Biag Lam Ang

BIAG NI LAM-ANG
• BIAG NI LAM-ANG (Life of Lam-ang)
is a 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.
The characters in the story Biag ni Lam-ang are the following:
1. Don Juan Panganiban – father of Lam-ang
2. Namongan - wife of Don Juan Panganiban
3. Lam-ang – Son of Don Juan And Namongan Panganiban and the major
character of the story.
4. Ines Kannoyon – Wife of lam-ang, daughter of the richest man of the town
Kalanuha.
Setting of the story:
Nalbuan- somewhere in the Valley of Naguilan River in La Union where Lam-ang
and his parents lived.
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.
IBALON
• Characters of the story:
• Baltog - First hero of Ibalon who defeated the Tandayag.
• Handyong - Second hero who fought thousands of battles and defeated
lots of monsters particularly the One-eyed monster, Triburon, the Giant
Carabaos, Sarimao, Crocodiles, and Serpent Oryol.
• Bantong - Third hero of Ibalon; a good friend of Handyong.
• Kimantong - He made the farming tools.
• Hablom - He invented the first loom for weaving abaca clothes.
• Dinahong - an Agta; created the kitchen utensils.
• Sural - he is the one who brilliantly thought of syllabary; he started to write on a marble
rocks.
• Tandayag - a monstrous wild boar killed by Baltog.
• One-eyed monster - a monster with three necks killed by Handyong.
• Triburon - a giant flying shark at the same time defeated by Handyong.
• Giant Carabaos & Crocodiles - monster enemy killed by Handyong.
• Sarimao - a monster with sharp fingernails.
• Serpent Oryol - a serpent; hardest enemy of Handyong.
• Giant Rabot - half-man and half-beast; last enemy of Bantong.
• Settings:
• Ibalong
• Tondo
• Ligmana
• Heart of the forest
When the hero Baltog came to the rich land of
Ibalon, many monsters still roamed around in its very
dark forest. Baltog, born in Baltavara to the brave
clan of Lipod, was the first to cultivate the fields in the
rich land of Ibalon.
Then the Tandayag attacked and destroyed
Baltog‘s fields and crops. The Tandayag was a
monstrous wild boar but the hero Baltog was not
afraid. One night, he waited for the Tandayag and
wrestled with it with all his might. The Tandayag had
very long fangs. The earth shook at the Tandayag‘s
step. But Baltog was strong and brave. He was able
to pin down the monstrous wild boar and tear out its
mouth
Baltog carried the Tandayag and hung it on a
talisay tree in front of his house in Tondol. The people
celebrated when they learned of the victory of their
king Baltog. The clans of Panicuason and Asog came
over to marvel at the monstrous wild boar in Ibalon.
At that time the hero Handiong came with a band of
warriors to the land of Ibalon. Handiong and his men had
to fight thousands of battles, and face many dangers to
defeat the monsters. They first fought the one-eyed giants
in the land of Ponon. They fought without rest for ten
months until all the one-eyed giants were killed.
They went to the lair of the giant flying fishes called
Tiburon which had slimy, scaly, and hardy flesh and
sawlike teeth that could crush rocks. Handiong and his
men did not stop until they vanquished every Tiburon.
They tamed the fierce tamaraws. They drove away the
giant Sarimaw which was larger than an elephant and very
fierce. They used their spears and arrows to kill all the
crocodiles which were bigger than boats
Oriol was the hardest to kill. A serpent with a beautiful
voice, Oriol could change its image to deceive enemies.
Oriol had escaped every trap and disappeared.
All by himself, Handiong looked for Oriol in the heart of
the forest. He followed the beautiful voice and was almost
enchanted by it in his pursuit. It is said that Oriol admired
Handiong‘s bravery and gallantry. Thus, the serpent taught
the hero how to conquer the monsters until peace came to
the whole Ibalon.
Handiong built a town in Isarog and a season of
progress followed. Under Handiong‘s leadership, the
people planted rice which they named after him. He built
the first boat to ride the waves of Ibalon seas
But there came the big flood freed by Unos, with
earthquakes and the eruption of the volcanoes of Hantik,
Kolasi, and Isarog. Rivers dried up and the seas receded.
The earth parted, mountains sank, and many towns in
Ibalon were destroyed.
Then appeared the giant Rabot, half-man half-beast, with terrible
powers.
Bantong, Handiong‘s good friend, was ordered to kill the new
monster in Ibalon. He took with him a thousand warriors to attack
Rabot‘s den. Bantong used his wisdom against Rabot. He did not
attack the giant‘s den right away but instead observed Rabot‘s
ways. He saw many rocks around the den. They were people
turned into rock by Rabot
He also learned that Rabot loved to sleep. When
Rabot slept very soundly, Bantong was able to go near
him. The giant died with a single stab by the brave and
wise Bantong. Ibalon was at peace once more.
KUDAMAN
It starts with how Kudaman married Tuwan Putli and
afterwards three more spouses that were considered
siblings and living in one house.
This was followed by the Ilanun’s visit of the
celebration to wreak havoc. The battle between
Kudaman and the head chief of Ilanun for years, which he
won eventually.
He befirended the chief and had a drink with tabad,
the wine of Palawan. They consumed at about a hundred
cups of tabad. They eventually got drunk and ended up
fighting each other. At the end of the recorded tultul,
Kudaman had ten wives he met from each of his
adventures.
Still, the tultul noted the hero’s calm demeanor and
his motive for peace. There are many scenes of discord
that ended the agreement for peace and justice in
accordance to the Palawan tradition.

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BIAG NI LAM-ANG

• BIAG NI LAM-ANG (Life of Lam-ang)

is a pre-Hispanic epic poem of the Ilocano

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