1 AMBAHAN: THE INDIGENOUS POETRY OF HANUNOO-MANGYANS OF MINDORO, PHILIPPINES by Restituto Reyes Pitogo Mangyan Heritage Center July 11, 2012 The AMBAHAN is the chanted poetry of the Hanunoo-Mangyan, an ethno-linguistic tribe of the Mangyans, referring to the Indigenous peoples (IPs) who live in the Mindoro Island, Philippines. Scripted on bamboo slats (or on bamboo containers, posts, wooden slats, or tree trunks) in the Surat-Mangyan, the Mangyans have preserved the ambahan for hundreds of years. Through the effort of Antoon Postma, who preserved over 20,000 ambahans in the last 50 years, he published his eye-opening book on the ambahan called Treasure of a Minority. The AMBAHAN is defined as - a set of poetic expressions - with a measured rhyme of seven-syllable lines - having rhyming end syllables - vocalized as a chant without a determined melody or too much melodic variation - without the accompaniment of musical instruments - recited for the purpose of verbalizing in a metaphorical way - certain human situations or characteristics - with the possible challenge of matching answer in dialogue fashion - in the presence of an interested audience of various size. 1 1 Antoon Postma, Ambahan Mangyan, copyright 1989, Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro