DARANGAN
(AN EPIC OF MARANAO)
There was a king in a faraway kingdom in Mindanao who had two sons. The elder was Prince
Madali and the younger one was Prince Bantugan. At a very early age, Prince Bantugan had
shown superior qualities over his elder brother Prince Madali. Their tutors would always tell their
father that Prince Bantugan was very intelligent. He was a fast learner, even in the use of sword
and bow and arrow. And he possessed such great strength that he could subdue three to five
men in a hand-to-hand combat.
The first indication that he would soon be a formidable soldier was seen when he single-handedly
killed a big and ferocious crocodile that had killed several villagers. The villagers could not believe
their eyes after the very short struggle.
“He is so strong!” an old man blurted out upon seeing the dead crocodile.
“How could a man so young as he is can kill a killer crocodile? He must be possessed by the
gods!” Another villager said in awe.
“Come on, let's thank the prince for killing the beast!” the chieftain of the place said to all the
villagers.
As years passed, Prince Bantugan reached to his manhood, he became the kingdom's number
one soldier. He always led their soldiers to the battlefield. And he always triumphed over their
kingdom's enemies. His name became a word of the mouth among the soldiers of the neighboring
kingdoms. Soon no kingdom ever dared to conquer or make war with their kingdom. No one
would want to fight him. Peace and progress reigned in their kingdom because they had gained
the respect and recognition of their neighbors.
When their father died of old age, his elder brother, Prince Madali was named the new king. There
were silent protests among the ranks and their people. They wanted Prince Bantugan to be the
new king. Even the ordinary people were one in saying that Prince Bantugan was the better
choice between the two princes.
“Prince Bantugan is brave and strong. He can really protect us from our enemies!” an old woman
in the marketplace said to her listeners.
“I agree with you”, an old man answered.
This did not bother Prince Bantugan. He knew that his brother was the legal heir to the throne
because Prince Madali was the first sibling. He even vouched for his brother.
“My brother deserves to be our new king because he had studied how to run the government”, he
told his fellow soldiers and the ministers of the kingdom. “He knows how to deal with foreign
relations. And he has several good ideas on how we can improve the life of everyone!”
The ministers and the soldiers just nodded in agreement. However, a rift ensued between Prince
Bantugan and King Madali. Because Prince Bantugan was not only brave and strong but very
handsome too, several beautiful and young women in the kingdom fell in love for him, even the
women whom his brother, King Madali, wanted for himself, surrendered themselves under Prince
Bantugan's charm. Enraged and envious, King Madali proclaimed an order.
“I don't want anybody talking to my brother, Prince Bantugan. Anyone who is seen talking
to him will be put in jail or be punished severely.”
Prince Bantugan felt sad at his brother's order. He found himself like a person with communicable
disease. Everyone was staying away from him, even his women. Even the people he loved. No
one wanted to talk to him for fear of being jailed or severely punished by the king. Unable to
contain his grief, he decided one day to leave the kingdom and settled to a faraway land where
he spent the rest of his life.
ALIM
(AN IFUGAO EPIC)
In the olden days, the people angered the gods and the goddesses because of their sins and
continued disobedience to the will of the gods. The gods sent a great flood that submerged the
whole earth and destroyed all the living creatures, plants, and animals alike. There were only two
people who survived the flood: they were siblings, Wigan and Bugan, respectively. When the
water started to rise which later became the great flood, Wigan climbed the Amuyaw Mountain to
save himself. Likewise, Bugan fled to the Kalawitan Mountain to take refuge.
Bugan stayed at the mountain until the water receded and the water-soaked ground had dried up.
He came down the mountain and discovered that he alone had survived. Everybody got drowned,
even the animals. Dead bodies were scattered everywhere, stinking. As he walked around
looking for something to eat, he saw a woman half buried to the ground, waving her hand at him.
Then he recognized her.
“Bugan!” he said happily as he opened his arms to embrace her.
“Wigan, my brother”, she said choking because of the feeling she could not contain. She let him
hug and embraced her and she leaned her head on her chest.
“Where are the others?” Wigan asked her after the embrace.
“Dead”, she answered, “all dead”. “It seems that we are the only ones who survived the flood.”
They walked around to see if they could find some more survivors, but they did not find any. All
they saw were dead bodies of men, animals and even plants.
They scouted for a place where they could comfortably stay. They found a place near the shore
where plants starting to grow. They built a small hut from the woods scattered around by the
great flood. Then they buried the stinking dead bodies the found near the shore.
“I’m hungry”, said Bugan when they were already resting after burying the dead bodies.
“Me too”, said Wigan. “Stay here and I'll see if I can catch some fish in the sea.”
“Do you think there are fish there?” Bugan asked him.
“The plants are already growing abundantly. Perhaps the gods' wrath has been pacified
and the school of fishes have come back to the sea.”
There were fishes in the sea all right. That night, they ate a sumptuous supper of boiled fish.
They spent the night sleeping together. After several days, Bugan found herself pregnant. She
went to the shore to drown herself because she was ashamed of herself getting pregnant by his
brother. But before she could get near the deep part of the angry sea, an old man appeared
before her. He told her that he was Makanungan, the gods of the Ifugao’s. Makanungan
solemnized their marriage and they had nine children, five boys and four girls.
Then came a great famine. The soil produced poor harvest. They killed a rat and offered it to
Makanungan, but the poor harvest continued.
“What shall we do?” Bugan asked Wigan one night while they were about to sleep. “We will all
die of hunger if this poor harvest continues.”
“I don't know why Makanungan is angry with us. Perhaps he didn't like the rat we offered
him.”
“Why don't we offer him our son, Igon?”
They all decided to kill Igon, the youngest, and offered him to Makanungan. True enough, the
poor harvest was abated. But Makanungan once again appeared before them and told them that
what they did to Igon was outrageous. Then Makanungan scattered them to the four corners of
the earth, to the East and West and to the North and South. And as a curse to what they did to
Igon, they would fight every time they come near each other.