Mt. Isarog Literature: A Showcase of Camarinense Cultural Diversity ()
1. Introduction
Literature is the oldest means of transferring knowledge and understanding the culture of the people in a community. Every type of literature, according to Genio (2000) , reflects the behavior, culture, beliefs, and even aspirations of every Filipino. The legend of Mt. Isarog is neither widely dispersed to the community nor the canon for reading literature and understanding culture, unlike several myths and legends about mountains in the Philippines that are in printed books, such as “The Legend of Maria Makiling”, which explained the protection of the forest and the mountain; “The Legend of Daragang Magayon”, which reflected the ancient tribesmen and the myth of Albay’s perfect cone Mayon Volcano; and “Bulusan and Aguingay”, which explained the names of the various towns in the province of Sorsogon.
Mt. Isarog is a forested mountainous area in southern Luzon. According to Balcita and Nolasco (2015) , this mountain has a protected park with diverse flora and fauna, and the mountain forest functions as a sponge, feeding watercourses that feed the downstream plains and providing a living for the majority of the 23 barangays that comprise the park (Pesimo et al., 2019) .
Ecotourism in Mt. Isarog Park is one of the activities that could lead to the perplexity of the origins of oral literature. Mt. Isarog has numerous ecotourism destinations. Some of these places are developed for cultural activities such as hiking, swimming, camping, and trekking that attract tourists and hikers. It attracts non-native investors in the tourism business. An ecotourism program that involves retelling the accounts of the natives on Mt. Isarog could contribute to the conservation and promotion of oral local culture and beliefs of mountain folks. “Storytelling can act as a social binding agent,” says Marina Warner, a cultural historian (Chang 1, Luh 1, 2022). However, retelling the accounts from memory without the use of print media caused disorientation in the original culture. The media have a fundamental responsibility to document, preserve, protect, package, promote, and disseminate cultural information, activities, artifacts, and art, according to a statement posted by UNESCO (The National Culture and Heritage Policy of Kenya).
Flyers and brochures on native practices, beliefs, and folk stories may impede the puzzlement of knowledge of the young generation in understanding of culture and literature during exchange of narratives and facts about the places, between the tourist guide and tourist at Mt. Isarog. Li Huai Chang and Ding Bang Luh (2022) mentioned in their studies that people from different social and cultural contexts have different ways to interpret and determine the meaning of the same text.
Moreover, combining the local culture with the printed accounts of the natives in Mt. Isarog for ecotourism activities limits the varied ways of interpretation, lessens the traveling of the complex versions of the stories, and controls the refashioning of the culture and traditions in the location.
Another complex aspect of non-compiled oral literature and culture is the continuous recycling process—the snowballing of details in the adding and dropping of some details and making it over. Nie Zhenzhao (2019) said that primitive human beings had the process of acquiring this knowledge from their life experiences (Ross, 2015) .
The accounts of the old folks are the folk literature that could serve as a link between Bicolanos’ past and present cultures as well as a source of information for future generations. Once these accounts are not gathered and recorded, the merit of the living cultural beliefs and practices of the natives on Mt. Isarog gradually evolves into different versions over the generations.
Each previous individual was a product of their own time (Austin, 2022) . Young generations are who they are in their time and could identify cultural colors from the past if these young generations have closed connections to ancestors, have a better understanding of native peoples’ folk literature and cultures, and are empowered to strengthen the local community’s identity, despite the limited printed materials available to transfer knowledge through literature.
Complexities in preserving and understanding the diverse culture of the camarinense or the natives in Mt. Isarog are mitigated by an essential precondition for local identification, which can be found in the distribution of the printed word and through the popular press and publication of books (Westin, 2010) , so that people who might never meet face-to-face could nevertheless identify as people with a strong sense of community.
Therefore, literature about Mt. Isarog in Camarines Sur is an identification of the unique culture of the camarinense, the natives in the mountains, and the non-indigenous people, resembling the popular literature in the provinces of Sorsogon and Albay and other provinces in the Philippines that revealed the cultures of people. The study sought to discern the cultural diversity of camarinense through the collection of Mt. Isarog literature in order to identify Mt. Isarog literature that has been diffused in the places of the mountains and complexities in the transfer of knowledge and culture; select Mt. Isarog literature that showcases cultural diversities in the natives; and showcase some significant cultural practices to mitigate complexities in promoting and preserving Mt. Isarog literature for future generations.
2. Diffused Mt. Isarog Literature Found in Mountainous Areas
There were several accounts collected from native KIs (key informants) on Mt. Isarog that were subtly disseminated in various locations. Most of the accounts of the old folks in the mountainous area were about the protection of the natural resources and safeguarding the homes of mostly residents in the 23 barangays, and some were from the indigenous people from the Agta Tabangnon and Agta-Cimarron groups. Their main sources of income are from selling corn, root crops, and fruit trees, aside from working on industrial plantations in the mountains, similar to the other natives in the world who are living in the mountains and have the same means of livelihood (Balcita & Nolasco, 2015) . Both are from different sites, but their tales exist in various degrees of similarity, and there would be no differences among countries for the next generations.
According to Aguila, Arriola, & Wigley (2008) , “Gathering texts and selecting and arranging them according to the preconceived categorization scheme serves to displace any obsolesce in literary education; however, in this study, the preconceived codification and categorization scheme of the collected accounts preserved the old versions of the folk tales and classified perennial themes such as safeguards and protections; traits and characters; historical, factual, and seminon-fiction; love, caution, wealth, and death.”
These numerous accounts of the beliefs and practices of the natives were condensed into forty-four (44) titles, as shown in Table 1. In the gathered accounts, there are eight folk oral traditions that are fairly dispersed among the 23 barangays found within the circumference of Mt. Isarog. Through the dissemination of oral traditions, according to Nie Zhenzhao, people in the tribe told tales about their own moral experiences to their offspring, tribe mates, and subsequently, a larger society (Ross, 2015) . People can learn how to live their culture and become successful by utilizing the wisdom of their ancestors and members of other tribes. These oral traditions identified in the accounts of the camarinense, or natives, in the mountainous area are the diffused Mt. Isarog literature that could instill culture and tradition, strengthening the young generation’s understanding of the importance of literature as a means of encouraging their generation to embrace and preserve the cultural race. These folk traditions are beliefs of the Engkanto (The Enchanted), the existence of the Kapre settle down on the big trees, the appearance of the “White Lady”, versions of “The Legend of Mt. Isarog”, the bravery of the male and female natives in the second world war, Guerilla kan Hapon (Japanese Guerrilla), the mountain as “Water Shed” of the seven municipalities, the magical log that turned into a galleon called Ang Batang (The Log), and mysterious death causes of the living things under the tree, named Kahoy na Sinukuan (Tree of Surrender).
The disseminated accounts illustrated the life settlements of the camarinense and provided some context in understanding the daily life, beliefs and practices, culture to live and survive, the connecting knowledge, skills, and tools, and their shared values and customs.
3. Location in the Mountainous Area
The research was carried out in barangays near the DENR-designated protected area territory on Mt. Isarog in Camarines Sur. Figure 1 shows that Mt. Isarog’s circumference is connected by 7 municipalities that are composed of 23 barangays, such as (clockwise) Brgy. Lupi and Brgy. Cawaynan in Tinambac Municipality; while Brgy. Payatan, Brgy. Digdigon, Brgy. Hiwacloy, Brgy. San Pedro Aroro, and Brgy. Catagbacan, are in Goa Municipality; the next barangays are in Tigaon Municipality, these are Brgy. Libod and Brgy. Consocep; the adjacent barangays are in Ocampo Municipality, such as Brgy. Villaflorida, Brgy. San Jose Oras, Brgy. Gatbo,Brgy. Del Rosario, Brgy. Guinaban, and Sto. Nino; the next town with DENR protected areas is Pili, within are Brgy. Sto. Nino, Brgy. Curry, Brgy. Del Rosario and Brgy. Tinangis; next to this town is the city of Naga that
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Table 1. Diffused Mt. Isarog literature and its locations.
has one barangay named Brgy. Panicuason. Calabanga is the last municipality which has three barangays in the protected area, such as Brgy. Cumaguingking, Brgy. Harubay, and Brgy. Lugsad.
The connecting places showed the connecting cultures and stories that were discovered in the modified ethnographic method, which is the initial ethnographic tour method of Whitehead (2005a) . Wa-Mbaleka (2018) was concerned in the ethnographic study of the culture, cultural practices, cultural beliefs, and belief systems that define a specific group’s cultural and social interactions.
A one-day visit was made to each barangay to examine cultural features and practices using fieldwork and descriptive observations of the community. An unusual ethnographic way of earning the trust of the natives was by dining with them at meals and conversing about their habits, food supplies, cooking styles, and mountain folktales. The old natives were delighted to see the visitors enjoying their meals, especially when they saw the exchange of dishes prepared for them. The researcher brought fried fish, pancit (noodles), and bread for her respondents. In return, the natives offered the exotic Goto dish (wild lizard meat boiled in vinegar, water, salt and coconut milk), the Kasili dish (eel cooked in coconut milk), and the Agama dish with coconut meat and milk and other herbs. Most respondents prepared the two most popular vegetable dishes, the Laing dish (fresh Natong or Gabi leaves with coconut milk) and the Pako dish (fern leaves with snails from fresh water and coconut milk). The ordinary reality of everyday life for the native camarinense is their pattern of behavior in cooking and eating that which is sanctioned by culture in usage and may recede and be superseded by the reality and possibility of influence.
Recording the accounts of the KIs without stopping their daily routines was part of the innovation in the method of ethnography. Also, eating with the natives and being with them for more than eight hours was another modification in the inquiry process to study the social life and to observe the things inside and outside the house to describe the life, communication, and behavior of the people on Mt. Isarog. The literature from the accounts of the natives in Mt. Isarog was the focus, and modification was applied for ethnography, which varies from context to context and covers various aspects of the inquiry (Gautam, 2016) , because the study’s goal was to collect, compile, and record the oral literature as a reference and helpful tool to determine the showcased lifestyle of the old natives in the mountains that concerned culture, and cultural activities. Gautam discoursed that ethnographic research has various approaches, such as participant observation, interviewing, and document and artifact gathering, and that adapting an ethnographic perspective makes it possible to take a more focused approach and do less than a comprehensive ethnography.
This study revealed that the geographical structure of Mt. Isarog has contributed to the diffusion of oral literature. Oak (2011) said that the geography of the region has an impact on the lifestyle of its inhabitants, and according to Caballero (2012) , the geographical condition of the region is influenced by culture, which has a profound impact on social and human behavior and standards. Geography has an added impact on the art, literature, manners, food, and celebrations of the inhabitants.
The textual references in the gathered and disseminated literature are from key informants (KIs), who were purposely identified in 23 barangays across seven municipalities with the help of barangay officials. The interviewed locals ranged in age from 15 to 98 years old; many were impoverished people, and some (Cael, 2011; Maming, 2011; Mario, 2011) claimed to be Agta descendants of Mt. Isarog’s two Agta clans: the Cimarrones Tribe and the Tagbanua Tribe (Gerona, 2010) . Some of these elderly people claimed to be Mount Isarog Guardians (MIGs) and had their names registered with the Camarines Sur Department of Environment and Natural Resources Office (DENRO). The majority of the elders who shared their oral stories only had their elementary education, and their primary accounts were based on personal experiences and stories taught to them by their parents.
During the interview, the elderly respondents said that they could not read or write but had many stories to tell about their experiences in the forest, including customs, beliefs, historical warfare, and both supernatural and paranormal experiences. They generally literate in their own places in Mt. Isarog. They worked on their farms or on farms nearby as farmers, tenants, and laborers. Some were working on the land with their parents, while younger KIs attended school in their barangays.
Because these camarinense spoke the same language, there were 44 various native accounts diffused throughout the area, and only eight of the same folk stories existed in surrounding parts of Mt. Isarog. Moreover, the vast majority of people on the mountain are related by affinity or consanguinity. With the existence of waterfalls, streams, rivers, creeks, and springs, the barangays have an abundance of fresh water. According to Serrat (2008) , the environment is linked to human consciousness; just as the environment is a phenomenon, so is society’s imbedded culture and language. The view of Mt. Isarog as a watershed for people in the uplands and lowlands is true; it is a natural phenomenon in the area. However, the culture of believing in fairies, kapre (a mythical tree creature believed to have the head of a horse and a giant’s body), white ladies, and the log drifting that evolved into a galleon are folk stories that practically many camarinense remembers and tells. They believed that these creatures were there to safeguard the waterways and other natural resources of the said mountain. To acknowledge the invisible water guardians, an elderly woman in the neighborhood reportedly muttered, “Tabi, tabi po.” (Please let me pass by calmly) while getting water into a creek, a cultural practice of recognizing the unseen water guards in the area (Castro, 2011) .
4. Variations of Mt. Isarog Literature That Showcased the Culture of Camarinense
Folklore was a natural resource, a repository of well-kept and significant historical documents (Honko, 1972) . Folklore, according to Jonas Baleys, includes folk beliefs as well as traditional creations of the people (Harper & Row, 1959) . The local settlers on Mt. Isarog have many stories regarding the history and current practices. Folk tales about the past and traditions are ancestors’ well-kept knowledge related to the subsistence portions of daily living (Bronner, 2019) . Collected folk narratives are well-kept brain texts about the natural resources found in the highlands. The main focus of the legends told by the natives was on various sorts of water, plants, animals, rock formations, people’s lifestyles, and villages. These are the underpinnings of several oral heritages, most notably the Mt. Isarog oral literature. According to Whitehead (2005b) direct practice is explicit cultural knowledge that people may simply communicate. As a result, the primary source of information in their narratives was related to their day-to-day resources and experiences.
The Mt. Isarog literature collection showcased diverse explicit cultural knowledge that was revealed in the content analysis that was utilized to categorize the theme of the folk narratives, and the lens of literary perspective in cultural literature (Gutierrez-Ang, 2009) was used to determine the variations of culture of the natives living in the forested mountain of Isarog in Camarines Sur. The observation of the place of the folk natives during the interview was applied. Their communications, interactions, and settlement were all indicators of the varied culture of the natives. Lauri Honko studied Methods in Folk-Narrative Research: Their Status and Future, mentioned that the answer given by the oldest folklore method worthy of the designation was quite clear: observable affinities are the result of historical connections between and the diffusion of tales, or more precisely, between the variants of a migrating tale.
The varied living things on the mountain serve as references in the stories of the elderly and young indigenous people who were born and live on the mountain. These living things are the Agama (crab), Kasili (eel), Baka (cattle), Balete (tree), Gurang (elderly), Kabayo (horse), Halas (snake), and Pako (fern). The elements and characters in these narratives are diverse, but the cultural affinities are generally collective practices to protect nature and life for preservation and respect, presented in Table 2.
Non-human characters in the tales embody the qualities of humans, such as the fighting Agama (crab) and Kasili (fish) in the crater of Mt. Isarog. These two were fighting for control of the crater’s strength. When one of them surrenders, the mountain’s strength will explode, causing an eruption. Two aquatic creatures personified human qualities as protectors, exerting their lifelong strength to safeguard the living, showing the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics.
Moreover, there are literary works that are fanciful yet contain camarinese folk beliefs and practices of respect for the things around them. These images of the characters in the tales of the old natives on Mt. Isarog are like mental images. These are humans whose appearance and characteristics are surreal, such as Ang Angongolkol (A Human River Water Creature), Ang Engkanto (The Enchanted),
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Table 2. Mt. Isarog literature showcasing Camarinense Culture: Safeguard and protection.
Bisitang Gurang (The Old Visitor), Dakulang Bitis (Big Foot), Engkantadong Kanibag (Magical Kanibag), and Kapre. Sir-it (Dwarf), Taong Mahibo (Hairy Man), Tawong Suhi, (Upside Down Man), White Lady, and Tawong Nawawara (Man Who Disappears).
The collected mountain literature highlights the need for safeguarding and maintaining the mountain’s resources: its flora and wildlife, waters, and serene atmosphere. The preservation of people’s resources is reason enough to alert forest exploiters. The ecotourism that involves retelling the accounts of the natives on Mt. Isarog could contribute to the conservation and promotion of oral local culture and beliefs of mountain folks. Warner (1996) cited that the idea of Marina Warner’s storytelling as a social binding agent has crucial functions to make ecotourism more attractive to tourists and functional to preserve the folklore of the camarinense, which includes cultural beliefs and practices regarding tranquility and comfort zones, social mobility, compassion, competition, authoritarianism, respect, protection, and conservation, delegation, trust, acceptance of responsibility, economic security, deception, and insensitivity. Culture and tradition are becoming disoriented and varied because of the modern cultures viewed through social media, the migration of the natives, and ecotourism. They believe that the living creatures in the mountain have roles to play in protecting food, people, and places. These specific duties convey the indigenous customs of the many barangays on how to protect the mountain. Moreover, keeping natural resources exclusive to natives is one approach to keeping the mountain safe from loitering and exploitation by some people. Documented beliefs and folk stories may impede the puzzlement of knowledge and understanding of culture and literature during the tourist guide’s and tourist’s exchange of narratives and facts about the places (Table 3).
The name Isarog as a mountain has eight (8) etymological explanations, according to the camarinense elders: These accounts of the natives were classified as literary myths. An interesting culture of couples in the Philippines is also a practice among the folks in Mt. Isarog, where the name of the couple’s firstborn comes from their names, this is a resemblance to the story that the name, “Isarog” refers to the son of the couple named Isaray and Dimaarog in the Legend of Mt. Isarog (Malanyaon, 1991) . Isarog’s name was the combination of the two syllables derived from the parents’ names, the first three letters from the mother’s name and the last three letters from the father’s name.
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Table 3. Mt. Isarog literature showcasing camarinense culture: character and traits.
In the Legend of Mt. Isarog, the names of the main characters are Isaray and Dimaarog, who named their child “Isarog”.
There has been a diffused copy of the legend of camarinenses that has existed since 1986. A barangay councilor in Barangay San Pedro Aroro, Goa, Camarines Sur, received a copy of the book about the “Legend of Mt. Isarog,” which was published by the Haribon Foundation Philippines. This foundation studied life and culture in Camarines Sur, and one of its outputs was the book about the legendary story of Mt. Isarog, copies of which were distributed to the offices of Barangay LGU in the 1980s. The office of the DENR in Camarines Sur also has a copy of this love story. There were respected elders in some barangays who told the story titled, Ang Alamat ng Bundok Isarog (The Legend of Mount Isarog).
Although this story is popular in all places in the mountainous area, only a few of the old barangay officials knew this story, while most of the native community had their own various tales that explained why the name of the mountain is Isarog (Mendoza, 2011) . A factor in having different stories is education and knowledge of language. It affects the beliefs of the native camarinense, by giving different stories on the etymology of Mt. Isarog, particularly in their accounts of “Isang Irog”, “Maisog”, and “Dai Maarog”. Bicolanos are educated in Filipino (Tagalog) through the media: radio, movies, television, mass media, and staying in Manila.
“Isang Irog” is a two-word Tagalog word; it means “Isang (one) and “ng” is a link adjective in Filipino grammar (De Vos, 2023) , Irog (love)” in English it means one love and in Bicol means “sarong namumutan”.
Exposure to knowledge through migration and education gradually changes old practices and beliefs. New knowledge is more likely to be adopted if it is associated with the person’s daily life.
Another trace of varied beliefs through education is the rhythm of literature. Rhyme is the repetition of two or more words in which the last vowel sound and the last consonant sound are the same (Robinson, 2023) , which is particularly applied in literary forms. In folk narratives, a rhyme pattern is observed in naming “Isarog”.
“Isay Maarog” (Who will Replicate) rhymes at the beginning (in the first words) and at the ending (rhyme occurs at the end of a line). A feminine rhyme is a rhyme consisting of two or more syllables (Robinson, 2023) .
While “Isog” (courage) has two letters rhyming at the beginning and ending of Isarog. The meaning of the word “Isog” means audaciousness of the elders, particularly the agtas who fought to protect the forest against invaders, which has connection to the other account that Isarog is rooted from the words “Kasurog” (comrade), “Mapusog” (strong), and “Turog” (sleep). The rhyme occurs at the end of the word Daphine Robinson mentioned the masculine rhyme which means the rhyme consisting of only one syllable.
Some native camarinense who acquired new knowledge believed such words as the root of the Isarog name and accepted those words for they rhymed and suited the character traits of the male natives like comradeship and loyalty, and the observed practices of the natives such as being strong in protecting land properties, rights, and identity.
Furthermore, Mt. Isarog is associated with its existence, a native said its name means “Sulong Bukid,” “sulo” means sole or only, “ng” (to link adjective) and “bukid” means mountain. These word origins of Mt. Isarog are accounts of the native’s answers when asked about the stories they knew about the mountain. These etymologies are descriptions, actions, conditions, and characteristics relevant to the environment. Camarinense exemplified the fundamental characteristics of the people in society in the past, considering that myths and legends are the true accounts of their remote past (Akerbeltz, 2019) .
The snowballing of tales will continue if native tales are not documented. An elder in one of the barangays in Pili, explained that “Isarog” was the given name of a Japanese man who lived in the woods during the war. This account of “Pinangaran kan Hapon (the Japanese gave it its name)” is an example of transferring knowledge through oral literature that has always had the tendency to have diverse details could lead to complexities in the generated knowledge and understanding of the young generations.
A native woman narrated that “Isarog” the name of the mountain, was given by a Japanese who reached and stayed on the mountain of Mt. Isarog. Historically, Japanese arrived and stayed long in Mt. Isarog during World War II, from 1939 to 1944, as stated in the journals of two Guerrilla officers, Commanding Officer Teofilo Padua (Villamora, 1991) and Intelligence Officer Aril (retrieved 2018) . Moreover, Mt. Isarog was identified in the early decades of the 17th century, according to Dr. Danilo M. Gerona (2021) , when the waves of mass exodus that decades produced settlements on the slopes of Mt. Isarog (p. 28, Goa).
While in the literary history of the Bicolano’s Ibalong Epic, Mt. Isarog was mentioned which believed to be an oral literature written in Spanish in the time of Fray Bernardino de Melendreras, O. F. M. (Hornedo, 1990) , who was the friar and poet, stayed in Bicol for almost 22 years, from 1844 to 1865. Transferring knowledge through oral literature in diverse details leads to complexities in determining cultures, traditions, languages, settlements, and histories, even though this literature is collected from the surroundings of the natives on Mt. Isarog (Table 4).
Memories of the old camarinense in World War II became one of the most popular folk narratives in the place. The accounts of the native camarinense in “Guerilla kan Hapon” (Japanese Guerrilla) were about the mountainous Isarog as the place where the people in Camarines Sur hid to survive the conquering imperialist Japanese. The Philippines, an ally of America, was involved in the war against the Japanese. In 1942, Bicolano combatants were also active in Partido guerilla camps set on Mt. Isarog. There were many guerillas in Partido whose relatives have accounts of the valiant men who joined the guerilla movement. A guerilla named Lorenzo Padua became popular for his alleged magical power, or anting-anting Mendoza (2011) , Maming (2011) and Mario (2011) proven in numerous incidents. The oral history that sounds mythical depends on the elements and details of the storyteller. Moreover, if the religious practice were added to the plot, the story would lead to the implication of cultural and spiritual practices and customs and eventually become folklore that explains the customs, traditions, beliefs, and practices of the group of people in the community.
The field of geography and historical cultural heritage has become an important subject. “Pagbangakan Bicol Region” (division of Bicol Region to provinces)
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Table 4. Mt. Isarog literature showcasing camarinense culture: historical, factual, religion, faith, trade, commerce.
and “Pitong Anig” (Seven Mountains) are accounts connecting to the natural environment that probably have undergone cultural changes and have come to the present day by taking shape during the historical process. These are the historical, political, and cultural settlements that stand out in the literary (oral) texture. This geographical outlook covers a large area, such as religion, language, history, art, and lifestyle. Inside the world’s cultural diversity, similarly happened in Turkey (Öcal & Altuner, 2014) , which possesses a very large part of the historical cultural heritage and exhibits the historical city settlements, whose purpose is to protect the cultural assets and pass them on to future generations. According to Dr. Gerona (2021: p. 181) , “Magnificent Isarog defined the consciousness of the early inhabitants and continues to define the mode of thinking of the present residents.” This aspiration occurs when the historical cultural heritage in the area has received its due, even if it has the potential, and this heritage has entered the process of extinction because the conservative residents in the place unconsciously carry the culture and literature of Mt. Isarog.
The historical and cultural literary textures on Mt. Isarog are observed by making good use of geographical sources related to historical and cultural heritage issues and by collecting information from the studies done by the university, municipal council, and tourism office.
Culture is continuously developed and learned by a person or group of people in one area. It has its broadest definition but is limited in type. The classifying process of Mt. Isarog literature by culture types is the material culture about the physical things produced by society and the non-material culture about intangible things also produced by society (Muscoto, n.d.) . Natives in the uplands mingled with the community in the lowlands to buy food, medicine, and other necessities. They communicated by selling agricultural products in the market or through house-to-house vending of their vegetables and crops.
5. Conclusion
Mt. Isarog literature has enriched the camarinense community, which has been diffused by the diaspora. Changes in culture and practices in various barangays were implicitly expressed in the details of the narratives. Variety in details happened because stories were not documented. They were transferred through word of mouth when some returned to the place with the adaptation of a new culture. Mixed experiences in other places contributed to the alteration in the narration of stories. The alterations in story narrators were caused by conflicting experiences in other areas: ecotourism activities, education of the natives, exposure to social media and the relocation of a wife or husband may result in the same thing; a new family member will have a different tale to share that may add or take away from the narrative. For instance, in an Agta tribe in Villaflorida Tigaon, an elderly woman who was almost 30 years in the tribe was eager to share a tale until she discovered that, the tale she was sharing was about a location in Albay where she came from.
A novel variation of a tale emerged: Mt. Isarog literature depicted historical events; a myth of saga during the Japanese occupation was assembled from fragments of tales told by various locals in various towns and transformed into a fantastical historical tale of Mayor Lorenzo P. Padua. There are still tales that are unique to other historical battles of male natives using Tabak (bolo), known as the audacious practice of Agtas, and battles of the mountains display the brave attributes of the rural camarinense; even though battles and safeguards are the common types of literature gathered, stories that have spread to camarinenses; Mt. Isarog as the backdrop of the stories that portray faith or religion; cultural practices in courtship and wedding are traditions of camarinense; farming and harvesting education; religious beliefs such as anito (demigod), anting-anting (amulet), and Catholic beliefs; and arts in music, dance, and rituals to cure the sick and drive away evil spirits.
This diversity of thought has been shown to breed creativity, critical thinking, and initiative-driven innovation that help solve problems and meet needs in new and exciting ways. The geographical location of the native groups on Mt. Isarog is the factor that maintains the essence of the integral focal point of the stories despite their diverse beliefs. The mountain also serves as the connection and bonded life of the upland and the natives who stayed in the lowlands. Natives have had a set of cultures in their common environment and mostly had a similar occupation in the mountains that sustains the common pattern of cultural practices among the natives.
One culture that was not totally altered and kept the same pattern up to the current settlement is food. The major component of the “Tinuktok” delicacy is agama (crab), while kasili (eel) is a spicy, coconut milk-based meal and irago (snake) is the local recipe for adobong sawa, ginataang sawa, and chicharron sawa. Pako (fern) is prepared either as a salad with lettuce or with coconut milk. These are unusual delicacies from the places that are still offered on special occasions.
The notion of retaining the common identity of the original camarinense could not be diminished by the good climatic integration that might encourage shared storytelling. The millennial and older generations’ narratives both contributed to cultural diversity.
Significantly, the older camarinense continued to practice various customs, beliefs, attributes, and cultures while many newer generations were only interested in hearing about the prevalent myths and legends. Furthermore, it was shown that despite the wide variety of minor cultures, inhabitants do not diverge. Although there are hints of difference in the original camarinenses’ tales and rituals, the kinship and intimacy remain unaffected.
Respect for ancestors, stories, beliefs, and practices is still intact. They have not totally diverged, even though some were exposed to different lowland practices and modernity. These common stories are an indication of the cohesiveness in their values and behavior towards taking care of nature and their environment.
The source of identity, unbroken traditional knowledge, and judgments is the unmovable mountain. The flora and wildlife, water and landforms, rainy and dry seasons, and cultural traditions are the ties that hold the camarinense people’s traditional culture together. Additionally, the emergence of modest, many, and varied cultural adaptations throughout the existence of a common culture profoundly influenced the indigenous people’s receptivity to new information, enhanced development, and economic advancement.
The coexistence of a common culture and multiple cultures confirmed the occurrence of cultural diversity in the settlers, an indication of involvement between the natives’ awareness of their own cultural development and acceptance of a certain level of innovation, and it explained how understanding the complexities of other ethnicities and viewpoints makes it simpler to find common ground, a process that eventually leads to a higher level of innovation.
In order to educate the people of the Partido Area about the various genres of Mt. Isarog literature and help them understand the rich diversity of the local culture, it is necessary to forge an identity of their cultural background. In the study of Caballero (2022) schools and society are two fundamental elements to consider in to be given attention, through research according to Bilbao, Dayagbil and Corpuz (2015) for contribution and reconstruction of knowledge.
Diversity in the classroom lowers stigma. High participation rates and practices of diversified learning that lessened shame or stigma for persons who had distinctive cultural practices were signified by high variety in cultural education. In the practice of cultural education, this lessens the importance of labeling and familiarity.
Create IECs (Instructional & Education Campaign) materials like instructional videos, comic strips, booklets and animation that will introduce the types of literature about Mt. Isarog and the culture of camarinense or bicolanos; increase the dissemination of native culture in the arts and ecotourism; and reinforce the patronage of the literature of Mt. Isarog by including them in the secondary and tertiary curricula.
The camarinense people, young and old, shall develop a sense of responsibility for protecting and appreciating local literature as well as for caring for and preserving the mountain’s distinctive biodiversity through ecotourism activities. This should be done in terms of future studies and will be stressed by collecting information about the studies done by the tourism council and tourism educators and strengthening local identity.