The Ritual
BY: CIRILO F. BAUTISTA
Cirilo Francisco Bautista
*Born: July 9,1941
*Died: May, 6 2018 ([Link])
* Balic-Balic Sampaloc,Manila
*Education :
-University of Santo Tomas with a degree in AB Literature
- St. Louis University MA in Literature
- De La Salle University Doctorate in Language and Literature
*He was a Filipino poet, critic ,essayist and literary giant.
*His best known work is the epic poetry “ Trilogy of Saint Lazarus”
Made up of the “ The Archipelago”(1970), “ Telex Moon” ( 1981)
“Sunlight on Broken Stones(1999)
*National Artist award for literature 2014
Cirilo Francisco Bautista
AWARDS:
>Bautista also served as a columnist and literary editor of the
Philippine Panorama, the Sunday supplement of the Manila Bulletin.
He was an associate of the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing
Center and a senior associate of the then UST Center for Creative
Writing and Studies.
>Bautista’s first book, “The Cave and Other Poems,” bagged the second
prize for poetry at the prestigious Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for
Literature in 1968.
His next collections won the Palanca first prize: “The Archipelago”
(1971), “Charts” (1973), “Telex Moon” (1975) and “Crossworks” (1979).
>Also winning first prizes were the short story, “The Ritual (1971),” and
the essay, “Philippine Poetics: The Past Eight Years” (1981).
>In 1995, Bautista became the first Palanca Hall of Famer for winning at
least five first-prizes. Three years later, the third and last part of his
Trilogy of Saint Lazarus, Sunlight on Broken Stones, won the Philippine
Centennial Literary Prize for poetry.
Cirilo Francisco Bautista
Published in 1999, “Sunlight” won the National Book Award by the Manila
Critics Circle and the Gintong Aklat Award,
given by the National Book Development Association of the Philippines.
Bautista not only excelled in the English language; he was also hailed by the
Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino as the Makata ng Taon in 1993 for his poem,
“Ulat Buhat Sa Bulkan.”
Bautista’s other poetry collections are “Boneyard Breaking” (1992), “Sugat ng
Salita” (1985), “Kirot ng Kataga” (1995)
and “Believe and Betray: New and Collected Poems” (2006) and his novel
“Galaw ng Asoge” (USTPH, 2004).
Cirilo’s last book, “In Many Ways: Poems 2012–2016,” was launched at DLSU
April 14, 2014, Cirilo Bautista was proclaimed National Artist for Literature, the
highest state honor bestowed on a Filipino who has made
significant contributions to the Philippine literature.
The Ritual: By Cirilo F. Bautista
Characters:
>Unnamed Narrator – He is a teacher of Literature and Language in the mountains along with Dayleg.
>Carlos Dayleg – Dayleg studied pedagogy and philosophy in the city and came back to the mountains
to educate his people. He wanted to breakaway from traditions and beliefs of his community and
“enlighten” them that their beliefs are not the truth. In the end, he realized his mistakes and went back
to his tribe.
>Roy – He is the narrator’s older brother.
>Father Van Noort – He is from Belgium and is the principal of the school.
>The Leader and Elders – They are part of the tribe and they strongly believe in their god, Lumawig.
The Ritual: By Cirilo F. Bautista
Theme:
Ancient culture and traditions of people
who live in remote places away from
society, and how they react to the
changes of the times today.
Summary
The Narrator, a man from the city, went to the mountains to teach a tribe about Literature and
Language. There, he met Dayleg, a local teacher who had the opportunity to study in the city. Dayleg
was an ambitious man who wanted to change the ways of his tribe. He wanted to educate his tribe
like how civilized people in the city are. He lectured the people about Christianity.
Dayleg, along with the narrator, decided to go to the sacred forest of Lumawig, the creator of earth as
the tribe believed. In his mission to prove the elders that their beliefs are nothing but fallacies, he
hunted the sacred white boar. Dayleg successfully killed the white boar and with confidence, faced
the elders of the tribe. He proved them that what they believed are all lies. Unmovable, the elders did
nothing but ask for forgiveness to Lumawig. They prayed over Dayleg and begged him to also ask for
forgiveness to the creator of earth. He was arrogant and only cursed them.
Two years have passed and Dayleg is still missing. The tribe have experienced famine due to Dayleg’s
actions. They have faced the wrath of their god and the only way for them to be forgiven is when
Dayleg comes back and asked for forgiveness. This seemed impossible because Dayleg is nowhere to
be found. One day, the narrator found Dayleg in his doorstep. Dayleg was unrecognizable, he had a
full grown beard and he looked frail. He said that it was the god that caused him this. The narrator
advised him to go back to the village in the mountains since they were hosting a ritual that night.
Dayleg declined but was later on seen dancing to the ritual along with his tribe.
How was the Marcos
Administration depicted in the
story?
