Pedro Bukaneg (March 1592 – c. 1630) was a
Filipino
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* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
. He is considered the "''Father of
Ilocano literature
Ilocano literature or Iloko literature pertains to the literary works of writers of Ilocano ancestry regardless of the language used - be it Ilocano, English, Spanish or other foreign and Philippine languages. In Ilocano language, the terms "Iloko ...
''." Blind since birth, he is the believed to have authored of parts of the
Ilocano epic
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* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
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Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
''
Biag ni Lam-ang'' (''Life of Lam-ang''). A street inside the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex in Pasay, Philippines is named in his honor. His surname is lent to the ''Bukanegan,'' the Ilocano equivalent of the ''
Balagtasan
''Balagtasan'' is a Filipino form of debate done in verse. Derived from the name of Francisco Balagtas, this art presents a type of literature in which thoughts or reasoning are expressed through speech.
The first balagtasan took place in the ...
.''
Biography
Bukaneg was a foundling, who shortly after his birth already floating in a basket between Bantay and Vigan in the Banaoang River was found by an old woman. They brought him to the Bantay Augustiner priest who baptized him as Pedro Bucaneg. Bukaneg was sent to the Augustinian convent in Manila to further his theological and cultural studies. He took lessons in Latin and Spanish and also learned the local languages and Ilocano Isneg.
Through his knowledge of these languages, he was asked by the priests in the region to translate their prayers and sermons in local languages. He was being asked to help with the conversion of the local population. Bukaneg composed poems and songs and was loved by the Ilocanos as a troubadour. He was regarded by the locals as a seer. Even the Spaniards knocked him for his services. He would have identified the killer of a servant of a Spaniard on a day in a row of Itneg men by placing his hand on the chest of all these men.
His blindness prevented him to write. He dictated his poems, songs and translations, while someone else wrote. Ilocano epic Biag ni Lam-ang is attributed to Bukaneg by some authors and historians. It is also possible that the works of Bukaneg was sung for centuries by the Ilocano and thus preserved it for eternity. It was also Bukaneg who translated the Doctrina Cristiana in Ilocano. This book was printed in 1593 as one of the first books in the Philippines and was intended for use in the conversion of the local population. In 1621 the Ilocano translation of Bukaneg was printed in the Augustinian Convent of Manila. Bukaneg was also largely responsible for Arte de la Lengue Iloca, the first grammar book of the Ilocano of Brother Francisco Lopez, which was printed in 1627
by the University of Santo Tomas.
Bukaneg died around 1630. In his honor, a street in the
Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Pasay is named after him. )
See also
*
Biag ni Lam-ang
*
Ilocano culture
The Ilocanos ( ilo, Tattao nga Iloko/), Ilokanos, or Iloko people are the third largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group and mostly reside within the Ilocos Region in the northwestern seaboard of Luzon, Philippines. The native language of the Ilo ...
*
Isabelo de los Reyes
Isabelo de los Reyes Sr. y Florentino, also known as Don Belong (July 7, 1864 – October 10, 1938), was a prominent Filipino politician, writer, journalist, and labor activist in the 19th and 20th centuries. He was the original founder of the ' ...
*
Philippine epic poetry
Philippine epic poetry is the body of epic poetry in Philippine literature. Filipino epic poetry is considered to be the highest point of development for Philippine folk literature, encompassing narratives that recount the adventures of tribal her ...
*
Philippine literature
Philippine literature is literature associated with the Philippines from prehistory, through its colonial legacies, and on to the present.
Pre-Hispanic Philippine literature was actually epics passed on from generation to generation, o ...
References
External links
Biography of Pedro Bucaneg
1592 births
1630s deaths
People from Ilocos Sur
Blind writers
17th-century Filipino poets
Ilocano people
Filipino male poets
Epic poets
Blind people from the Philippines
People of the Spanish East Indies
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