Iloilo Provincial Board commends epic book by UP Visayas team

Through Resolution No. 2026-429, a commendation was awarded to the team behind the publication of the “Humadapnon (Ginlawan): Sugidanon (Epics) of Panay, Book 8, Volume 4” for winning best book of poetry in Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a poetry at the 43rd National Book Awards conferred by the National Book Development Board and the Filipino Critics Circle on May 26, 2026, at the Iloilo Provincial Board Session Hall.

Sponsored by Provincial Board Member Esara Aldeguer Javier and co-sponsored by Provincial Board Members Nathalie Ann F. Debuque and Amalia Victoria F. Debuque, the commendation was received by the UP Visayas Suguidanon Team led by Professor Emeritus Alicia P. Magos, researcher Anna Razel L. Ramirez, chanter Teresita Caballero, representing the Caballero family, and other members of the team, including Analina Caballero, Kinaray-a translator; Caiden Ramirez, cover designer; and Ramon Ramirez, photographer.

The commendation, which was initiated by Vice Gov. Lee Anne Debuque, was turned over by Provincial Board Members Rolando B. Distura, Rica Jane L. Garin, Jo Ann B. Germinanda, Rolito C. Cajilig, Mark P. Palabrica, Dominic Paul C. Oso, Nielito C. Tupas, Jo Jan Paul “JP” J. Penol, and Esara Aldeguer Javier.

The book forms part of a comprehensive 10 Sugidanon (Epics) of Panay series in 13 volumes, “a landmark literary and cultural project that documents, translates, and preserves the sacred epics of the Panay Bukidnon, thereby safeguarding an invaluable body of indigenous knowledge,” the citation said.

It also stated that “Suguidanon, the ancestral epics of the Panay Bukidnon, are long chanted narratives that embody the customary laws, belief systems, heroic traditions, and worldview of an indigenous group whose history was preserved not in ink, but in voice and memory across generations.”

The epic was recorded by Magos and Ramirez in Garangan, Calinog, Iloilo, starting in 1993 with the support of UP Visayas and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Publication of these works was supported by the University of the Philippines through the UP Press. (UPV IPO)