Hinilawod

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Hinilawod

From Panay, Iloilo, Capiz, Sulod

Hinilawod is an epic told by the Sulod people of central Panay. The name means "tales from the mouth of the Halawod River". Its heroes include Labaw Donggon. Early Spanish writers noted that people sang the hero's deeds at weddings.

Folklore is retold; versions differ.

Sources: Wikipedia: Hinilawod (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikidata (CC0)

The story

The Hinilawod is a sung epic of the Sulod, or Suludnon, people of the hills of central Panay. It follows three demigod brothers: Labaw Donggon, Humadapnon and Dumalapdap. Their parents are the sky goddess Alunsina and the mortal ruler Datu Paubari. Alunsina's rejected suitors tried to flood the land, but her sister warned the couple, and they hid on high ground. The triplets were born after the flood.

The story of Labaw Donggon is the best known. He wins two brides by quest. Then he goes after the wife of Saragnayan, the Lord of Darkness, and loses their long duel. Saragnayan holds him captive. His sons Aso Mangga and Buyung Baranugon come to free him and learn that Saragnayan's life is kept inside a boar. Humadapnon later has his own long journeys.

Spanish writers noted that people sang of Labaw Donggon at weddings. In Dingle, Iloilo, some people were still giving offerings to him as a god late in the Spanish period. The folklorist F. Landa Jocano first heard parts of the epic in 1955, from a chanter called Ulang Udig. The chant recordings at Central Philippine University are on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.