Discussants: Labayandoy, Chariss P.

Capa, Ma. Cristina R.

Imaging the Filipino Woman

Tungkung Langit and Alunsina Creation Myth

In the beginning everything was shapeless and formless. The earth, the sky, the
sea, and the air were almost mixed up. In a word, there was only confusion. Then
from the depth of this formless void there appeared the god Tungkung Langit and
the goddess Alunsina.

It was not known just where these two deities came from but it is related by old
Bisayan folk that Tungkung Langit fell in love with Alunsina. After he had courted
her for many years, they married and made their home in the highest part of
heaven. There the water was always warm and the breeze was forever cool. In this
place order and regularity began.

Tungkung Langit was a loving, hard-working god. He wanted to impose order over
the confused world. He decided to arrange the world so that the heavenly bodies
would move regularly. On the other hand, Alunsina was a lazy, jealous, selfish
goddess. She sat at the window all day doing nothing.

Sometimes she would leave her home, sit down by a pool near the door, and
comb her long, jet-black hair all day long. One day Tungkung Langit told his wife
that he would be away for some time. He said he must make time go on smoothly
and arrange everything in the world.
When he was gone, Alunsina set the breeze to spy on Tungkung Langit. Tungkung
Langit found this out and he became very angry. After he returned home, he told
her that it was ungodly of her to be jealous since there were no other gods in the
world except the two of them.

Alunsina resented this reproach, and they quarreled. In his anger, Tungkung Langit
drove his wife away. No one knew where she went. Several days later, Tungkung
Langit felt very lonely. He realized that he should not have lost his temper. But it
was too late.Once vibrant with Alunsina’s sweet voice, his home became cold and
desolate. In the morning when he woke up, he would find himself alone. In the
afternoon when he came home, he would feel the same loneliness creeping deep
in his heart because there was no one to meet him at the doorstep or soothe the
aching muscles of his arms.

For months, Tungkung Langit was in utter desolation. He could not find Alunsina,
try hard as he would. And so, in desperation, he decided to do something in order
to forget his sorrows. For months and months he thought, but his mind seemed
pointless; his heart weary and sick. He needed something to ease his lonely world.

One day, while he was sailing across the regions of the clouds, a thought came to
him. He would make the sea and the earth, and the earth and the sea suddenly
appeared. However, the sombre sight of the lonely sea and the barren land
irritated him. So he came down to earth and planted the ground with trees and
flowers.

Then he took his wife’s treasured jewels and scattered them in the sky, hoping
that when Alunsina would see them she might be induced to return home. The
goddess’s necklace became the stars, her comb the moon and her crown the sun.
However, despite Tungkung Langit’s efforts, Alunsina did not come back.
Until now, some elders of Panay say Tungkung Langit lives alone in his palace in
the skies. Sometimes, he would cry out his pent-up emotion and his tears would
fall down upon the earth. When it thunders hard, it is Tungkung Langit sobbing,
calling for his beloved Alunsina to come back, entreating her so hard that his voice
reverberates across the fields and the countryside.

Babae Ka
Song by: Inang Laya

Babae ka, hinahangad, sinasamba

Ipinagtatanggol, ikaw nama’y walang laya.
Ang daigdig mo’y lagi nang nasa tahanan
Ganda lang ang pakinabang, sa buhay walang alam.
Napatunayan mo, kaya mong ipaglaban
Ang iyong karapatan at ganap na kalayaan.
Ang pinto ng pag-unlad sa ‘yo laging nakasara
Harapin mo, buksan mo
Ibangon ang iyong pagkatao

Babae ka.
Kalahati ka ng buhay
Kung ikaw kaya’y wala saan ang buhay ipupunla?
Pinatunayan mong kaya mong ipaglaban
Ang iyong karapatan at ganap na kalayaan.
Ang pinto ng pag-unlad sa’yo ngayo’y nakabungad
Harapin mo, buksan mo
Ibangon ang iyong pagkatao

Babae ka.
Dahil sa akala ay mahina ka
Alaga mo ay di nakikita
Bisig mo man sa lakas ay kulang
Ngunit sa isip ka biniyayaan
Upang ang tinig mo’y maging mapagpasya
Upang ikaw ay lumaya
Lumaban ka, babae may tungkulin ka
Sa pagpapalaya ng bayan na siya nating simulain.

Titibo- Tibo
Song by: Moira Dela Torre

Elementary pa lang, napapansin na nila

Mga gawi kong parang hindi pambabae eh kasi
Imbes na chinese garter, laruan ko ay teks at jolens
Tapos ka-jamming ko lagi noon
Mga sigang lalaki sa amin

Nung ako'y mag high school ay

Napabarkada sa mga bi-curious na babae na
Ang hanap din ay babae
Sa halip na makeup kit, bitbit ko ay gitara
Tapos pormahan ko lagi ay long sleeves na
T-shirt at faded na lonta

Pero noong nakilala kita

Nagbagong bigla ang aking timpla
Natuto ako na magparebond at
Mag-ahit ng kilay at least once a month
Hindi ko alam kung anong meron ka na
Sa akin ay nagpalambot nang bigla
Sinong mag-aakalang lalake pala
Ang bibihag sa tulad kong tigreng gala

Kahit ako'y titibo-tibo

Puso ko ay titibok-tibok pa rin sa'yo
Isang halik mo lamang, at ako ay tinatablan
At ang aking pagkababae ay nabubuhayan
Na para bang bulaklak na namumukadkad
Dahil alaga mo sa dilig at katamtamang
Sikat ng araw-araw mong pag-ibig
Sa 'king buhay nagpapasarap
Nung tayo'y nag-college ay
Saka ko lamang binigay ang matamis na oo
Sampung buwan mong trinabaho
Sa halip na tsokolate at tipikal na mga diskarte
Nabihag mo ko sa mga tula at sa mga kanta mong pabebe

Kaya nga noong makilala kita

Alam ko na agad na mayroong himala
Natuto akong magtakong at napadalas
Ang pagsuot ng bestidang pula
Pero 'di mo naman inasam na ako ay
Magbagong tuluyan para patunayang
Walang matigas na tinapay sa mainit na kape
Ng iyong pagmamahal

Kahit ako'y titibo-tibo

Puso ko ay titibok-tibok pa rin sa'yo
Isang halik mo lamang, at ako ay tinatablan
At ang aking pagkababae ay nabubuhayan
Na para bang bulaklak na namumukadkad
Dahil alaga mo sa dilig at katamtamang
Sikat ng araw-araw mong pag-ibig
Sa 'king buhay nagpapasarap.