'Toy napigket nga daga
Pitpitenmi nga umuna
Danggayanmi't kankanta
Takkiagmi a napigsa
Kettang ken bannogmi
dikam igingina 

     Mannamili
     Ilokano Folk Song

FULL PAPER

1.0 Introduction

The present status of English as medium of instruction at all levels in the Philippine educational system and the far-reaching effect of television that primarily uses the national language in prime-time programs is slowly but effectively alienating the Ilokano from the charm and character of his native tongue and culture.  For one, modern dances and popular English and Filipino songs have almost replaced the folk dances and folk songs even in the so-called cultural presentations in schools and in joyous celebrations of town and barangay fiestas.  Ilokano songs, poems and dramas remain to be aired over local radio stations but the desired effect of community appreciation and pride is not fully achieved because of individual and casual, not collective and focused, listening.

 Similarly in gatherings called for by the inevitable, some unique aspects of culture such as the death chant called dung-aw is now fast becoming, if not already, an abandoned piece of celebrating life and expressing grief over the demise of a beloved member of the family or clan.  In most cases, particularly in the middle or upper level of the local social strata, the dung-aw had given way to the necrological services offered by religious, social or professional groups.  These services most commonly use English in both verbal and song components.

Fortunately, there is an emerging venue for advocacy of the Ilokano language and culture which comes in the new format of the asalto that has, of late, become the main activity on the last night of the wake in some municipalities of Ilocos Norte and in Laoag City, a component city of the province.  An extended service of the brass band that is hired to lead the funeral rites, the asalto is meant to culminate the wake that usually lasts for five up to nine nights. The latter coincides with the maikasiam or the traditionally required number of prayer days on the rosary called lualo.  The wake becomes even longer when family members in far places are coming home but could not book immediate flights or take a leave from work. 

 Asalto is known in different towns as tapat, harana or sinadag.  Together with its other name as serenata, asalto is a Spanish word that has become the common name for this musical activity.  It must be noted, however, that this is a loose usage of the term that means greetings on happy occasions like birthdays or weddings.  With the new concept that the event is a celebration of a life well lived, the word has been adopted in the absence of a more precise Ilokano term.  The new format has been met with inspiringly wide embrace from grieving family, sympathizers and plain neighborhood or community onlookers. 

This tribute and homage to the departed was originally rendered solely by a brass band.  Three or four years ago, however, vocals were introduced for added value, drama, appeal, and impact as competitive advantages of rival bands.  Crooning—generally by women, some with local radio fame—has become the essential component of the band performance, the purposes of which are to: 1) comfort the bereaved family, and 2) properly entertain the sympathizers who would stay up close to midnight with songs befitting the sad event.  To these could be added the objective of promoting appreciation and love for the native language through the medium of songs that reflect the local culture.

Statement of the Problem

This paper explores the asalto as an opportune and rich venue for advocacy of the Ilokano language and Ilokano culture through songs that mirror the language of the soul.  Specifically, it: 1) describes how the asalto is undertaken, 2) presents the Ilokano songs and their English translations, 3) presents the profile of the performing artists, and 4) identifies the elements that make asalto a potent force in the advocacy of Ilokano language and culture.

Methodology

This study made use of the qualitative and descriptive methodologies of social science research.  It relied much on observation and interview, the author being at a strategic position as a participant-observer and as an observant participant witness to the sociology of the whole event in many cases. 

The author’s vantage point derives from her family’s management of Lily of the Valley Memorial Services in Barangay Corocor along the national highway in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte, Philippines.  A package service includes the band service that gives her access to the band and crooner. This, likewise, provides hands-on advocacy, being almost always on-site to monitor performance and gather client feedback.

English translations were written by the author who has published poems and feature articles in the internationally circulated Ilokano magazine, Bannawag and in the national journals for teachers as well as research reports in the research journal of Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte.  Veteran bilingual writer in the locality, Mr. Severino V. Pablo, critiqued these translations. 

Photographs and video footages of performance segments were taken from the family’s documentary in the package.

Population and Sample

The Veterans Band with crooner Leah Danzalan are presented here as the sample case or unit of analysis, being typical of the population composing of the Bacarra Band and the Pioneer Band in Bacarra; Calumag Band, Lagui-Sail Band, Stompers Band and Ilocos Norte Band in Laoag City; and Dimaya Band in San Nicolas.  

Research Locale

Observations over the last two years for this study were set in various locations - poblacion or barangay, in the author’s hometown Bacarra or in the nearby municipalities of Pasuquin, Bangui, Burgos, and Pagudpud to the north; Laoag, San Nicolas, Batac, and Paoay to the south; and Vintar to the east.  Nearby Cagayan towns such as Sta. Praxedes and Claveria had also been reached with a few but highly responsive clienteles and audiences.

  While most cases involved locals, a good number celebrated the life of a balikbayan on his final journey back home from exile in the diaspora.  That last flight could have been returning on foot to his home country with numbered days or in a cold casket sent home.  In either case, it had been the wish to return to the land of birth.   

Scope and Limitation

This study was limited to a general description of how the asalto is undertaken; there could be deviation in details from one performance to the other or from one band to the other.  Information on demographics was limited to one band that the author has most access to.  The songs included are those in the general repertoire within the band’s mastery of accompaniment.  Due to time constraints, quantitative data on the number of performances, though available on records, were omitted.  Audience sizes, which could only be estimated, were, likewise, omitted.

Significance

The Ilokano language is a rich and well-developed language.  It has character that reflects the sturdy and unyielding spirit of the Ilokanos in the midst of nature’s scarce resources.  Before it yields to the diluting effects of foreign languages and the national language, some concerned people in the home region must join hands and contribute to its continuing appreciation, preservation and even development.  Schools and academe are not the answer as English is the valued language in these domains.

 Community outreach through the asalto could be the answer.  As has been aptly said, music is the language of the soul.  To touch the Ilokano heart, music must be set in the native tongue so that it can penetrate deep into the Ilokano soul.

            The asalto, minus the vocals, had been performed since the 1990s.  Yet, there is so far no written account of this activity.  This paper, therefore, serves to document this significant aspect of culture attendant to this life event.  It will form part of the reference materials for students in Philippine studies and/or the children of Filipino ancestry in foreign countries where this cultural item is not an option.

2.0 Discussion

Undertaking the Asalto

As dusk falls, the band members and crooner gather at their home base in Barangay 7 located at midnorth of the town of Bacarra, a few blocks to the south of Iglesia ni Cristo Church along the town highway leading to Pasuquin.  The instruments are picked-up here. The members then board the Armak passenger jeepney that is regularly hired for the purpose at rentals based on distance of destination.  This is added income to the PUJ, the pubic utility jeepney that plies the Bacarra-Laoag route at daytime.  It would then be jam-packed with 20-25 members of the band depending on availability, with the instruments held on laps or laid at the center aisle.

On location, the instruments are set up with adeptness.  The choice setting is the front-yard; an alternative is the side-yard.  If space does not allow, the street is always available since use of this public space is welcome not only during this evening but for the whole duration of the wake.  In some cases, the road is temporarily closed to vehicles, which would considerately take the detour.  In many cases, a large tent that is provided by the barangay is set up for protection from heat and/or rain.  If no such tent is available, then relatives and neighbors put up, in the bayanihan spirit, the palapala or the makeshift shade of coconut leaves or borrowed tolda  (canvass) on bamboo poles. 

The asalto proceeds in this manner:

a.       Introduction by the bandmaster   

b.       Band pieces

c.        Crooner performance, 3-4 love songs

d.       Band pieces, 2-3 pieces

e.        Recess—or merienda/snacks

f.        Crooner performance, 3-4 farewell songs

g.        Audience participation, as requested

h.       Casket-side piece by three band members, usually “Vaya con Dios”

i.         Farewell remarks and piece by crooner, usually “Ulila”

j.         Farewell band piece, usually “Lirio iti Tanap” or Lily of the Valley)

The Songs and Translations

The songs come from a selection of love and farewell songs in Ilokano.  In some instances, these are spiced with English songs with religious (“Lift Up Your Hands”) or farewell (Mama/Papa) themes. Tagalog ballads (“Lupa,” “Ikaw,” “Hinahanap Kita”) and a few requests from the family or audience which are very likely the departed’s favorites such as “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Wooden Heart,” and/or “Crying Time.” 

Parting or farewell songs that could send the bereaved family and audience to tears are:  1) “Maudi a Bilin,” 2) “Kakaisuna nga Ama/Ina,” 3) “Nanang/Tatang,” 4) “Dikan Agsangsangit,” 5) “Dikanto Malipatan,” 6) “Naayat, Nadungngo,” 7) “Uray Awankan ‘Toy Denna,” and 8) “Biag ti Ulila,” the finale number.

The love songs that express an outpouring of love for the lost family member include 1) “Laglagipem Awan Nagkurangak,” 2) “Kiddaw,” 3) “Singsing ni Ayat,” 4) “Tengnga ti Baybay,” 5) “Iliw,” 6) “Apuy,” 7) “Isem,” 8) “Diro ni Ayat,” 9) “O Naraniag a Bulan,” 10) “Dungdunguenkanto,”11) “Nagsabong ken Ayat,” 12) “Rabaw Kadaratan,” 13) “Kasla Kadagsen ti Krus,”  and 14) “No Duaduaem Pay.”

 Performers’ Profile

The Band.   The Veterans Band was organized in 1936 by the late Mr. Julian Sales of Poblacion, Bacarra who called it  Nepa Band.  It was renamed Veterans’ Band by his son, retired Col. Primitivo Sales, who took over at the former’s demise.  The lone survivor of this band under either   management, Mr. Tomas Ramiro, now manages the band.  Having stayed in Hawaii for six years from 1985-2001 where he also organized a band that occasionally played in the 6-9 p.m. viewing in mortuaries, and having ordered his four daughters to that island, he came back as a pensioner in 2001.  His only son and three of his grandchildren by that son are core members of the band. Almost all of the band members are close or distant relatives of the band manager.  There is another set of father and two sons, three sets of two brothers each including a twin.

The only female member is single, below 20 years old, from the poblacion and in third year college.  The males, likewise, are generally young, poblacion residents, college students and not much differentiated as to civil status.

          The four self-employed are a painter, a welder, a tricycle driver, and a farmer.  The professionals are in private practice as an electrical engineer (one), teaching (three) and banking (one). One teaches at the town public high school where he is also the bandmaster.  The engineer used to teach at a private college in Laoag where he was, likewise, the bandmaster.

Table 1.  Demographic profile of the band members (N = 24).

 The Crooner.  The soloist, Leah Danzalan, is a 32-year old recording artist who had been singing professionally over a decade now.  Starting as a self-driven ten-year old child singer at the defunct DWLW-Laoag Children’s Hour where she was a many-time winner, she went on to be consistently recognized as Nightingale of the Year in high school.

With moral support from a young aunt who used to be a drummer in a band that performed in Japan, Malaysia and Singapore but who started an agency on her return, she joined the entertainment group, Rhymes and Riddles, immediately after her high school graduation.  She then trained for one year in Manila.  The 300-strong entertainment group was divided into smaller groups such as that of Leah’s that was composed of a male on the keyboard and two other female vocalists.  Most in that outfit were Tagalogs and Visayans; she would be very lucky and most happy if she met a fellow Ilokano in the group.

From 1992-1998, the band was based in Langkawe, Malaysia with a nightly performance in a hotel.  Four times during this period, the four-member band was pulled out for a six-month stint each in Burma, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.  Thus, Leah has a repertoire of Asian songs with melodies she still remembers but with lyrics she has forgotten.

In 1999, she returned home and got married to Anzcar de la Cruz, a resident of Bacarra, Ilocos Norte. De la Cruz is popularly known by his recording name Butchiki.  At the time, he was singer and guitarist of a local band that was performing in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan and Isabela.  In the meantime, Leah went back to radio—Radio Bombo—this time to build up her name in between combo performances in fiestas, birthdays and weddings.  In that same year, she cut her first record with the flag song “Laglagipem, Awan Nagkurangak,” the hit that widely introduced her as an Ilokano balladeer.  With no formal training in literary writing or musical scoring but relying on their native musical ear, the couple composed both lyrics and music of the songs – with Eddie Velasco, also from Bacarra, as arranger.

Titled Back to Back Volume I and produced by Biag Records, the tape featured her on Side A and Butchiki on B with the apt byline, Ilokano Ballads and Novelty Songs.  Leah soulfully renders the ballads while Butchiki playfully drives home his serious messages that mirror the truths of contemporary life expressed in everyday, popular lingo. 

Back-to-Back Volume 2 on VCD features 14 new compositions by the couple separately sung by them.  Except for four, the songs are again their original composition. Tabios Records produced Two in One in 2003.  It includes 12 love and novelty compositions sung by the couples except for three that were rendered by a guest singer. 

Potency Factors 

The potency of the asalto as venue for advocacy of the Ilokano language and Ilokano culture derives from the large audience size, its mobile nature, and the focused audience attention it commands. In Ilokano rural and semi-urban sociology, relatives, friends and neighbors of all ages, from far and near, take it as an obligation to be present in this farewell night.  Members of the family who are abroad, either as migrants or as overseas Filipino workers, make it a point to come home and pay their last respects even if it involves much expense. Most commonly, family members would come from Hawaii, the US Mainland and Canada in the name of enduring and close family ties.

The homage doubles as a chance for family reunions, strengthening ties with those left behind and meeting for the first time the post-immigration generation.  In one recent case in Barangay Arimbobooc, Bacarra, for instance, 30 children, in-laws and grandchildren arrived from Hawaii in homage to their departed mother/grandmother. In another case in Burgos, 13 balikbayans from Hawaii were in the same flight that carried a family member’s remains to the land of his birth. The presence of such balikbayans who may not have come home for a long time draws a big number of kins, if not the whole neighborhood or rural community, specially on the last night.  The table below shows the number of balikbayan per case.