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| Three US-based poets to be crowned SunStar Pampanga April 22, 2008 Three US-based Kapampangan poets will be coming home on May 17 to receive their laurel crowns as Poeta Laureado (poets laureate), one of the most prestigious literary honors bestowed on a poet. The poets are Rafael Maniago of Mexico, Ernesto Turla of Lubao and Renato Alzadon of Capas, Tarlac. The tradition of crowning poets dates back to the so-called Golden Age of Kapampangan Literature in the early 1900s. Poets competed against each other during town fiestas and other special occasions; the winner was crowned poeta laureado at the end of the program. In succeeding years, poets laureate were chosen also by acclamation, especially in the absence of a competition. The first-ever Kapampangan poeta laureado was Amado Yuzon, who was crowned after winning the first-ever ligligan (contest) held in 1927 in Magalang town. As dictated by tradition, the Ari ning Parnaso (King of Parnassus), Vedasto Ocampo of Magalang, will crown the new poets laureate on May 17. The Ari ning Parnaso is considered the most coveted title among Kapampangan poets, to be won only after winning in a battery of contests that include crissotan, poetry writing, short story writing and oration. Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio is expected to grace the occasion, which will be held at the new University Theatre of Holy Angel University, during a program dubbed as Aldo ning Amanung Sisuan. Dozens of Kapampangan poets are expected to participate in a reunion of old and young poets as well as local poets and those already living abroad. The affair is co-sponsored by the Academia ning Amanung Sisuan International (ANASI) and the HAU Center for Kapampangan Studies. Rafael Maniago, aside from writing poetry, is also a prominent portrait artist. His works include portraits of the Governors of Pampanga on the walls of the Capitol. Ernesto Turla is the author of Kapampangan poetry books and the Classic Kapampangan Dictionary (published in 2000). An ardent cultural advocate, he maintains websites that promote the Kapampangan language, downloads Kapampangan videos on TouTube, and moderates Kapampangan forums on the Internet. Renato Alzadon is a prolific Kapampangan writer whose works regularly appear on the Internet. His poetry book, entitled â?oKasapunggul a Sampagaâ? will be launched on May 17 as part of the Aldo ning Amanung Sisuan. Interested individuals may inquire at the Center for Kapampangan Studies, Holy Angel University, or call (045) 888 8691 local 1311, or text at 0918 941 8599, or email at rptmt@... *************************************************** Gathering of Kapampangan poets by Robbie Tantingco April 2008 On May 17, lovers of the Kapampangan language from everywhere will come together to celebrate the Amanung Sisuan-the unique, beautiful and indeed vanishing language of our forefathers-and we will forget, even for just one day, our frustrations, our differences, all the things that weigh us down in our work to promote our culture and language. On that day we will focus only on how lucky we are that our language is still very much alive, endangered but alive and kicking, with still so many people caring for it and working for its survival with such passion and commitment and creativity not seen in other regions. The event, to be held at Holy Angel University, is spearheaded by the HAU Center for Kapampangan Studies and the Academia ning Amanung Sisuan International (ANASI), which is the most active and probably the best-organized Kapampangan advocacy group outside the Philippines. Those of us here in Pampanga who work hard for our culture will be delighted to know that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of Kapampangans abroad-in the United States, in the Middle East, in Europe and Australia, and in other Asian countries-who have kept their love for everything Kapampangan burning in their hearts and minds. Many of them are as diligent in their advocacy work, in some cases even more diligent. The one good thing about their staying so far away from home is that they've grown even more nostalgic and therefore more aggressive in their cultural advocacy, and also that they were able to take away with them the Kapampangan language as it was many years ago, still intact and safe from the adulterations that have occurred to it here in recent times. On May 17, three of the best and most respected Kapampangan poets abroad will come home to be crowned Poeta Laureado (poets laureate). This archaic practice has long been discontinued but it does hark back to a glorious past of our province, when poets were considered as important public figures as mayors and parish priests, and when the town-fiesta program did not end until the poet performed. Pampanga in those days was a province where every town, every barrio and every household had a resident poet. And the most highly regarded poet among these poets was the poeta laureado, who got the crown of golden laurel leaves usually through a competition but sometimes by acclamation. The three poets who will be coming home from the United States to be crowned poets laureate in the company of all living Kapampangan poets are Rafael Maniago, Renato Alzadon and Ernesto Turla. They are actually already poets laureate (Maniago since 2005, Alzadon since 2006 and Turla since 2007, all crowned in the US) but on May 17, the crowns will be put on their heads by local Kapampangan poets laureate in the presence of the Kapampangan community and on Kapampangan soil. I am excited because the coronation of a poet laureate is really big deal among Kapampangan poets. You should see how our few remaining poets, all aging and most of them impoverished, still keep their golden crowns and still show them around to people who care to stop and pay attention. The event on May 17 will also be highlighted by the launching of a book of poetry by Renato Alzadon of Capas, Tarlac, now based in the United States. The Center for Kapampangan Studies co-published the book with ANASI because to me, Alzadon is a great Kapampangan poet waiting to be discovered by the rest of the world. His poems show our language at its most articulate, most expressive and most sublime. Those learning the language for the first time and those trying to recapture their proficiency with the language, should read his poems to really appreciate how beautiful Kapampangan is. I am calling on all lovers of the Kapampangan language to attend the program on May 17, which we shall dub as Aldo ning Amanung Sisuan. It shall feature performances by young and old poets as well as young and old polosadores, to emphasize the passing of the torch and to show that indeed, our culture and language shall endure in the next generations. It will be a homecoming for many Kapampangan poets and cultural workers now based abroad, and a reunion between them and their counterparts here. It will also be a revival of the tradition of crowning the poeta laureado, which should signal the reinvigoration of other literary traditions like the crissotan, the zarzuela, the polosa and other forgotten genres. With the launching of a new book of Kapampangan poems by a major poet, more obscure, dormant or demoralized Kapampangan poets will hopefully be inspired to produce more works and collections, and maybe even publish them against all odds, like Tec Tolosa did a couple of years ago, because that's how a poet immortalizes himself. Mark the date in your calendar: May 17, 2008, three o'clock in the afternoon, at Holy Angel University, Angeles City. Admission is free. We will publish more details as the day approaches. For inquiries, call (045) 888 8691 loc. 1311, or text at 0918 941 8599 or email at rptmt@yahoo.com. ******************************************************* A glimpse into the Golden Age of Kapampangan Literature By Robby Tantingco Sun Star IT WAS nearly four hours of non-stop Kapampangan speeches, Kapampangan poetry reading, Kapampangan declamation and Kapampangan debate, not to mention the Kapampangan songs performed by a choir, and the Kapampangan songs performed by folk singers as well as by rock singers. Even the National Anthem, required by the Constitution to be sung only in the national language, was sung in Kapampangan. By the time the curtains closed, my nose was bleeding from the sheer overload of Kapampangan, but after years and years of nothing but English and Filipino, four hours of Kapampangan was still not enough for me. The event was the Aldo ning Amanung Sisuan, co-sponsored by the Academia ning Amanung Sisuan (ANASI) and the Center for Kapampangan Studies held May 17 at the Holy Angel University Theatre. The program featured the launching of a Kapampangan poetry book and the coronation of three Kapampangan poets laureate, all based in the United States. It was a show hatched in the Internet, cooked on both sides of the Pacific Ocean and served on the very day an unseasonal typhoon crossed Luzon from west to east instead of the usual east to west. The weather was so bad throughout the day that I actually considered canceling it for fear that no one would show up. But our honorees had come all the way from across the planet just for this show and I thought, if they could literally cross an entire ocean to be with us on this day, my God, our invitees from Manila and the different towns of Pampanga and Tarlac could and would surely come. True enough, they came, mostly in cars, jeepneys and tricycles, many others just walking in with umbrellas mangled by the wind. One by one the poets and poetesses arrived, the men in barong and the women in long gowns, some wearing their golden laurel crowns. What a surreal scene, I thought, and an apt metaphor: these survivors from a bygone era coming in from the storm, but no amount of wind or rain could knock the crown off their head. I made sure they received the royal treatment they deserved: a brass band and a rondalla welcomed them at the lobby, and they got a 1000-seater air conditioned theatre with state-of-the-art equipment and the Governor no less as guest of honor. Years ago, our poets enjoyed positions of privilege in the community. Today, you see them selling plastic ware in the public market or loitering in the City Hall or the Capitol hoping to catch the attention of some politician so that he would include them in his campaign sorties in some future election. The event last May 17 gave me a glimpse of what the Golden Age of Kapampangan Literature probably looked like. The poets, not the politicians, were the heroes on stage. They spoke classical Kapampangan, which sounded like music to my ears, and I understood every word of it. Everything made sense to me, even the measured lines and the rhymed stanzas and the archaic syntax, and I think it made sense to the audience as well, because they clapped and cheered and laughed at all the punch lines and in all the right places. The program dragged on and on while the world outside was going down the drain, and yet for the people inside the theatre, the only reality was the beauty of the Kapampangan language and the joy in celebrating it. The program began with a young poet, Roilingel Calilung, explaining the significance of the event. It was your regular opening remarks, except that it was in poetry. The first of two crissotans followed soon after: "Insanu ing Migit Mayap, ing Ketwan o ing Kayanakan?" Crissotan, as you know, is debate in verse -another evidence of the Kapampangans' ability to break into a song or a poem at the drop of a hat. The theme of young-versus-old continued with a performance of a basulto (Kapampangan folk song) by a traditional folk singer alternating with a RocKapampangan soloist, to show the contrast between their styles and to underscore the passing of torch to the next generation. This was followed by the book launching and the second crissotan: "Sucat la o E Sucat Makialam deng Pengari karing Anac dang Talasawa?" After that the curtains fell for the intermission, during which teasers from Jason Laxaman's Kapampanganovela were shown as well as an MTV featuring photographs of historical figures animated by computer to make them appear to be lip-synching Mon David's Atin Ku Pung Singsing. The audience roared when the photograph of Governor Ed Panlilio appeared on the screen to sing the last line of the song and wink at them. The curtains rose again for the resumption of the program, revealing all the local and US-based Kapampangan poets assembled on stage for the coronation of the three new poets laureate, namely, Rafael Maniago, Ernesto Turla and Renato Alzadon. The Poetisa Laureada, septuagenarian Eufrocinia de la Peña, sat on a throne surrounded by other poets laureate, all wearing their old laurel crowns. The three new poets laureate alternately genuflected or bowed before the Poetisa Laureada to receive their crown, like knights kneeling before their queen. Next, the Governor as Guest Speaker announced the passage of the Provincial Board resolution creating Provincial Language Council and designating the last Friday of August each year as the Aldo ning Amanung Sisuan. He spoke in flawless and elegant Kapampangan, which made me even prouder of him as my governor. The last two performances were both highlights: a polosa by young polosador Renie Salor and a closing poem by former Pampanga vice governor Cicero Punzalan, who still looks exactly as he did in his campaign posters in the 1970s. When the program ended at 8 p.m. and the audience went to the next building for the reception, the sky had cleared and the stars were starting to emerge from the clouds. Who would have thought that such a beautiful evening could come after such a violent storm? ************************************************************ Now it can be told.... Aguiang mang mumuran at e pa meco darecha ing bagyung Cosme, dacal la pa murin deng memaniatang at tinagun queng quecatamung catatagan. O nung masanting ya pa ing panaun, nga ra reng sasabe, lacuas no sigurung dacal deng tau. At, ampo siguru nung macabuclat na ing clasi canita, uling deng magaral siempre e maliaring sumala lang e manalbe mu naman! E agad megumpisa ing programa, neng penenayan mila pa reng aliwang bisita. Mecasanting mu naman iti uling mica-panaun queng miquila-quilala at mipapagsalita. Ati lu reng adua nang anac ning prumerung diling poeta laureadu (Amado M. Yuzon) - di Romy at Virgilio. Maranun pa, atyu no ri Robby, Ed, Pids, Nancy, Bern, Ray at Rey, at di Renato at Rafael. Atyu la naman di Josie Henson (presidenti ning DILA Foundation), di John Manalili (sana neng mabilug ya bocis metung ya careng memasa careng poesia nang RBA, aguiang ita mung "Para Cang GMA - Nanu Na Mo Pu Ing Asaup Yu Queng Amanung Sisuan?), di Tony Pena, Orlando Maniago, Carlos Castro.... Young poet, Roilingel Calilung, set the mode by opening the program with an oration that only the ancient Demosthenes could match! Cagaling a anac, mengapanganga la ngan deng maquirandam! Icua no ngan a attention! Di Ray Tanjoco at Tec Sanchez-Tolosa ilang master of ceremonies, at balu rang guimpanan ing carelang papil. Deng HAU chorale quinta re ing national anthem at ing Himnung Kapampangan, cabang macatalacad la reng audience at deng gamat da quen lang salu ra. Caibat, ing cagalang-galang a pamuntuc na ning HAU, y Dr. Arlyn Sicangco-Villanueva, binie ne ing pamuclat a salita. Caibat, mibadbaran la queng crissotan deng aduang matenacan a poeta, ing anac a John Edgar Ocampo at ing matua at laureadu, y Francisco Guintu ning Macabebe. Ing ginanap anti mong lacandiwa, anac ya naman, y Adrian Lee Magcalas. At siempre ban manaliwa no man panlasa reng manalbe (variety being the spice of life nga ra pen), atin mu namang basultu at pulosa. Galing dang memulosa (a la Totoy Batu) detang mecumbirang adua. Atin pang samut sisti o comica, anti neng careng stage show iniang malati cu (siguru atatandanan ye pa ing Clover Theater qng Menila, neh po - carin la sinicat di Diomedes at Fred Panopio). Caibat da, ing maticding Ed Sale sinampa ne qng entebladu at pepaquilala y RBA. Tigquil na naman ing casulucuyan nang estadu ning salitang Kapampangan at nung baquit dapat yang saguipan. Di Felix Garcia (poet laureate), Adora Ferrer at Tony Pena (MOKA - 2007) canita no memasang guinale careng apili rang poesia queng libru nang RBA. Masanting neng dinaling Tony ing "Nung Mete No Reng Poeta". Caibat, deng mapiling bisitang pandangal (anti mo y Rep. Satur Ocampo, Provindicial board member Catalina Bagasina, writer Albina Pecson Fernandez) iniayan dong munta qng stage para tanggap complimentary copy na ning libru, galamanu queng talasulat at queng maganacang President Villanueva. Caibat, metung ne namang crissotan ing miyampang at ding milaban di Jaspe Dula at Pol Batac - both poet laureates. Ing memilatan carela ya pin y Teodulo Turla a poeta laureadu mu naman. (Canita que pamu aquilala y Teodulo, at atin ya naman palang capatad a poeta mu naman at ing lagyu na Florencia.) Queng guelingan da at macapangablad a pamag-gale, maca-siguradu cung deng maquirandam mibusni ing lugud da queng salita ra at layun apibalac qng ing salita ra dapat ya ping sagipan, at myuman ibalic queng labi ra reng managalug na ngeni! Caibat, sera re ing telon at pepalague lang video na ning mumunang diling Kapampangan a tele-nobela a mipamansagan "Kalam". Pepaquit dia namang magcanta ing world jazz champion a y Mon David. Caibat biclat da ne naman ing telon para queng cadua nang pinduan ning programa, a ya pin ing coronasyun. Qng entebladu tambing nong pacalucluc qui libutad deng anggang poeta laureadu na ning Kapampangan queng mengalabas-labas a banua at susulud do reng carelang guintung coronang tabas bulung laurel. Quetang bandang lele, carin na que man iqueng atlung mipaparangalan. The rest is history, nga ra pen. We were introduced by the emcees and the poets assigned to dedicate a poem to us, and we responded with our own ready-made poems. Meanwhile, Rey M., our official photographer and videoman was taking our pictures. The venerable lady poet laureate, Eufrocinia dela Pena, led the coronation rites, the Ari Ning Parnaso, Don Vedasto Ocampo, having been unable to attend on account of his health. Samantala, cucutub que salu cabang mararapat iti, uling maniampucaque queng tula; balamu atyu que queng duyan na ning ligaya banua! After the coronation ceremonies, another pulosa rendered by a young talented pulosa singer, Renie Salor, and which he dedicated to us. They say that it was done ad lib. Oh, how nice it was! Then came the message of the guest speaker who was no other than the governor himself. Masanting ing binie nang mensahi at sulat cu nia mung separadu. Caibat metung ne namang poesiang guimpanan nang Cicero Punsalan, poeta laureado. Then the closing remarks, followed by the Atin Cu Pung Singsing bu the University Chorale. I'd sum up the event as a success! Although we were the ones in the limelight, Robby is actually the man of the hour. Nung e caya, e mica Aldo Ning Amanung Sisuan. Luid ya y Robby Tantingco at deng anggang cayabe nang migmalasaquit para mipaltutu ya ing ocasyun. - ECT |
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