Artistic Mediums

Ginaw Bilog is a Filipino poet and National Living Treasure, he was noted for his efforts To preserve the Mangyan poetic tradition of ambahan. Ginaw Bilog’s artistic mediums include the use of bamboo to record the ambahan poetry. This traditional literary style, with seven-syllable lines were engraved on bamboo tubes and used by the Hanunuo Mangyan community to express messages at social occasions. Ginaw Bilog also attempted to preserve the surat mangyan script. This script, along with ambahan poetry , has been designated as valuable cultural heritage, with Surat Mangyan being one of the most extant syllabic scripts in the Philippines. These artistic mediums were crucial in preserving the cultural history of the Hanunuo mangyan.