The Story of Ambahan Poetry

Ambahan is a form of poetry unique to the Hanunuo Mangyan people. Traditionally written in the precolonial script of Surat Mangyan, ambahans are composed of two to 100 seven-syllable lines, which all end in rhyme. These poems are then engraved on bamboo pipes. Ambahans are often sung, but without a fixed melody, nor any musical accompaniment. Common themes revolve around Mangyan notions of nature, family, relationships, respect, death, and so on. Ambahans are identified with numbers, instead of a title or their author. This is because the composer of an ambahan would never sign their name, as social expression is considered foremost over authorship.  To speak of Ginaw Bilog's work as a poet is to speak about the continuing life and legacy of ambahan as a literary tradition.