon mo eang ako,

Indi mo gid pag-angkiton ring siko;

Kon mag-usoy ka’t makabitan,

Mausoy man ako ku akong masab-itan.

Luwa on Death:

Pagkamatay ni Francisco del Castillo,

Nag-ugyon pa gid ro mga Katipunero

Asta napalayas ro mga Katsila,

Ugaling umabot si Uncle Sam.—Melchor F. Cichon

***

Si Francisco del Castillo,

Puno sa Aklan it mga Katipunero,

Namatay sa bala nga naghalin kay Moises Elecito

Nga ana man lang nga kasimanwa.

***

Pag-agto ko sa Ibajay,

May hakita ako nga patay;

Ginbagting ko ra eagay,

Mas mabaskug pa sa lingganay.

***

Luwa on Happiness

Sa amon nga dingding,

May nagtubo nga everlasting;

Kon sin-o kara ro makalingling,

Magaeukso-eukso gid ra kasingkasing. –Melchor F. Cichon

***

Luwa on Politics

Ro mga senador sa Manila

Nagahabuyanan it eutay;

Ro mga army sa patag-awayan,

Nagasuksok it gision nga saewae. –Melchor F. Cichon, p. 34

***

Maeleksiyon eon man.

Magapueuti eon man ro mga uwak.

Magakarnero eon man romga tigre.

Pero kon makalingkod eon, nagabaealik sanda sa daang ugali.

Luwa on Sorrow

Si Edad nagpanamgo

Sa boyfriend nana nga Amerikano;

Pero pagkasayod nana nga abo ra kuto,

Nagbag-id eon lang imaw ka siko.

***

Hambae ni Nanay,

Owa’t santos kon owa’t gaantos;

Hambae ni Tatay,

Owa’t baeay nga puno eang it kalipay.

Luwa on Disaster

Pagtapas ko’t lawaan sa Ormoc,

Tanan nga mga baboy naghueagok.

Pag-agi ko sa baybay,

Nagtambak ro mga bangkay.

***

Pagsunog ko’t Madia-as,

Tanan nga ilahas nagwaeas.

Pag-abot ko sa baeay,

May mga PC kakon nga nagabantay.

What is the difference between the old and the new luwa? In terms of subject matter, number of lines, number of syllables per line, the same.

Perhaps, until proven otherwise, the contemporary luwa have wider scopes like tsunami, and politics, and snows since some of the poets are college trained and have gone to different countries like Canada, America, Switzerland and Germany.

From the luwa that I heard and gathered, I noticed that politics is not given so much importance.

This is one aspect of luwa that should be looked into. I know that luwa like any other poetry can be used to dissect our society, including our politics.

Luwa is dying in Aklan. In fact many of our martial law babies have not heard of luwa. It is good that there are universities in Panay that offer subjects on Literature in Western Visayas. In Aklan, the Northwestern Visayas Colleges (NVC) is offering a subject specifically on Aklanon Literature. One of the topics that are included in their syllabus is luwa.

But luwa is not only confined in Aklan. It is also common in Iloilo, Capiz, Antique, and Guimaras.

Because of this, I wrote luwa. These can now be read in my website: http://aklanonlitarchive.blogspot.com/…/mga-luwa-ni-tay-its….

Luwa writing is easy. Just remember this:

1. Focus on one subject and it is advisable that it has conflict.

Sa amon nga opisina,

May baeo nga senyora;

Adlaw-adlaw imaw nagabongga

Pero kon kinsina, ro gasukot kana gapila.--Melchor F. Cichon

2. If possible, inject humor in your luwa.

Sa amon nga barangay,

Madasig magtubo ro paeay;

Nagasabud pa eang si Tatay,

Nagapadaeawat eo't bugas si Nanay.--Melchor F. Cichon

3. Try to use rhyme and meter

Indi ako magpadagit-dagit

Sa banog nga nagahapit-hapit

Bisan ako man dagiton

Kon banog nga taga-amon.---Rabuco, A., 2003,  p. 48.

4. Maximize the use of the various figures of speech.

Hyberbole

Nag-agto ako sa Banga,

Nakakita ako't buaya.

Grabe nga buaya,

Ra dila hasta sa Buruanga. ---Melchor F. Cichon

5. If you are writing luwa in Aklanon, be careful with your spelling. Prefixes should be  attached to the root words, like pagbakae, ginsueat, etc. Remember the rule on the use ko and ku. Ko is my, mine, while ku is of. Example: Ro baeay ku pulis hay sa eugta ko. The house of the policeman is in my land.

Nagtuon ako sa UPV,

Naubusan ako't money.

Naghueam ako kay Manny,

"Sorry, abo pang utang 'wa pa mabayri."

6. Read and write luwa. There is no other way to learn how to write luwa but to write it yourself.

             

            Sources:

           Cichon, Melchor F. and Ureta, Charlie I. 2019. Mga Luwa ni Tatay Itsong. Guimaras: Kasingkasing Press. 50 p.

          Rabuco, Amorita C. 2003. Folk Poetry. Iloilo City: University of San Agustin. 142p.