Part 2: “Tukad Ako’y Bukid”

Another “kaeantahon” (folk song) describes a courtship and a pamaeayi (marriage proposal). In the song, the man endures the rain and the slippery terrain just to formally ask the hand of the woman he loves:

Photo of Madyaas by Val Dugcal

TUKAD AKO’Y BUKID 

Tukad ako’y bukid,

Sa anday Kulas bagyo; 

Madanlog ro daean, 

Uean pilang bato.

Tukad akoy bukid, 

Eankoy namaeayi; 

Batunon it sa indi, 

Daea pilit ro babayi. 

I CLIMBED UP THE MOUNTAIN

I climbed up the mountain

In the place of Kulas Bagyo;

The road is slippery

And it was raining hard.

I climbed up the mountain

To propose for marriage;

Accepted or not,

I’ll bring home my maiden.

(Source: Beato A. de la Cuz, 1958)


Another folk song on the pamaeayi, with an accompanying wedding ceremony is:

KUTI-KUTI SA BANDI

Kuti-kuti sa bandi, 

Kuti sa bararayan; 

Bukon inyo baray dya, 

Rugto inyo sa pangpang. 

Dingdingan it pilak, 

Atupan it burawan; 

Burawan, pinya-pinya, 

Gamot it sampaliya. 

Sampaliya, malunggay, 

Gamot it gaway-gaway; 

Gaway-gaway, marugtog, 

Gamot it niyog-niyog. 

Hurugi ko’t sambilog, 

Tuman ko ikabusog. 

(Source: Sumra I. de la Cruz-Rojo, 1995,
as sung to her by an Ati house-help from Malay.)

SCRUTINIZE THE DOWRY

(Woman) “Scrutinize the dowry.”

(Man) “Scrutinize the house.”

(Woman) “This is not your house!

You live across the river.”

(Man: “If you will marry me,

I will build you a house)

With walls made of silver,

Roof made of gold,

As golden as the pineapple,

And the root of the bitter melon.

Bitter melon, malunggay,

The root of gaway-gaway;

Beat the drums now

And let’s start the feast!

Drop me some coconuts,

For I am thirsty and hungry.”

It is obvious in the Ati song that the man and the woman are just acting out from an established script of an Ati marriage proposal and wedding ceremony. The woman pretends to scrutinize the bride price and the man will reciprocate by scrutinizing the house of the woman. The woman then pretends to hate the man’s action, then the man will appease the woman by promising her a house made of gold and silver. The wedding ceremony then follows, with feasting and merrymaking.
The Ati song highlights the native customs and traditions of the pamaeayi and the “tambi-paead” (wedding ceremony). It is notable that the man’s promise to the woman of a house made of gold and silver is still part of today’s pick-up lines: “Mahalin mo lang ako at ibibigay ko sa’yo ang buwan at mga bituin!” (Love me and I’ll bring you the moon and the stars!). The virtue of respect to elders is evident also in the Ati song, as the groom-to-be formally asks the hand of the woman from her parents. Nowadays, courtships simply happen at a mall and some men have no intension of paying the women’s parents a visit.



(To be continued...)




Excerpts from “Virtues and Vices in Aklanon Proverbs, Idiomatic Expressions and Folk Songs” by Alexander de Juan. Paper read during the 23rd Conference on West Visayan History and Culture, sponsored by the U.P. Visayas Center for West Visayan Studies, held on Nov. 15-16, 2012 at Camiña Bahay na Bato, Arevalo, Iloilo City.

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PHOTO by Val Dugcal.

“Madyaas” or “Sarok” (The “Salakot-Shaped Mountain” in Central Panay.)

According to legend, the ten “datus” (chieftains) from Bornea, led by Datu Puti, purchased the Island of Panay from the Ati people with a golden “sarok” (native hat). It is known today as “The Barter of Panay”, and is believed to be the origin of the Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan. The “Ati-Ati” of Ibajay, a town in the western part of Aklan, has another version of the story, but that will be part of another Photo-Note.