University’s Readings on Bikol Culture 2nd ed, off the press

It took more than half a century, 13 years of martial law, two EDSAs, eight presidents, and a killer pandemic—but, better late than never.

The second edition of Readings on Bikol Culture with annotations to update the content will be launched on Friday, Aug. 16, 4:30 pm at the University of Nueva Caceres (UNC) NB 301 AVR.

The first edition was published in mimeographed form in September 1972. Compiled and edited by Luis General, Jr., Rosalio Parrone, and Lydia San Jose, it served as a text for Bikol history, language, and culture for a generation of UNC students.

The second edition, edited by Atty. Luis Ruben M. General, Prof. Jesus Federico C. Hernandez, Victor Dennis T. Nierva, and Dr. Paz Verdades M. Santos is a response, albeit belatedly, to the original editors’ optimism that “there would be more editions to follow, more steps forward, surer and more vigorous.”

This edition reprints most of the articles in the original volume with annotations by Bikol scholars. It is now organized into four sections: I. Bikol History, II. Bikol Languages and Linguistics, III. Bikol Literature and Culture, and IV. Bikol Translations.

Additional articles in Part I are an article about the Bikol River in history by Danilo M. Gerona; a translation of an article on St. Peter Baptist, patron saint of the Archdiocese of Caceres and Bishop of Camarines, by historian Jose Fernando Obias; “Bicolanos” by the late Conrado de Quiros from his column “There’s the Rub” in the Philippine Daily Inquirer; “Our Lady of the Cimarrones” by Luis General, Jr.; “The Black Cathedral” by Luis Ruben General, and Jose Barrameda’s take on the real message of the song “Sarung Banggi.”

The epic fragment “Handiong” or “Ibalong,” proverbs, riddles, folktales, drama, songs, dances, and customs and traditions are now all in Part III. Folktales from Sorsogon, Masbate, Catanduanes, and Camarines Norte contributed by Teresita Erestain, Jofer Asilum, Allan Popa, and archived material from the early 1900s make this edition more region-wide in scope.

The annotators are Bikolistas Dr. Raniela Barbaza, Shaunnah Ysabel Cledera, Maria Leny E. Felix, Dr. Jiye Margate, Dr. Jazmin Badong Llana, and retired judge Soliman M. Santos Jr. Researcher Wogie Pacala of Saysay Bikol fact-checked the primary sources of the history articles and provided additional sources and footnotes.

Editor General is the younger son of the chief editor of the first edition and remembers typing the stencils for it when he was 17 years old. Prof. Hernandez of the Linguistics department of the University of the Philippines is the grandson of UNC’s founder, Dr. Jaime Hernandez. He attributes his eventual interest in language to reading Leonor Dy-Liacco’s “Mga Tataramon na Laggod asin Rapsak” as an elementary child. Nierva is a Bikolista and translator par excellence and heads the Naga City Culture and Arts Coalition. The first edition was the first book about Bikol that Dr. Santos read in 1975; it became a valuable reference in her study of Bikol literature.

The editors of the second edition of UNC’s Readings in Bikol Culture note the many more Bikolnon who appreciate the worth and beauty of Bikol culture and continue to preserve and study it today.

“We look forward to a third edition, not necessarily 50 years hence, and which hopefully, will have more articles in the Bikol languages and their variants,” they write.

The editors laud the UNC administrators and staff—President Fay Lea Patria M. Lauraya; Vice President for Research, Extension and Linkages Engr. Christine C. Bautista, assisted by Percival Tordilla and Nico Ogarte; the UNC students who encoded the original text; Director of Libraries Ms. Amy Alegre who helped procure the ISBN; and Dr. Reynaldo B. Vea for their support and encouragement of the project.