Eunice Jane L. Tenizo

     It is undeniable that the Philippines have a rich history, even before being colonized by many nations for hundreds of years. Philippine literature has grown in diversity and depth in accordance with the country's history. The Philippines is a country with many different tribes. We had our literature and penned stories that are still well-known today (Culture of the Philippines, n.d.). The country' variety results in a diverse range of literary works all around the country. Due to the colonization of numerous countries, Philippine literature adopted and acquired diverse literary traits from other countries. Not only that, but the literature we possessed was passed down orally—that is, through word of mouth—for many generations (Godinez-Ortega, n.d.). As a result, our writing style and how we construct written and spoken literature has changed. 

     The article examines a variety of literary genres in native Philippine languages. Blake portrays the Philippines as being divided into three groups: agnostic families, Mohammedan, Moros, and Christian clans. Each line has its own language, and some of them are constructed. Blake begins with nonreligious households, explaining how the majority of their dialects are not gathered. The writing of these persons in Roman type has constructed a large quantity, and the majority of the authors are professors who have endeavored to modify them. As a result, religion is the central theme of most of the work in this field. Blake provides examples of writing from each family as well as some basic information about each.

     In 1911, Frank R. Blake published "Philippine Literature" in English. The American Anthropologist book, which Wiley and the American Anthropologist Association later digitalized to preserve Blake's work, allows us to see his work. The paragraph runs for nine pages. Pages 449 through 457 of the book are included. He covered practically all aspects of Philippine literature in all of its forms, with a concentration on the literature of the Philippines' many dialects. The author conveyed his point by explaining it simply and eloquently. The goal of writing the passage is to identify the varied features of Philippine literature across generations that have past, with the thesis of his whole work being Philippine Literature.

     Articles, essays, and academic papers all follow the same format. It begins with an introduction, then carries on to the key content, and lastly, the conclusion.  Blake's essay followed the standard style, beginning with an introduction paragraph that explored or emphasized the Philippines' three main ethnic tribes. Blake looks at the Moro people, who speak two main languages in their area: Sulu and Maguindanao. The origins of these dialects are Malay and Arabic. The mass of Moro works is unique, and they contain historical documents, lawful codes, religion, and fictional stories. All Moro works are, in general, written by Moros. The Christian clans of the Philippines make up the final group. Before the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century, they had many local languages; nevertheless, these were not composed and are, for the most part, ignored. They published a few works in Tagalog and Bisayan, among other dialects. Blake explains how these refrains were phonetically organized in great detail. Religion is a topic that many of these forms of writing revolve on.

     There’s a lot of improvements and new works jumping from the pre-colonial period to the colonial period. Literature has improved for the Philippines. The different languages from the different tribes contribute to the improvement of Philippine literature. Blake has stated that in the 16th century, when the Spanish discovered and conquered the Americas, the newly Christianized Filipinos had native alphabets in the nineteenth century. Comparable to those now used by the Tagbanwa’s of Palawan, and the Mangyans. These ancient alphabets make way for a lot of unique works. A lot of different literatures are made like poetry, legends, riddles, and more. It’s really interesting how the Philippine languages relate to one another. A lot of works is stated anonymous while a lot of these authors are Spaniards, some are true born Filipinos. Not all works are credited to the respective person. It is undeniable that the Literature has improved since the pre-colonial period to the colonial period.