FEATURES (July 28 – August 3, 2008) Pardanon Samtoy Jose “Pepito” Alvarez The dallut of the Ilocanos When I was in Honolulu, Hawaii purposely to help choreograph the coronation of Miss Ilocos Hawaii and to direct the coronation pageant of Miss Laoag City circle of Hawaii, I had the chance to meet several prominent Ilocanos who are deeply interested in our culture. Miss Precy Espiritu for example asked me to teach her students how to sing in Ilocano at the University of Hawaii; Mrs. Pacita Saludes requested me several times to sing at the Kiss Radio and Mr. Leo Agcolicol requested me sing at the radio station in Maui, Hawaii. In my several visits to kiss radio, I met the manager, Mr. Ric Manayan who requested me to sing several verses of our DALLUT. Obligingly I did and as a result I was requested to write about our dallut in their bi-monthly publication. Following is the excerpts of my contribution which was lifted from the works of my late father – Emilio L. Alvarez: Among the different peoples of the Philippines, the Ilocanos are one of the few who have preserved a unique folkloric heritage solely their own which, to this date, continues to be in popular use among the common people. This rare cultural heirloom is the dallut. The dallut is generally believed today to be a most distinctively oriental air, peculiar to the Ilocano peasantry, sung with improvised verses to suit the festive occasion during which it is performed. Ordinarily, certain particular expressions and verses in common usage are interwoven with improvised compositions. It is not unusual, however, to meet people who can readily extemporize, particularly in Ilocos Norte where many are adept in the creation of witty verses, extempore without any admixture of conventionally adapted lines. As already stated, the melody is native and fascinatingly mystic and oriental. It is a short tune repeated over and over again as the length and number of the verses sung may require. It belongs to ages past and its origin still a mystery. It is melancholic and sentimental. It entreats and laments, its lowly strains and humble moods are moving; it beseeches and implores and plucks tenderly at the finest chords of the human soul. Its notes follow a smooth undulating movement, as if floating on the waves of the eternity of time. The dallut is ordinarily performed by a man and woman who sing by turns. When it is so performed, it becomes a match of wits. The dallut may be on any appropriate subject suited to the occasion but usually it is on the question f love. Sitting or standing near the woman, the man starts, and after singing some verses he plays an interval with his kutibeng, an old native five-string musical instrument similar to the ukulele. In place of the kutibeng, the bamboo flute (an imitation of the European flute) is sometimes used, further adding to the unique beauty and charm of the performance. After the man, the woman takes her turn singing the same air to which they so proficiently suit their improvised compositions. Following this, the man again plays the interval after which the same cycle is repeated as many times as the tournament may require. Any remarkable demonstration of wit or humor on the part of either actor is enthusiastically applauded by the attentive audience. While this is going on, the basi of their predilection, the favorite drink of the “Ilocano Nation” is passed around contributing to the fervent warmth of comradeship and family ties. A refrain common throughout the region which is obviously meaningless is, at certain intervals, sung purposely to break the monotony of the melody. The dallut is both an intellectual amusement, philosophical and literary, and an entertainment piece that adds to the frolic and fun of the Ilocano feasts. But the social gatherings in which it is indispensable are those connected with traditional marriage customs. In the olden times a man had to offer a bracelet or rings made of beads of colored crystal to the girl he was going to be engaged to for marriage. This token of future wedlock is called “palalian” or “pangodo.” In this old-fashioned betrothal ceremony the parties of the couple meet in the girl’s home to witness the proceedings. The best improvisers are chosen from the two parties to become the protagonists in the betrothal rites. In the performance of these rites the exchange of deliverations is done in a tournament of amusing surprises and brilliant display of quick perception expressed in the verses sung. Most of the impromptu verses are of exaggerated broad-humor. In wedding celebrations, it is the humorous vein flavored with innuendoes on marital experience that stirs the crowd into uproarious laughter and merry-making. The dallut as already mentioned, is peculiar to the genuine Ilocano peasantry. The tribes occupying the Cordilleras east of the Ilocos provinces do not perform the dallut. It is not sung by other tribes in the Philippines. The dallut is strikingly similar to a certain melody often broadcast from India. And, inasmuch as there are several evidences to prove that the ancestors of the Ilocanos had a taste of the rich nectar of Hindu culture, one is inclined to believe that the Indonesians and Malays who had first settled in the northern Ilocos regions had brought the dallut with them from their original home in Sumatra and Java, which for centuries have been under the influence of Hindu civilization that had spread out and bloomed there a few hundred years after the birth of Christ. The dallut has a strong dramatic element. There is no doubt that it contains the genesis of the Ilocano drama. Ilocos Times copyright 2008 Back to top

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