Pamantasan ng Cabuyao

Katapatan Homes, Banay-banay, City of Cabuyao Laguna

Development of
Childrens
Literature in the
Philippines

Submitted by:

Submitted to:

Ann Shierly M. Cordero

Regachuelo

Prof. Jade

Children's Literature in the Philippines

Childrens literature in the Philippines traces its roots to oral
tradition before Spain colonised the archipelago. Mothers sung lullabies
for their babies. Each region had its own lullaby: Ili-ili Tulog Anay from
the Visayas, Paghehele of the Tagalogs; and Duoay ya of the Ilocaos.
Youngsters heard folktales from adults; these tales were meant to
educate the young. Further, proverbs and riddles reflected the peoples
philosophy and way of life. Likewise, these had morals.
Today, childrens literature range from books to multimedia
materials and television shows. Childrens shows now also have print
collectibleswhich include activity and colouring books. Some shows,
ABS-CBNs Matanglawin, for example, put into print what has been
featured in various episodes.
A lullaby of Ilocanos titled Duoay-ya is a piece of advice for the
baby to grow up as a good child of his parents. It reflects the Filipino
culture of taking care of aging parents, as a way of thanking the
parents for the sacrifices they had made.
The folktales and legends tend to explain why things happen.
Natural phenomena is explained in the tales of the Tinguians and the
Mindanaoans: the sky and its contents, the sun and moon, calamities
like floods and earthquakes. The legends show children where things
originate, a name of a place, for instance (Alabado 2001, 6). Folktales
deliver lessons to youngsters. In the case of the widely known Juan
Tamad, children are taught not to be lazy fares.
Epics tell of the adventures of certain heroes. This poem is
chanted by the elders of the townor tribeand is passed on through
way of mouth. The epic is chanted during rituals like weddings or
harvests. Each epic is sacred to a certain tribe or place; it talks about
love, hate, praise to the higher Being, or of destiny Examples of these
are: Hudhud of Ifugao; Ullalim of Kalinga; and Hinilawod of Panay
and Negros.

The nonsense rhymessuch as Pen Pen di Sarapenoriginated

from chants in childrens games. In the early days, singing was used
during older childrens re-enactment of mock battles (Alabado 2001,
14).
The first book for children came in 1593, Doctrina Cristiana en
Lengua Tagala y Espaola, written by Father Domingo Nieva. It was
used for religious instruction; children never actually held the book.
Only adults had handled the book (Parayno 1991, 18).
The Filipino childs first alphabets were learned from
the Cartilla (Parayno
1991,
19),
sometimes
called Caton or Abecedario. This list of Roman alphabets and syllables
replaced the native alibata (Alabado 2001, 36). Books were focused on
the lives of saints, prayers and sermons. Written in the vernacularin
Roman alphabetsthese were distributed throughout the archipelago.
Children were later exposed to western romantic tales involving
kings and knights. They found this interesting and called it their own.
Examples are: El Cid of Spain and Charlemagne of France (Parayno
1991, 19).
Other samples of corrido are Bernardo Carpio, a tale of a young
man with great strength who ends up imprisoned between two
mountains guarded by an angel; this was written by Jose de la Cruz,
known as Huseng Sisiw. Another isIbong Adarna, that tells of the search
for the Adarna bird which is the only cure for the kings malady. It is set
in Berbania. These were the pass time of the people during that era.
Thus, children were exposed to such works (Alabado 2001, 41).
To Filipino children the Americans introduced books that were
meant for young American readers. Filipino youngsters were introduced
to Mother Goose Rhymes, Alice in Wonderland (Parayno 1991,
19), Grimms Tales, Louisa May Alcotts Little Women, Mark Twains The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn, and Swiss Family Robinson (Alabado 2001, 72).Since the setting
and way of life presented in these stories are foreign, the result was
the alienation of the Filipino child from his own culture. Adding to the
burden was the American-themed literature for the Filipino children.
The values, attitudes were reflected in the Filipino children, who made
the values their own (Alabado 2001, 72).

Hugo Millers Philippine Folklore Series was one of the books

written by American authors but prepared in the Philippines. Ginn and
Company pioneered the publishing of books (Parayno 1991, 19). This
resulted to children considering forein coloniseers as heroes and native
heroesLapulapu for exampleas mere insurgents (Alabado 2001,
73).
Later, Filipinos wrote childrens stories themselves. Camilo
OsiassPhilippine Readers Books 1 to 7 were read by every Filipino child
in grade school. Known as Osias Readers, the book collection contained
tales, legends, myths, and creatures that were familiar to the Filipino
child. The pieces were written in English. The authors preface of Book
Four added that poems and selections that light the fire of nationalism
have been included (Alabado, 77).
Other writers of Philippine stories for children are: Maximo
Ramos, Tales of Long Ago and Philippine Myths and Tales; Manuel and
Lyd Arguilla; and I.V. Mallari (Parayno 1991, 19).
In Philippine comics, Tony Velasquezs Kenkoy appeared in
Liwayway in 1929. The character was equivalent to funny guy. Kulafu
a
Filipino
illustration
of
Tarzan
which
appeared
in
the
Ilocano Bannawag. The illustration was made by Francisco Reyes
(Alabado 2001, 94). Francisco Mabini created the jungle heroine for
the Liwayway magazine. In the late 1940s, the Tarzan-based
characterHagibis;
the
hero-based Lapu-lapu;
and Dumagit.
Halakhak was the first comic book in the Philippines. Other comic
creators
were
Nestor
Redondo, Darna; and
Elpidio
Torres, Bondying and Dyesebel. The comics were easily understood by
Filipino children because the discourse of the characters were written
in the local dialects (Alabado 2001, 94).
In 1945, translations of Western works appeared. Classics like The
Little Prince and Omar Khayyams Rubaiyat were translated into
Filipino. In 1946, National Bookstore started reprinting foreign books
and translated fairy tales to Filipino. The Lady Bird series was also
published. They also published comics in Filipino and English
like Rizals Classic Illustrated, Filipino Heroes Stories, andLegends of
the Philippines Stories (Parayno 1991, 20).
Poems for children in the 1930s to the next decade were vessels
for nationalist ideals; although, they were not always accompanied

with illustrations (Almario et. al. 1994, 89). This was due to the
brutality of Japanese colonisers. Works such as The Battle of Mactan by
Virgilio Floresca and Like the Molave by NVM Gonzales were published
(Almario et. al. 1994, 89). Childrens books at this time were used as
shield against Japanese censorship.
During martial law, censorship was applied. One authorCeres
Alabadohowever insisted on publishing books for older children, such
as I See Red in a Circle, 1973 (Almario, et. al. 1994, 94).
Today, books for children include collectibles from television
shows. Books like Matanglawin put into print those that have been
featured in episodes of an ABS-CBN show bearing the same title.
Activity books like collectibles from Super Inggo are usually colouring
books.
During the Spanish colonial years through 1950s, illustrators of
books were not given due credit. What mattered was that the author
was a widely known author, and that the publishing house had profits
(Almario et. al. 1994, 85). Illustrations were considered space-fillers or
decorations of magazines. Illustrators werent esteemed that time.
One of the very first illustrators of childrens stories was Jose Rizal. He
translated Hans Christian Andersens The Monkey and the Turtle into
Tagalog and supplied illustrations as well. The drawings were in black
and white (Almario et. al. 1994, 85).
Fernando Amorsolo and other artists were commissioned to do
drawings for the Osias Readers in 1920. Amorsolo later headed the
University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts in doing illustrations.
UP-SFA later expanded into offering electives in commercial arts
including illustration (Almario et. al. 1994, 88). Prof. Irineo Miranda
responded to the student cartoonists plea for more areas to harness
their talents. Encouraged by Amorsolo, Miranda offered more
commercially-related electives (Almario et. al. 1994, 88). President
Manuel Quezons move to lead the country in writing textbooks in
Filipino resulted to the publishing of Pepe and Pilar series for public
schools.
In the illustrations of Filipino life and Filipino people, there have
been issues. Filipino kings and gods were portrayed horribly, while
western fairies and deities were illustrated very well. Ceres
Alabados Multimedia Multicultural Childrens Literature in the
Philippines cites as example the drawing of a Filipino king. The books

points out that the royal was portrayed as a male witch, while the
knight Sir Galshad was illustrated correctly, complete with chain mail
armour.
The illustration of modern books was influenced by cartoons due
to concrete lines and curves (Almario et. a. 1994, 95). From black-andwhite, colours were introduced to enhance the drawings. Today, digital
art is also applied for illustrations. Depictions of Filipino characters are
no longer horrible and artists could draw their own interpretations of
deities without imitating western gods.
Childrens books in the Philippines have greatly evolved. From
Western books in the beginning, the Filipino child has found morals and
entertainment in stories that are familiar to him. He is provided with
materials that foster appreciation of his own culture and values, not a
foreigners.
With respect to illustrations, Virgilio Almario points out that
Filipino artists are committed to their work of illustrating for the Filipino
child and improving the quality of the output. From black-and-white
sketches to coloured two-dimensional drawings to digital and threedimensional arts, it can be said that illustrations have improved a lot.