PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 149

A SHORT HISTORY
OF THE PHILIPPINE SARSUWELA (1879-2009)
NICANOR G. TIONGSON

Introduction

In the Philippines, the sarsuwela is a play with songs and

dances that is usually written in colloquial prose. Containing from
one to five acts, it presents typical Filipino characters moving within
the framework of a love story and engaged in conflicts arising from
contemporary social, political, economic, or cultural issues. The
sarsuwela is also called sarsuela, zarzuela, sarsuelet, drama lirico,
operetta, sarsuyla, dulang hinonihan, dulang inawitan, or dulang may
awit in the various languages of the country.

Very typical are the story and characters of the most famous
sarsuwela of all time—the phenomenal Dalagang Bukid, a three-act
sarsuwela by librettist Hermogenes Ilagan and composer Leon Ignacio,
which premiered at the Teatro Zorilla in Manila in 1919. Atang de la
Rama, the sarsuwela’s star, claimed that it had at least 1,000 performances
before it was restaged at the Manila Grand Opera House in 1940 as
a beneficio for Hermogenes Ilagan. In 1987, the play was restaged for
Atang de la Rama by Tanghalang Pilipino of the Cultural Center of the
Philippines (CCP) to celebrate Atang’s proclamation as National Artist
for Theatre and Music.

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Act 1 opens at the salon of a nightclub with an interesting set

of habitués: senators and congressmen spending money on women;
the American John and his Filipina girlfriend Petra; the bailarina
(taxidancer) Miling and her admirer Parlong, a married man; and
Cobang who arrives with her suitor Paco looking for her husband
Parlong. The young and handsome Cipriano enters, looking for his
beloved Angelita, the “Dalagang Bukid,” for whom he sings a romansa.
Cipriano is confronted by the haughty Don Silvestre, a wealthy old
man and ardent suitor of Angelita, who tells Cipriano that Angelita’s
parents have already promised to marry Angelita off to Silvestre. Just
then, the flower vendor Angelita enters and her blooms are bought up
by Don Silvestre. She then obliges everyone with the song “Nabasag ang
Banga” (probably the most famous of all sarsuwela songs). As she steps
down from the platform, Silvestre takes her hand. Cipriano objects, but
Silvestre pulls Angelita. The rivals fight; Silvestre falls to the ground.
All characters burst out into a konsertante, after which Angelita and
Cipriano leave secretly.

Act II happens on the street in front of Angelita’s house.

Cipriano brings Angelita home, but the two hurriedly separate when
Don Silvestre appears. Just then Angelita’s parents, Sabas and Maria,
arrive penniless from a pangguingue game. Silvestre tells them that
Cipriano might take Angelita away from him. The parents, who owe
Silvestre a lot of money, reaffirm their choice of the older man for their
daughter. The next day, Cipriano comes to visit Angelita and they sing
a romantic duet. Knowing Silvestre’s designs on her, Angelita urges
Cipriano to set an early date for their wedding. Cipriano agrees. As the
neighbors arrive, Don Silvestre announces that Angelita has won the
beauty contest for which Silvestre has spent a considerable amount of
money.

Act III opens with Don Silvestre hosting a banquet in a

restaurant to celebrate Angelita’s victory. Later, Angelita’s parents leave
for their daily pangguingue, while Angelita secretly meets with Cipriano
at a room downstairs. The next day, Sabas and Maria tell Silvestre they
had lost the seven hundred pesos that Silvestre gave them for Angelita’s

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coronation gown. Silvestre tells them it is alright. At the coronation

night, Silvestre and the koro await the entrance of the beauty queen.
After some time, Angelita arrives with Cipriano and asks that the latter
stand as her escort. Don Silvestre objects, but Angelita announces to
everyone’s surprise that she has just married Cipriano, who is now a
full-fledged lawyer. Silvestre accepts his defeat and congratulates the
newly-weds (Ilagan 1987, 376-518).

Introduced into the Philippines 130 years ago, the sarsuwela

can boast of an eventful history that may be divided into four periods:
1) The Beginnings of the Sarsuwela, 1879-1900; 2) The Flowering of
the Sarsuwela, 1900-1930s; 3) The Decline on Stage and Migration to
the Screen, 1930s-1970s; and 4) The Revival and Revitalization of the
Sarsuwela, 1971-2009.

The Beginnings of the Filipino Sarsuwela: 1879-1900

The roots of the sarsuwela may be traced to two dramatic

forms of the nineteenth century: 1) the local sainete and 2) the Spanish
zarzuela. The sainete, like the entremes, was a comic skit with songs
that served as curtain raiser or intermission to the long and ponderous
komedya of the nineteenth century. The most famous sainete of that
century was Francisco Baltazar’s La India Elegante y El Negrito Amante
(The Fashionable India and her Aeta Suitor), 1860, which lampoons
the colonial mentality of the Tagalog Menangge, who rejects the Aeta
Tomeng because he has dark skin and comes from the mountain (Flores
1950, 1-16). The picaresque characters, colloquial dialogue, earthy
humor, and lively songs associated with the sainete were later to appear
as features of the Filipino sarsuwela.

But if the Filipino sainete was an important forerunner, the

Spanish zarzuela was the direct progenitor of the Filipino sarsuwela.
After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, which cut the travel
time between Europe and Asia by about half, more Spanish dramatic
troupes came to the Philippines to perform. One of these troops was

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the compania of author and impresario Dario Cespedes, which staged

the famous Spanish zarzuela Jugar con fuego (Play with Fire), by writer
Ventura de la Vega and Maestro Francisco Asenjo Barbieri in Manila
at the close of the year 1878 or the beginning of 1879 (Retana 1909,
98). Soon after in 1880, the Madrid actors Alejandro Cubero and his
partner Elisea Raguer staged La Calandria in Manila and stayed on
to form the Compania Zarzuela Cubero. Later after Cubero’s death
in 1888, the group was renamed Compania Zarzuela Raguer and was
composed of Elisea and the local mestizo actors that Cubero himself
trained and directed. For his achievement, the El Renacimiento called
Cubero the “Father of the Spanish Theatre in the Philippines” (Retana
1909, 188). Among the mestizo actors Cubero and Raguer worked
with were Praxedes “Yeyeng” Fernandez, Venancia Suzara, Patrocinio
Tagaroma, Nemesio Ratia, and Jose Carvajal, who later established
their own companies, like the Compania Fer-su-ta (Fernandez, Suzara,
and Tagaroma) (Retana 1909, 117-120). It was Raguer’s company that
staged Spanish zarzuelas in Naga and Iloilo between 1892 and 1893
and probably in Vigan, Ilocos Sur and San Fernando and Bacolor,
Pampanga in the same years. At about the same time, the companias
of Navarro Peralta and Balzafiori performed Spanish zarzuelas in Cebu
in the 1880s (Mojares 1997, xv; Uranza 1972, 316; Realubit 1976, 30;
Fernandez 1978, 32).

The zarzuela form instantly captivated audiences in Manila

and the provincial capitals, and inspired the formation of local troupes
which specialized in the staging of only Spanish zarzuelas. Among the
groups were the Compañia Zarzuela de la Torre, formed in 1894 by the
Capitan Hugo de la Torre of Legazpi, and the Compañia Zarzuela de
Camalig, founded in 1901 by Capitan Anacleto Solano. De la Torre’s
group in turn inspired the establishment of the zarzuela company of
Leon Paras in Sorsogon (Realubit 1976, 31-34; Uranza 1972, 317). In
Cebu, the Spanish apuntador of the Compañia de Navarro Peralta stayed
on and organized local actors like Sabas Veloso, Maximo Abadia and
Manuel Roa into a group, which presented Spanish plays like El Alcalde
Interino in Cebu’s Parian as early as 1894 (Mojares 1997, xvi). In Iloilo,
local aficionados, both Spanish mestizos and native actors, formed the

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Sociedad Lirico-Dramatica and the Sociedad Artistica-Recreativa which

staged Spanish plays for local audiences (Fernandez 1978, 33).

Among the plays performed by troupes from Manila (with only

Spanish actors or with Spanish and mestizo actors) and troupes from the
provinces (with Spanish and mestizo actors) were: La Mascota, Boccacio,
El rey que rabio, El anillo de hierro, El Barberillo de Lavapies, La pasionaria,
Las hijas del Zebedee, La tela de araña, La marcha de Cadiz, Chateaux
Margaux, Niña Pancha, El duo de la Africana, El Capitan de Lanceros, El
chotis, Las cigarreras, El canto flamenco, Los desaparecidos, El comendador,
Los ratoneros, La musica clasica, la cabanita, Los aragoneses, Gran Via,
El campanero y sacristan (Realubit 1976, 30, 33; Fernandez 1978, 35). It
was these plays that the first ilustrado writers, directors, and composers of
the Filipino sarsuwela watched and used as models for their own works.
From these Spanish plays, the native sarsuwela inherited the romantic
story, the manipulated plot, the typical but stereotyped characters, the
musical forms (valse, polka, romansa, danza) and conventions (solo, dueto,
concertante), the vocal typology (soprano, alto, tenor, baritono, bajo), the
orchestral instrumentation, and the stage conventions of the proscenium
stage (e.g., the use of telones, bastidores, and bambalinas) (Tiongson 1988,
182-184).

With their exposure to Spanish zarzuelas and the desire

to create plays that would be understood by the greater majority
of their countrymen, ilustrado writers and composers created the
first vernacular sarsuwelas. The earliest vernacular sarsuwela so far
discovered is Budhing Nagpahamak (Tragic Conscience), circa 1890,
a five-act Tagalog sarsuwela by writer Maximino de los Reyes and
Maestro Isidoro Roxas of Bulacan, a love story of betrayal and revenge.
Other early Tagalog sarsuwelas were Masamang Kaugalian (Bad
Customs), 1898, by Pantaleon Lopez and a certain Remigio of Pandacan;
Pag-ibig sa Lupang Tinubuan (Love for the Native Land), 1901, a three-act
sarsuwela by Pascual Poblete and Maestro Severino Kenpin Bautista; and
Ang Kalupi (The Wallet), 1902, a one-act sarsuwela by Severino Reyes and
Maestro Fulgencio Tolentino (Manuel 1994, 339; Javellana 1994, 709-710;
Beltran and Tiongson 1994, 386-387).

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In no time, writers and composers in the regions who had seen

the Spanish zarzuelas either in their provincial capitals or in Manila
created sarsuwelas in their own languages. Among these pioneer
sarsuwelas are: Ing Managpe (Dog with Patches) by writer Mariano
Proceso Pabalan Biron and composer Amado Gutierrez David staged
at the Teatro Sabina in Bacolor, Pampanga in 1901, which was followed
the year after by the full-length sarsuwela Alang Dios (There is No God),
by writer Juan Crisostomo Soto (Crissot) and composer Pablo Paloma
(Manlapaz 1981, 18-20); Say Liman ag Naketket Pampinsiwan (The
Hand that Cannot be Cut Must be Kissed), a play about the abuses of
the Spanish friar by writer Catalino Palisoc, staged in 1901 in Lingayen,
which earned for Palisoc the epithet “Father of the Pangasinan
Sarsuwela” (Legasto 1996, 15); An Maimbud na Aqui (The Gentle
Child), written by Nicolasa Ponte-Perfecto of Naga, which is about
inveterate gamblers Miang and her husband Ote, who plan to marry
off their daughter Cande to a wealthy Chinese merchant who will pay
off their debts and give them gambling money (Realubit 1976, 30-31);
Ang Capitan (The Captain), 1902, a play about the maiden Magdalena
who is courted by a capitan and a Chinese, by Valente Cristobal who
is acknowledged as the “Prince of the Hiligaynon sarsuwela” (Lucero
1996, 15); and Meysa a Candidato (The Candidate), 1908, a one-act
sarsuwela by Mena Pecson Crisologo which exposes the corrupt and
illegal practices that politicians employ to capture the votes of the
common man (Hufana 1963, 189-204, 42-55).

The rise of the Filipino sarsuwela in the first decade was,

however, strongly contested in most of the regions where it appeared,
especially since the proponents of the sarsuwela paved the way for the
new form by showing it as superior in all ways to the komedya, an older
dramatic form that had lorded it over the Philippine stage in town and
country for centuries. In some instances, the writers of the sarsuwela
began by attacking the komedya (the verse play about the conflict
between Moors and Christians in Medieval Europe) as ignorant and
backward. Later they authored their first sarsuwela to prove that the
sarsuwela was a more enlightened and enlightening form of theatre.

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In Manila, Severino Reyes wrote and staged R.I.P. (Requiescat

in Pace) at Teatro Libertad in 1902, which ridiculed the komedya as
unrealistic and escapist and fit to be buried in a coffin with all the
remnants of colonial culture under Spain (Reyes 1987, 497-542). The
nationalist newspaper El Renacimiento, like the ilustrados Felipe
Buencamino, Manuel Xerez Burgos and Pablo Borbon, lauded Reyes
for staging R.I.P. which they said, like Cervantes’s Don Quixote,
banished the silly romances of chivalry and far-away kingdoms
forever (Tiongson 1982, 80-83).

But the moromoristas saw R.I.P. as a grave and unforgivable

insult to the komedya and its artists. To assert the supremacy of the
komedya, the moromoristas paraded on horses and in full costume
in front of Severino Reyes’s house shouting, “Hindi maaari mamatay
ang komedya” (The komedya cannot die).” Two weeks after, they
staged Juan F. Bartolome’s Kailan Ma’y Buhay, E.P.D. y Resurrexit,
which attacked Reyes. Moreover, all theatres that staged R.I.P. were
stoned. The komedyantes even threatened the lives of anyone who
acted in the play (especially Hermogenes Ilagan whose Compania
Gatchalian-Ilagan produced the play and who came out as the main
character Colas). In response to their threats and following the
success of the one-act sarsuwela Ang Kalupi which was twin-billed
with R.I.P., Reyes wrote and staged Walang Sugat (No Wounds) with
music by Fulgencio Tolentino in 1902, in order to finally get rid of the
moro-moro. He contracted former komedya actors to act and sing
for Walang Sugat, which turned out to be a tremendous and rousing
success. The controversy, however, did not end there. When Reyes’s
actors appeared once more on the komedya stage, he terminated their
sarsuwela contracts, prompting labor leader Isabelo de los Reyes to
come to the defense of both the komedyantes and the komedya. In
the newspapers, Isabelo argued that the komedya should not be killed
because (a) although it came from Spain, it has become completely
indigenized through its depiction of Filipino customs, (b) it uses
magic and enchantment which are fashionable in European theatre,
and (c) it depicts fantasy which is part of folklore and literature.
However, Isabelo admitted, the komedya could be improved in terms

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of costume, acting, design and direction. Isabelo’s arguments stirred a

hornet’s nest, especially among writers of Muling Pagsilang, like Patricio
Mariano who insisted that the komedya is hopelessly Spanish, and
Lope K. Santos who disagreed that the komedya has become Filipino
because its stories, fighting scenes, language, costumes and awkward
verses and dialogue cannot in any way be called Filipino. Another
clash between the komedya and sarsuwela happened in Malabon. In
1904, the municipal government charged the komedyantes higher fees
than the sarsuwelistas, because the komedya “made no contribution
to the education of the people.” The komedyantes brought the matter
to Governor Wright’s office and the latter, upon advise of Governor
Arturo Dancel of Rizal, reversed the decision of the Malabon Town
Hall. Dancel argued that the komedya should be supported because
it has never propagated anti-government ideas, the way the sarsuwela
and drama have against the American insular government (Reyes 1904;
Tiongson 1982, 83-39).

The same altercation between the komedyantes and the

sarsuwelistas was witnessed in the provinces. In Cebu, Vicente Sotto
criticized the komedya in his newspaper Ang Suga in 1902, calling it
the “linambay,” because the komedyantes wielding their swords looked
like crabs (lambay) flexing their claws but never really biting anyone.
Sotto ridiculed the fantastic stories of princes and princesses who
battled lions and tigers, and of birds which sang like human beings. To
counter the linambay, Sotto wrote and staged the drama Ang Gugma
sa Yuta nga Nataohan (Love for the Native Land), which is about
Aurora’s rejection of her suitor Octavio who accepted the position of
judge under the American colonizers. After 1902 and throughout the
first three decades, other invectives were hurled against the komedya
by the educated who wanted to prove to the Americans that Filipinos
were now capable of creating a higher form of culture and by journalists
who felt that the komedya was against good manners (Mojares 1997,
xx-xxii).

In the Ilocos, Mena Pecson Crisologo wrote and staged the

one-act sarsuwela Codigo Municipal in 1908. In the play, the town

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mayor calls a meeting at the munisipyo to consult komedyantes and

sarsuwelistas about what show to put up for the fiesta. The mayor
prefers the komedya, so the komedyantes enact several scenes from a
komedya where among other things Prinsipe Bernardo rides a cyclone
from which he hurls stars at the Moors and eliminates all of them.
The sarsuwelistas point out the illogicalities in the komedya story and
proceed to sing Iloko songs and dance the cakewalk, all of which delight
the mayor. In the end, everyone agrees that the sarsuwela is better than
the komedya, just as democracy, the new form of government under
America is superior to monarchy, the political system under Spain
(Hufana 1963, 189-204).

In Pampanga, Felix Galura wrote and published the verse

narrative titled Ing Cabiguan (which had two editions in 1915), where he
exposed the ignorance that was propagated by both the kuriru (metrical
romance) and the kumidya (which were based on the kuriru). In his
introduction to the work, Pilo-Pilo said the youth see only the arrogance
of personajes and the lasciviousness of women in the komedya, so all
they dream of is to be a komedyante, wearing luxurious costumes,
executing pompous gestures and marches, posturing with necks tilted
to one side. Galura then narrated the story of two young lovers who
steal away from the komedya rehearsal, elude the girl’s mother and
elope. Galura laughed at the way the komedya princess fought and even
conversed with the lion in Kapampangan and at the speed with which
the prince fell in love with the princess. Galura concluded that “it is
time to burn this untruth and throw it into the river, there to be buried
by the soil of our language” (Manlapaz 1981, 15-18).

Finally, Epifanio de los Santos, in his El Teatro Tagalog,

explained why the komedya was the object of disdain. “In these
komedyas, the meaning of history, geography and aesthetics lies on the
floor. The braggadocio and threats which do not go with the Tagalog
language, as well as the ignorance of the theatre and backwardness of the
actors who seem to be chosen from whoever happens to be passing by,
are the reasons why the performances of these komedyas have become
very objectionable” (Tiongson 1982, 94-95).

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The Flowering of the Filipino Sarsuwela: 1900-1930s

In spite of the staunch defenders of the komedya in government

and the print media, the komedya declined and was replaced by the
sarsuwela in most regions of the country. Between 1900 and the 1930s,
the musical play reigned in the theatres and outdoor entablados, in
cockpits and public halls, in the city as well as the countryside, for a
number of reasons. For one, a new generation of audiences who was
educated in America’s schools had begun to outgrow the naivete and
obscurantism of Spanish colonial culture and were now ready for a
theatre that would depict real experiences that ordinary Filipinos were
undergoing whether in the social, political, religious or economic level.
Secondly, the American Insular Government, which had incarcerated
the writers, directors, and actors of “seditious” dramas like Tanikalang
Ginto (Golden Chain) and Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas (Yesterday,
Today and Tomorrow), in the early 1900s, now encouraged literary
and dramatic works like the sarsuwela, which would avoid questions
about the legitimacy of American domination of the islands and would
concentrate instead on the innocuous depiction of local customs and
individual problems. Lastly, the urban audiences as well as the rural
aristocracy shifted their patronage from the long-winded and escapist
komedyas to the three-hour, light and “realistic” sarsuwelas.

The Golden Age of the sarsuwela in Manila and other Tagalog

provinces witnessed the production of a host of sarsuwelas which were
shown in commercial theatres of the city (Teatro Zorilla, Teatro Libertad,
Manila Grand Opera House), or in open-air entablados in the provinces,
both Tagalog and non-Tagalog. Severino Reyes wrote about twenty-six
sarsuwelas, among which was Walang Sugat, 1902; Minda Mora (Minda,
the Muslim Girl), 1904; Filipinas para los Filipinos (The Philippines for
the Filipinos), 1905; Ang Pagbibili ng Pilipinas sa Hapon (The Sale of
the Philippines to Japan), 1906; and Ang Puso ng Isang Filipina (The
Heart of a Filipino Woman), 1923 (Beltran and Tiongson 1994, 386-
387). Hermogenes Ilagan, who had acted in Spanish zarzuelas, wrote
Wagas na Pag-irog (True Love), 1903; Dalawang Hangal (Two Fools),
1904; Bill de Divorcio (Divorce Bill), 1912; Dalagang Bukid, (Country

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Maiden), 1919; Buhay ng Himala’t Kababalaghan (Life of Miracles

and Mysteries), 1923; and Ang Sigaw ng Bayan (Cry of the Country),
1926 (Carpio 2000, 25-80, 120-135, 161-196). Pantaleon Lopez wrote
Masamang Kaugalian (Bad Customs), 1901; Ang Ynfierno (Hell), 1903;
and Ave de Rapiña / Ibong Manlulupig (Bird of Prey), 1909 (Manuel 1994,
339). Patricio Mariano was known for Luha’t Dugo (Tears and Blood),
1905; Si Tio Selo (Uncle Selo), 1905; Unang Binhi (First Seedling), 1912;
and Anak ng Dagat (Child of the Sea), 1921 (Galang 1994, 348-349).
Servando de los Angeles’s most famous sarsuwelas were: Ang Ararong
Ginto (The Golden Plow), 1925; Ang Kiri (The Flirt), 1926; Dakilang
Punglo (Great Bullet), 1926; Alamat ng Nayon (Legend of the Barrio),
1927; and Ang Awit ng Bodabilista (The Song of the Vaudeville Artist)
(Tiongson 1994, 290). Maximino de los Reyes was known for Dahas
ng Pilak (The Violence of Silver), 1905, for which he was incarcerated;
Ang Mag-anak (The Relatives), and Kundangan (If It Were Not For…),
both one-act sarsuwelas (Manuel 1994, 291). Julian Cruz Balmaseda
authored Sapote, 1906; Sa Bunganga ng Pating (In the Jaws of the
Shark), 1921; and Tala sa Kabundukan (Star of the Mountains), 1921
(Tiongson and Fernandez 1994, 264-265). Aurelio Tolentino wrote
Sinagtala, 1901; Sumpaan (Oaths), 1904; Germinal and La Rosa, 1908;
and Ang Sulo y Yebana (The Sulo and Yebana), 1909 (Manuel, Manlapaz
and Tiongson 1994, 413-414). Florentino Ballecer was famous for
Sundalong Mantika (Sluggish Soldier), Mutya ng Pasig (Muse of Pasig),
and Batik ng Kabihasnan (Blemished Civilization) (Galang 1994, 263-
264). Antonio Molina was known for Ana Maria, Engracio Valmonte
for Ang Mestisa (The Half-Breed Lady), Precioso Palma for Paglipas ng
Dilim (After the Darkness). Among the composers who created music
for these writers were Fulgencio Tolentino, Jose Estella, Leon Ignacio,
Bonifacio Abdon, Nicanor Abelardo, Gavino Carluen, Hipolito Rivera,
and Juan Hernandez. Stars of the Tagalog sarsuwelas were Casiana de
Leon, Estanislawa San Miguel, Amanding Montes, Titay Molina, Atang
de la Rama, and Victorino Carreon, Hermogenes Ilagan, Marceliano
Ilagan, Horacio Morelos, and Jose Corazon de Jesus. Writers, directors,
composers and actors belonged to companias or samahan, like the Gran
Compania de la Zarzuela Tagala de Severino Reyes, the Compania
Zarzuela Ilagan or Samahang Ilagan, Samahang La Dicha, Samahang

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Paguia of Tondo, Samahang Gabriel of Santa Cruz, Samahang Sarsuela

Ballecer, and Samahang Antonio Sempio of Bulacan (Tiongson 1995,
77-79).

In Pampanga, the most famous sarsuwela playwrights of the

first decade were: Mariano Proceso Pabalan Byron who wrote Ing
Managpe (The Dog with Patches), 1900; Ing Atul Ning Dios (God’s
Judgment), Adua Tata (Two Fathers) and Apat Ya ing Junio (4th of
June). Pampanga’s best-known dramatist, Juan Crisostomo Soto
(Crissot) wrote Ing Paninap nang Don Roque (Don Roque’s Dream),
1901, the famous Alang Dios! (There is No God!), 1902, as well as Sigalot
(Trouble), Ing Perla qing Burac (A Pearl in the Mud), Julio Agosto (July
August), Perla, Zafiro at Rubi (Pearl, Sapphire, and Ruby), Ing Culasisi
ning Garia (The Parrot of Garia), Sultana (The Lady Sultan), Ing Mestiza
(The Half-Breed Lady), Ing Dalaga (The Maiden), Puti’t Pula (White
and Red), Kiki-Riki, Ing Caviteña (The Lady from Cavite), and Ing Anac
nang Katipunan (Child of the Katipunan). Among Aurelio Tolentino’s
sarsuwela in Pampango were Damayan (Cooperation) and Ing Poeta
(The Poet), while his elder brother Jacinto penned the sarsuwelas Ing
Mangaibun (The Lustful One), 1901; Nung Tosu Ya Man Ing Matchin,
Apaglalalangan Miya Mu Rin (Clever as the Monkey May Be, You Can
Still Trick It), and King Bingid Ning Bakulkol (At the Edge of the Pit). To
a younger generation of sarsuwelistas belonged: Jose Gutierrez David
who authored Amanda; Isaac Gomez who was known for Sampagang
Asahar (Orange Blossoms) and Ing Sumpa ning Ulila (The Orphan’s
Curse); Roman Reyes who wrote Bulaklak ning Casalanan (Flower of
Sin), Caduang Dios (Second God) and Dayang Azul (Blue Blood); Jose
Sanchez who created Bayung Katipunan (The New Katipunan); Sergio
Navarro, Jr. who authored Ninung Makikasalanan? (Whose Fault Is
It?); Jose Gallardo who did Crucifijong Pilak (The Silver Crucifi x); and
Urbano Macapagal who wrote Bayung Jerusalem (New Jerusalem)
with son Diosdado, Sumpang Metupad (Curse Fulfi lled), and Atul ning
Banua (Heaven’s Judgment). Composers for these writers were Amado
Gutierrez David, Pablo Palma, Dionisio Andres, Doroteo David,
Jose Estella, Angel Rubio, and Victor Lumanog. Theatre troops that
presented sarsuwelas and dramas in Pampanga included the Compania

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 161

Sabina which ran the Teatro Sabina of Bacolor, Compania Dramatica

also of Bacolor, Compania Paz and Compania Ocampo of Candaba,
Compania Lubeña of Lubao, and Dramatica Fernandina or Compania
Reyes of San Fernando (All data on Pampango sarsuwela from Manlapaz
1981, 17-27; Castro 1981, 35-36, 45-46, 100; Lacson 1984, 182-211; Aguas
1963, 13-15).

In Pangasinan, after his first and most popular sarsuwela Say

Liman Sakit na Baley (The Disease of the Country) (1905), Palisoc wrote
and staged 11 more sarsuwelas, the most popular being Say Mangasi
Singa Kinalab na Balite (The Charitable are Like a Tree Overrun by the
Balete Tree), 1906; Ang Pacayari’y Pilac (The Power of Silver), 1913; and
Politica’y Tilaan (Election Fraud), 1914. Because of the success of Palisoc’s
musicals, many writers followed his footsteps. Foremost of them was
Pablo Mejia of San Nicolas who wrote Say Aron Ginmalet (Ingrained
Love), 1907; Panaun Aman (The Old Days), 1916; Dosay Lipot (Treachery’s
Punishment), 1916; Basingkawel (Election Campaign), 1920; Manok ya
Ibubulang (Fighting Cock), 1920; and Divorcio (Divorce), 1925. Other
sarsuwelistas of Pangasinan were: Sergio Ferrer of Lingayen who was
known for Baclao ya Gulong-gulong (An Iron Chain for the Neck) and
Mailalo ed Pacayari (Reliance on Power); Juan Biason of Mangaldan,
who wrote and staged Say Biin Maarod Asawa To (The Woman Who
Loves Her Husband), Say Biin Maagap a Oalna (A Virtuous Woman),
Say Laquin Maagap (The Covetous Man), Say Marocson Mansioman
(The Cruel Stepmother), Maaron Anac (The Ungrateful Child); Aurelio
Celestino of Lingayen who authored Say Quieo Ya Angapoy Serom ( A
Tree Without Shade); Juan D. Santos of Mangatarem who wrote Kar-
na-na (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) and Say Karamilay Basingkawel
(Election Campaign Promises), 1935; and Francisco Cruz of Lingayen
who penned Taloran Pasak na Filipinas (Three Nails Piercing the
Philippines). Other sarsuwelistas were Pablo Bermechea of Dagupan;
Juan Cruz, Jose Santos and Mike Ventanilla of Lingayen; Basilio Dalope
of Urdaneta; Alejandro Mendoza of San Carlos; Andres Tamayo of
Santa Barbara; Gregorio Venezuela of Pozorrubio; Pablo Vicente of
Asingan; Jose T. Pecson, Vicente Quintana, Francisco Reynoso, Antonio
M. Sison, Juan Villamil, Felix Zamora, Julian Zulueta, Jose Mejia, and

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 162 TIONGSON

Nicolas Mejia. The sarsuwelas were performed in various towns of

Pangasinan by three major groups: the Olup Ferrer of Sergio Ferrer
of Lingayen, the Olup Biason of Juan Biason of Mangaldan, and the
Olup Mejia of Pablo Mejia of San Nicolas (All data on Pangasinan
sarsuwela from Legasto 1996, 14-26; and Casambre 1987, 141-145).

In the Ilocos, the sarsuwela coexisted in peace with the

komedya for a long time. One komedya and two sarsuwelas were
usually staged in honor of the town’s patron saint. Among the
sarsuwelistas of the first generation were: Mena Pecson Crisologo of
Vigan, Ilocos Sur who followed up his Codigo Municipal and Meysa
a Candidato with Neneng, Oerno Naitulagadingan Pigsa nga Ayat
(Heroismo del Amor) (Neneng or the Heroism of Love), and Don
Calixtofano, Caballero de la Luna, (Don Calixtofano, Gentleman
of the Moon). From the same generation were Filemon Palafox who
wrote Dalusapi (Red-Speckled Cock), 1915; Pascual Agcaoili who
was known for Daguiti Agpaspasucman ti Basi (Basi Vendors), 1925;
Martin Purugganan who authored Biag ti Senador (Life of a Senator)
and Sabong ni Carayo Wenno Panagsalisal ti Pintor ken Musiko
(Cockfight of Carayo or the Rivalry Between the Painter and the
Musician); Claro Caluya who wrote Pateg ti Lumuna nga Cari (The
Value of a First Promise) and Napatay ti Ayat ti Ili (Love of Country
is Paramount); and Marcelino Crisologo Peña, Mariano Gaerlan,
Mariano Navarette, Florencio Lagasca, and G. A. Teodulo.

To the second generation of sarsuwelistas who were active

between 1925 and 1950 belonged: Leon C. Pichay who authored Balligi
ni Panagsalimetmet (Triumph of Thought); Eufemio S. Inofinada who
did Natakneng na Panagsalisal (Noble Rivalry); Pantaleona Aguilar
who was known for Panagsalisal da Escribiente, Millionario ken
Abogado (Rivalry Between a Clerk, a Millionaire and a Lawyer); Jose
Garvida Flores who wrote Teriang; Guillermo Lazo who wrote Lulua;
Isaias Lazo who did Panagpili, 1927, and Siac Ti Anac Mo, 1954;
and Nena Paron, Florenda Reintegrado, Valentin Ramirez, Tomas
Daproza, Rogerio Panlasigui, and Pedro Aurelio.

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 163

The third generation which wrote in the 1950s included Barbaro

Paat, who wrote Nanangco (My Mother) and Salisal ti Nabacnang Ken
Napanglao (Rivalry of the Rich and the Poor Man); and Constante
Arizabal, Juan Guerrero, Lorenzo Mata, Melchor Roxas, and Alejo
Villegas.

Ilocano sarsuwelas were presented in Ilocano-speaking

provinces in the Ilocos, Abra, La Union, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan,
Nueva Ecija, Cagayan, and Isabela by itinerant groups. Some of these
are the Red Avila Troupe of Vigan, the Barbaro Paat Group of Bantay,
the Bravo Family of Solid West, Vigan, the Riverside Sarsuela Guild of
Laoag City, and the Sison Dramatic Guild of Pangasinan (All data on
Ilocano sarsuwela from Tupas 1987, 11-16; and Rosal 1993, xiii-xxvii).

In the Bicol region, the towns of Legazpi, Camalig, and

Sorsogon produced the most number of sarsuwelistas from 1900 to 1940.
Legazpi sarsuwelistas were: Nicolasa Ponte-Perfecto, who penned An
Maimbud na Aqui (The Gentle Child), 1920, as well as An Marahay na
Sorogon (The Good Servant) and An Pag Oring Mahamis (Sweet Envy);
Eusebio Tallada who wrote and staged Ang Magirinang Binarayan (The
Abandoned Mother and Child) and Maguibo Mo Man Daw (Do You
Think You Can Do It?); and Eusebio Tiño who was believed to have
authored Pinapagtios sa Pirit (Forced to Resist).

Camalig, a town first known for staging Spanish zarzuelas,

produced Justino Nuyda, who wrote original sarsuwelas in Bicol like:
Tabon-Tabon (To Come), An Pagcamoot sa Pirac (Love of Money), An
Daragang Baragohon (The Fickle-Minded Girl), An Lalaquing Osbawon
(The Braggart), An Panahon Bulawan (Time is Gold), Ma Isag sa Ma
Talao, Ma Talao sa Ma Isag (The Brave to the Coward, the Coward
to the Brave), An Caogmahan Tumang sa Pirac (Happiness is Against
Money), and Teniente Amado (Lieutenant Amado).

Sorsogon produced four prolific sarsuwelistas. Asisclo Jimenez

wrote twenty-six plays, some of which were: Ang Diwang Pagtubod na
Sukbali (Two Wrong Beliefs) and An Fiscal Mayor sa Simbahan (The

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 164 TIONGSON

Chief Fiscal of the Church) which satirized religion; Apat na Cami (Now
We Are Four) and An Sarayaw sa Salon (Dance in the Cabaret) which
was about relationships between husbands and wives; An Paalingan
ni Lucas (The Leisures of Lucas) and Barogkos sa Kabikoon (United in
Crooked Ways) which attacked the komedya; An Lupit sa Payo (The Scar
on the Head) which was against gambling; and Pagkamoot sa Banuang
Tinoboan (Love for the Native Land), a nationalistic play about Alfredo
who fights in the revolution against Spain and his wife who plots the
massacre of all Spaniards upon her husband’s return.

Jose Figueroa wrote An Matamiagñon nga Agom (The

Thoughtless Wife) and Longaran an Saliri (Take Care of Your Own),
while Valerio Zuñiga wrote Angelina, about a girl whose sweetheart
joins the Revolution. Bonifacio Baeza wrote ten sarsuwelas which
include An Pagmawot nin Cayamanan (The Desire for Wealth), Luha
nin Sarong Ina (Tears of a Mother), and Mapognao na Capaladan
(Unhappy Fate).

Other Bicolano sarsuwelistas were Benito Olango and

Simeon Gio of Masbate, and Gregorio Loyon and Arcangel de la Rosa
of Catanduanes. Composers for the Bicol sarsuwela were Mariano
Ripaco, Valentin Javier, Daniel Juanesca, and Juanito Napay. The
plays were staged and produced by companies like the Compania de
Zarzuela Bicolana of Justino Nuyda or produced and directed by the
writers themselves, as in the case of Asisclo Jimenez (All data on Bicol
sarsuwela from Realubit 1976, 30-47).

The sarsuwela in Cebuano called zarzuela, sarsuwelang

binisaya, sarsuyla, dulang hinonihan, dulang inawitan enjoyed popular
support in Cebu from the first decade to the 1930s. After his prose
dramas, Vicente Sotto wrote his last play, a sarsuwela titled Maputi ug
Maitum (White or Black). It was Buenaventura Rodriguez, originally
a playwright in Spanish, who authored many of the famous sarsuwelas
in Cebuano, among them: Inday, 1917; Matam-is (Sweet), 1918; Luha
(Tears), 1919; Gugma (Love), 1919; Balaod sa Kinabuhi (The Law of
Life), 1920; Paraygon (Affectionate), 1921; Miss Smile, 1926; Dumagsa

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 165

(Alien), 1930; Ang Mini (The Counterfeit), c. 1926; Salilang, c. 1931;

Pahiyum (Smile), 1935; and Bomba, Nyor! (Let ‘em Have It, Sir!), 1925.
For his part, Pio A. Kabahar wrote and staged Ang Limbong ni Tintay
(Tintay’s Deceit), 1916; Nagun-uban sa Langit (Despoiled of Paradise),
1917; Alaut (Wretched One), 1919; Fe, Esperanza, Caridad, 1920; Rosas
Pangdan, 1929; Fifi, 1929; Ongra sa Inahan (the Love of a Mother), 1933.
Other sarsuwelistas were Antonio Abad who wrote Anak sa Kabukiran
(Child of the Mountains), 1915; Alberto B. Ylaya who did Ang Singsing
Bulawan (The Golden Ring), 1917; Florentino Borromeo who penned
Karnabal (Carnival), 1917; and its sequel Pasayloa (Please Forgive!),
1919, as well as Yutang Natauhan (Motherland) and Igsuon (Brother/
Sister), both 1919; Jose Feliciano who created Mabangis nga Silot (Fierce
Retribution), 1919, and Loling Bihag (Loling the Captive), 1920; Vicente
Alcoseba who authored Paz, 1920, and Katapusang Hinabong (Final
Remedy); Silverio Alaura who did Tungod Kanimo (Because of You),
1924, Sala sa Gugma (Love’s Sin), and Hinikalimtan (The Forgotten
One); and Vicente Alcover who wrote Sa Hukmanan sa Langit (At
Heaven’s Court), 1935.

Music for these sarsuwelas was composed by Jose Estella, Manuel

Velez, Brigido Lakandazon, Marcos Abadia, Rafael Gandiongco, Tomas
Villaflor, Celestino Rodriguez, Pedro Tabaque, Vicente M. Florendo,
R. A. Abellana, Mariano Alfafara, Pio and Justo Kabahar, Zacarias
Solon and Dondoy Villalon. The most famous actors of the sarsuwela
and dula were Tura Rodriguez, Piux Kabahar, Tonyo Kyamko, Peping
Rosales, Biloy Rosales, Ipyon Cananea, Lalyang Hernandez, Remedios
Lingaton, and Doray Sillora. Actors appeared in teatros of Cebu or on
open stages in the towns of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Occidental, and even in
Mindanao. Sarsuwela troupes included the Compania de Aficionados
Filipinos and the Compania Zarzuela Bisaya–Mandawense (All data on
Cebuano sarsuwela from Mojares 1997, xx-xxiv; Ramas 1987, 831-842;
Ramas 1982, 59-62, 78-87, 82-99).

The Hiligaynon sarsuwela had its golden age from 1903 to

1930 during which the eight major Ilongo sarsuwelistas produced their
sarsuwelas and dramas. Considered the “Prince of the Hiligaynon

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 166 TIONGSON

Sarsuwela,” Valente Cristobal wrote and staged the first sarsuwela Ang
Capitan in 1903, and thereafter created about thirty plays in all, most
of which were sarsuwelas. A writer, director, impresario, producer,
prompter, Cristobal produced the one-act sarsuwela Asawa Balaye
(Spouse and Daughter-in Law’s Parent), 1910; Ang Calipay sang Panday
(The Joy of a Carpenter), 1906; Madaya, 1906; Maimon nga Amay (The
Jealous Father), 1908; Ang mga Viciohan (The Vice-Ridden), 1903; Si
Platon (Platon), 1907; Ma-pa-ta, 1927; Tuburan sang Himaya (Fountain
of Joy), 1911, and Ang Lalang ni Tarcila (Tarcila’s Deceit), 1910. He also
authored the full-length sarsuwela Nating, 1908, and Si Salvador, 1912.

Jimeno Damaso wrote thirteen plays, six of which are

sarsuwelas: Nalaya kag Manalingsing (Withered and Bloomed Again),
1910; Si Amalia kag si Lucas (Amalia and Lucas), 1912; Dalitan nga
Ungon (Poisonous Thorns), 1914; Ang Anak sang Cagab-ihon (The Child
of the Night), 1915; and Ang Kapalaran (Fate), 1924.

Journalist and composer Angel Magahum wrote eight one-act

sarsuwelas, among them: Ang Panimalay ni Kabesa Ytok (The Family
of Kabesa Ytok), 1907; Ang Anak nga But-anon (The Obedient Child),
1909; Bumaliskad ang Paya (The Coconut Shell is Overturned), 1909;
Napulo sa Libo (Ten Thousand), 1909; Pito kag Salapi ang Piko (Seven
and a Half Per Pikul), 1909; Naghuyop sa Lusong (Treasured Gem),
1910; and Paghinangpanay (Getting to Like Each Other), 1930.

Poet and politician Serapion Torre penned three sarsuwelas:

Sayup nga Ikamatay (Fatal Mistake), 1915; Pagtabang sang Anak
(Sympathizing with the Child), 1916; and Dagta nga Makatinlo (Sap
that Purifies), 1919.

Jose Ma. Ingalla called his works operettas because they

had more than the usual number of songs in a sarsuwela. These
were: Dinaguit (Kidnapped), 1910; Tigailo sang Caimon (The Price of
Jealousy), 1913; Mainungon (Loyal), 1908; Maming, 1906; Mga Anac
sang Dagat (Children of the Sea), 1910; Gugma kag Konant (Love and
Money), n.d.; Dumut kag Huya (Revenge and Shame), 1911; Dugung

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 167

Malubong (Impure Blood), 1923; and Sa Tiangge ni Takay (In Takay’s

Market), 1928.

Journalist and labor leader Jose Ma. Nava authored: Si Luding

(Luding), 1912; Si Datu Palaw (Datu Palaw), 1912; Carnaval (Carnival),
n.d.; Dugung sang Kabikahon (Pride of the Race), n.d.; and Kulintas nga
Mutya (Pearl Necklace), n.d.

The only woman sarsuwelista, Miguela Montelibano went into

theatre to augment the family income. She wrote and staged: Ang Kailo
nga Nagtalang (The Poor Who Are Lost), 1919; Ang Dalamguhanon sang
Malalison (The Dream of the Disobedient), 1921; Kailo nga Tapalan
(Poor Scapegoat), 1921; Cusug sang Imul (Strength of the Poor), 1921;
Mainawaon (Understanding), 1921; Masubu nga Camatuwiran (The
Awful Truth), n.d.; and Filipinas, 1929.

Eriberto Gumban also has dramas and sarsuwelas but none of

them have survived. Gone are his five sarsuwelas, among them: Ang
Kahapon Pangabuhi (Life Yesterday), 1910, and Ang Yawa nga Bulawan
(The Golden Devil), 1913. Other sarsuwela writers were Leopoldo
Alerta, Mateo Nonato, Peregrino Javelona, Miguel Lavante, Antonio
Salcedo, and Salvador Magno. Composers of the sarsuwela music were
Felipe Prado, Juan Paterno, Teodoro Gallego, Bibiano Calero, Rufo de la
Rama, Leopoldo Calero, Antonino Ledesma, Leocadio Calero, Roman
Brillante, and Gerardo Chavez (All data on Hiligaynon sarsuwela from
Fernandez 1978, 48-82; Fernandez in Lucero 1996, 11-20; Damaso 1987,
672-677).

Like their Cebuano and Ilonggo counterparts, the Lineyte-

Samarnon writers began writing sarsuwelas in Spanish and eventually
in Waray. As the hadi-hadi or komedya declined, the sarsuwela gained
more adherents. The Waray sarsuwela enjoyed wide support from about
1915 to 1938. These were written by twelve playwrights.

Ilustrado Norberto Romualdez, Sr. wrote and staged what is

called the first sarsuwela in Waray, Ang Pagtabang ni San Miguel (The

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 168 TIONGSON

Help of Saint Michael), in 1899. In 1927, his An Anak han Manaranggot

(The Daughter of a Tuba-Gatherer) was staged at the Ateneo de Manila.
Following Romualdez, composer and musician Alfonso Cinco wrote
the sarsuwelas Pipong, 1915; Puraw nga Mutya (Pure Pearl), 1920;
Pandong han Himaya (The Veil of Happiness), 1929; and Siyahan nga
Gugma (First Love), 1929.

The most famous poet and playwright of Leyte, Iluminado

Lucente, wrote thirty plays, twenty-two of which may be considered
sarsuwelas: Hi Teresa ngan Hi Perto (Teresa and Perto), 1914; Mga
Anak Han Luha (Children of Tears), 1922; Diri Daraga, Diri Balo, Diri
Inasaw-an (Not a Maiden, Not a Widow, Not a Married Woman), 1929;
Kaagi hin Usa nga Daga (Story of a Dagger), 1933; Kon Makabotos
nga an Babayi (Should Women Vote), 1937; An Bantog nga Tambalan
(The Famous Faith Healer); Mga Bukad ngan mga Tunok (Flowers
and Thorns), 1942; Up Limit Pati an Gugma (Even Love is Off Limits),
1945; An Gimaupayi nga Kabilen (The Best Inheritance), 1955; and Ha
Katungkan han Kinabuhi (In the Thorns of Life), n.d.

Poet and playwright Francisco V. Alvarado used the sarsuwela

as a vehicle of protest against American rule. Among his sarsuwelas
are: Lolay, 1922; Lambong han Himaya (The Shadow of Glory), 1931;
An Duha nga Gugma (Two Loves), 1932; and An Bitay nga Bulawan
(Golden Chain), 1933.

Emilio Andrada, Sr., who served Burawen town by managing

dramatic presentations and church activities, wrote the sarsuwela
Matam-is an Gugma (Love is Sweet), 1936, and An Daraga nga Malabiao
(The Vain Lady), 1938.

Jesus Ignacio, a fisherman and bus conductor from Tanauan,

called his plays drama or melodrama, although they had songs and
dances like sarsuwela. These include: An Anak han Yawa (The Son
of the Devil), 1924; An Pasaylo (Forgiveness), 1947; An Hiniloman
ha Kasingkasing Kaaway Han Gugma (The Secret of the Heart is an
Enemy of Love), 1950; An Iroy nga Naguin Olipon (The Mother Who

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 169

Became a Servant), 1953; An Mabangis nga Amay (The Cruel Father),

1957; An Mabangis nga Pinacairoy (The Cruel Stepmother), 1957;
An Matalompigos nga Agaron (The Brutish Master), 1957; and Pitic
Mingaw, n.d.

Director, actor, and writer Margarito Nonato wrote several

plays but only one survives: Anak San Kagab-ihon (Child of the Enemy),
1935. A bus driver from Carigara, Pedro Acerdan wrote and staged the
sarsuwelas Con Ascion Gugma (Ascion’s Love), 1930, and An Baybayon
ni Gudoy (Gudoy’s Seashore), 1936.

Composer and writer Moning Fuentes authored her first play

An Divorcio (Divorce) in 1926 and another play, An Tim-as Nga Gugma
(True Love) in 1930. She went back to writing plays only in the 1960s
(All data on Waray sarsuwela from Filipinas 1991, 35-36).

The vernacular sarsuwelas mentioned above were written

and staged by writers and directors for very specific audiences in their
regions. They used the native language and presented characters and
situations that would be familiar to the audiences belonging to specific
ethnolinguistic groups and cultures. Often sarsuwelas drew stories,
characters, and issues from real life, whether past or present.

In spite of this condition, a critical look at these sarsuwelas

will reveal that a big number of problems, issues and themes actually
recur in or are shared by the majority of these plays, even if they use
different languages and are rooted in varied vernacular cultures. This
could only mean that natives of these islands had, by the first three
decades of the twentieth century, developed a common consciousness
and sensibility that reacted in very similar ways to the same current
of events and phenomena—whether historical, political, economic,
socio-cultural, religious—that was flowing throughout the archipelago
during the period. These events and phenomena were specific to these
decades, which saw the transition from the colonial rule of Spain just
recently ended by the Philippine Revolution, to the colonial rule of
the United States that had defeated the Revolution and had by now

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 170 TIONGSON

established a new orientation (more secular) and organization (more

systematic/”democratic”) in Philippine society. The Filipinos’ reactions
to all these developments were registered and expressed quite clearly
and vigorously in the theatre, specifically in the dramas (straight prose
plays) and the sarsuwelas of the period. For convenience, the topics
and themes of sarsuwelas in Tagalog, Pampango, Pangasinan, Ilocano,
Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Lineyte-Samarnon may be divided into
two general categories: (a) those relating to the past Spanish Regime
and the Revolution against Spain; and (b) those relating to the newly-
established American colonial regime (Themes gathered from Mojares
1997; Ramas 1982; Fernandez 1978; Ralubit 1976; Legasto 1996; Lucero
1996; Carpio 2000; Filipinas 1991; Manlapaz 1975; Castro 1981; Lacson
1984; Rosal 1993; Casambre, Tupas, Damaso in Philippine Drama
1987).

In all regional languages, sarsuwelas that revolved around

the political, social, religious and cultural issues associated with the
Spanish Period and the revolution. First, the Philippine Revolution
served as the principal context of the love story in several sarsuwelas.
Usually, the hero and heroine, who loved each other, were separated
when the hero answered the call of Inangbayan (Mother Country) and
joined the revolutionary forces. The revolution was always depicted
in a positive light, as a glorious moment of pride for Filipinos. After
overcoming impediments (aggressive suitors, local traitors), the lovers
were reunited in a happy, rousing finale.

Contrary to the image of the revolutionaries, the

characterization of the Spanish friars was invariably negative. They
were depicted as arrogant, materialistic, opportunistic and cruel. They
took advantage of the confessional or their priesthood to get the women
they lusted after. They imprisoned or tortured anyone, especially
ilustrados, who crossed their paths or questioned their authority in any
way. In many of the sarsuwelas, they were incarcerated or punished,
usually killed or massacred, as the main enemies of the Filipino people
and the symbol and embodiment of the worst in Spanish colonialism.

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 171

With the friars were condemned the autocracy associated with

colonial rule. In a few sarsuwelas, local presidentes or mayors and even
Filipino priests were criticized for conducting themselves like the friars
or the Spanish officials and for forcing their will on the people and
refusing to listen to the point of view of those whom they governed or
oppressed.

Several sarsuwelas also had characters, usually old conservative

women, who exemplified the religious fanaticism that the friars
cultivated among their parishioners. These were women who went
to church and communion everyday and wore rosaries and scapulars
around their necks but were selfish and cruel to their maids, tenants
and other subalterns. Like the ilustrados of the reform movement, the
sarsuwelas endorsed a religion that was humane and merciful.

Lastly, a few sarsuwelas satirized the komedya, as an expression

of the Hispanic culture of the past regime. This centuries-old dramatic
form was exposed as escapist and irrelevant because it could not depict
social realities, confined as it was to the dramatization, in highly stylized
manner, of the love between medieval European princes and princesses,
the battles between princes and lions/giants, and the conflict between
Moors and Christians. Moreover, the komedya was blamed for teaching
viewers to conform to autocratic rules, leading to evil and decadence.

The majority of sarsuwelas, however, featured topics and

themes associated with the American Period or the present. The issues
could be domestic, socio-cultural, political and economic. The biggest
number of sarsuwelas discussed domestic issues. Problems between
husbands and wives could stem from husbands who kept mistresses,
were insanely jealous and possessive, or had vices (e.g., pangguingue,
cockfighting, drinking). In these stories, adultery, jealousy, violence,
and vice were punished, while fidelity, temperance, and marital
devotion were rewarded.

The problems between parents and children included: (a)

parents who forced their daughter to marry someone rich (old, ugly

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 172 TIONGSON

or Chinese) who could pay their debts, give them gambling money
and save them from poverty; (b) parents who spoiled their children,
who then grew up undisciplined and immoral; (c) parents who
beat up or disinherited children who refused to obey them or
had no “utang na loob”; (d) stepmothers who were cruel to their
stepchildren; (e) mothers who wallowed in suffering and self-pity
and ended up getting sick or committing suicide; and (f) children
who disobeyed their parents or lost respect for them. The messages
of these sarsuwelas were: parents should not inflict unnecessary and
inhumane punishment on children or force them into marriages that
would benefit the parents and not the children. At the same time,
however, children were advised to obey their parents and always
show them respect.

Sarsuwelas about courtship usually praised virtuous

and refined young women and patient, gentlemanly and educated
suitors, and condemned young rakes who used violence, money or
blackmail to get the heroine as well as playboys who took advantage
of many girls. The ending of sarsuwelas always rewarded the gentle
suitor (he gets the virtuous heroine) and punished the suitors who
were insincere and opportunistic.

The socio-cultural problems that appeared in many

sarsuwelas as principal or secondary problems were the vices that
destroyed people and must be destroyed. Foremost among these
were the most common vices of that period: gambling in the form
of pangguingue games among women, and cockfighting among
men; immoderate drinking, especially among men; wasteful and
expensive way of life which was beyond one’s means; and utter
laziness and sloth. These vices led to bankruptcy and poverty, the
break-up of families, the marriage of daughters to rich men they
did not love, prostitution, adultery, thievery, and even murder.
These vices were the reason for the backwardness of society. Like
the priests at Sunday sermons, sarsuwelas always preached against
the vice-ridden, and demanded that they mend their ways at final
curtain or die.

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 173

Unlike the Spanish friars who discouraged education,

American officials established educational institutions, from the lowest
to the highest level, for all Filipinos. Education met with an ambivalent
reaction among sarsuwelistas. On the one hand, and consistently,
sarsuwelas always endorsed education, praising it as important to
social mobility and one’s economic progress, not to mention one’s
enlightenment and development as a human being. In many sarsuwelas,
parents dreamed of their children finishing higher schooling or the
educated boy got the beautiful girl while the student who skipped
classes and spent his allowance on drinking, gambling, and women got
his comeuppance in the end.

On the other hand, many sarsuwelas strongly disapproved of

Filipinos who spoke English, and forgot or looked down upon their own
native languages. The sarsuwelas also frowned on the Americanized
who rejected traditional Tagalog, Ilocano, Pangasinan, and Cebuano
customs and costumes, or adopted a liberal attitude that was equated
with immorality, or drove their husbands or parents to commit crimes
for money that they needed to sport the Americanized lifestyle they
could ill afford. Unfortunately, most sarsuwelistas who condemned
the Americanized Filipino did not realize that this Americanization
proceeded primarily from the very same education that they praised
and endorsed without reservation.

With the spread of Americanization, a divorce bill was

introduced in 1912 to the National Assembly. The legalization of
divorce drew a whole range of reactions from sarsuwelistas in almost
all regions, who presented the arguments for and against the bill. The
conservative Catholic point of view insisted that marriage was binding
and forever and it was a sin to put asunder what God hath put together.
On the other hand, the more liberal welcomed the bill because divorce
would give women a way out of oppressive marriages, and discourage/
eliminate adultery and philandering.

Women’s suffrage was a hotly contested issue during the

American period, debates in the legislature and in media started from

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 174 TIONGSON

1918 when it was first proposed in the National Assembly and lasted till
1937 when it was approved. Again, the sarsuwelas had two opposite
reactions to suffrage. Those against it believed that men and women
should adhere to the sex roles that they had been trained to play, with
some arguing that women should be like the submissive Maria Clara of
Rizal’s Noli. On the other hand, those who endorsed suffrage believed
that women, who were now educated like the men and could even
earn like the men, should have the rights enjoyed by men, including
the right to participate in the running of government through suffrage.
Moreover, suffrage was seen as a step towards empowering women to
take positions in government in the future.

The political issue found in many sarsuwelas concerned

the corruption and mismanagement of those in government. The
inefficiency of local officials was depicted in some sarsuwelas, while the
abuse of those in power was criticized in others. The sarsuwelas insisted
that public officials should not use their position to exercise personal
control over their constituencies. Public officials were public servants,
not public tyrants, the sarsuwelas pointed out.

A second political issue had to do with the elections, where

politicians used all means, mostly illegal, to win political positions.
Sarsuwelas dramatized how politicians “courted” voters on election
day, giving them transportation, food and golden promises, in order to
get their votes. Other sarsuwelas exposed the outright buying of votes,
and the different ways of cheating when the votes were counted. The
sarsuwelas were highly critical of these nefarious election practices and
censured those who were responsible for them.

Two economic issues were raised by a few sarsuwelas. The first

was connected to the feudal ownership of lands in the countryside. A
few sarsuwelas denounced caciquism, condemning landlords who were
cruel to their tenants or who cheated their tenants of their rightful share
of the harvest. Many of the illegal practices of these landowners were
exposed and attacked as well, like landgrabbing and the creation of fake
titles, and most commonly, usury or the imposition of high interest

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 175

rates on the money or rice bags borrowed by farmers. The sarsuwelas

lauded government efforts to lend money at low rates to farmers and
endorsed a simple lifestyle so that peasants would not need to borrow
money from landlords in the first place.

The second economic issue had to do with the machinations

of the new system of free enterprise introduced by America. However,
only one playwright, Aurelio Tolentino, had the courage to expose
the tactics of monopoly capitalism employed by American businesses
during the first decade. Tolentino wrote sarsuwelas that showed
how the Americans exerted every effort to gain complete control of
local cigar factories, like Germinal, La Rosa, and La Yebana, which
were owned by Filipinos. Tolentino fought for Filipino ownership of
factories, especially because he believed that foreign capitalists would
be less likely to sympathize with the problems of Filipino workers.

No doubt the sarsuwelas from 1900-1930 represented a most

remarkable development from Spanish regime plays like the komedya
and sinakulo, if only because they chose to interpret the burning
issues in Philippine society during the first decades of the American
colonial period. Not only were the costumes, dialogues and situations
of the sarsuwelas authentic and recognizable; more importantly, they
succeeded in projecting on stage the significant concerns of their time
(e.g., the abuses of those in political positions, the conflict between
traditional Hispanic culture and the modern American way of life,
the contradictions between landlords and peasants, American and
Filipino capital, capitalists and workers.)

And the sarsuwelas went farther than the mere depiction

of contemporary issues. Bravely, they launched diatribes against
the usurers, caciques, Americanized women, inveterate gamblers,
drinkers and womanizers, autocrats in government, and other
oppressors in Philippine society. No wonder the sarsuwelas captured
the imagination of the masses who patronized and enjoyed these
presentations.

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 176 TIONGSON

But while the masses seemed to have supported the sarsuwelas,

these plays did not necessarily present a deep or radical understanding
of the problems they presented nor even a realistic solution to these
problems. In these plays, landlords, usurers, cockfighters, pangguingue
addicts, drunkards, and the colonially minded change their ways at
narrative closure, implying thereby that these problems have been
solved or are so easily remedied. The sarsuwelas were able to give
this impression because they viewed all problems as individual rather
than systemic. From its viewpoint, the sarsuwelas believed that social
order was restored once the individual repented and changed his ways,
because there was basically nothing wrong with the system—even if
in reality it was controlled by a foreign power and the local elite. No
wonder the characters of the sarsuwela, although recognizable as types
from Philippine society, were never allowed to become real. Instead,
they needed to remain as stereotypes representing good and evil so that
the playwright could manipulate them, together with the plot, to come
to a conclusion that preserved, restored, and promoted the established
“order of things,” no matter how unjust this might be for the majority
who were poor and powerless. Most of the old sarsuwelas then seemed
to have been written and produced mainly by ilustrados and the
middle class, for the consumption of the masses but ultimately for the
reaffirmation of the economic-political-social elite of Philippine society.
Only a few, like those of Tolentino, understood and dared to expose the
systemic inequities and iniquities in U.S.-dominated Philippines.

The Decline on Stage and Migration to Film: 1930s-

1970s

By the decade of the 1930s, the sarsuwelas gradually

disappeared from the theatres of Manila, Cebu, Iloilo and other urban
centers because the theatres were taken over by two new forms of
entertainment. Introduced by Borromeo Lou in 1921, bodabil attracted a
younger generation of Americanized Filipinos who preferred the brassy
songs (American jazz, blues, ballads) and risqué dances (charleston,
tango, samba), the comedy skits and circus acts of the colorful variety

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 177

show. Similarly, after the successful screening of the first Filipino-

made talking picture in 1933 (Ang Aswang) and the subsequent and
immediate rise to popularity of talking pictures, American and local
businessmen established one studio after another in quick succession
(Filippine Films, Parlatone Hispano-Filipino, Sampaguita Pictures,
LVN Pictures, X’Otic Films, among others). In no time, these studios
were producing about 50 films a year on a regular basis and of different
genres (including melodramas, South sea adventures, comedies,
and, most importantly, musicals). Moreover, within the decade, the
sarsuwela lost its mass following and special sponsors in Manila, Cebu,
and especially in Iloilo, when the bulk of the hacienda production
shifted to Negros.

At the end of World War II and up till the 1950s and 1960s,
the sarsuwela continued to be staged, sometimes together with the
komedya or the stage show, in provinces like Pangasinan, Ilocos and
Leyte-Samar. However, with the spread of Americanized education and
the inundation of the rural areas by fi lm, radio, and later television, the
sarsuwela was eventually set aside as outmoded and irrelevant, except
perhaps in the Ilocano-speaking areas which continued to sponsor
komedyas and sarsuwelas (with contemporary themes and costumes)
presented by commercial troupes from the Ilocos and Pangasinan as
part of the celebration of the feast of the town’s patron saint.

But then again, it could be said that the sarsuwelas never really
died but merely migrated from stage to screen, undergoing a change of
medium that was as logical as it was “natural.” As early as 1912 when the
first silent features were made, the American producers chose known
sarsuwela companies to act in their respective Rizal movies. Edward
Gross used the theatre group of his wife, sarsuwela star Titay Molina,
for his La Vida de Rizal (The Life of Rizal), while Albert Yearsley hired
the Gran Compania de la Zarzuela Tagala de Severino Reyes to appear
in his El Fusilamiento de Dr. Jose Rizal (The Execution of Dr. Jose
Rizal). In 1919, when Jose Nepomuceno, the “Father of the Filipino
Film,” chose to shoot the most popular sarsuwela of his time, Dalagang

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 178 TIONGSON

Bukid (Country Maiden), as the first locally-produced silent feature, it

was logical for him to use the stars that made the sarsuwela famous,
namely, Atang de la Rama and Marceliano Ilagan, among others. From
then on, the actors, directors and writers of the sarsuwela (as well as
drama and bodabil later on) systematically “migrated” to the cinema,
bringing with them the themes, values, stories, and characters as well
as the acting, directorial and musical conventions of the sarsuwela.
Thus some of the most popular musicals of the Filipino fi lm industry
from the 1930s to the 1970s were really fi lmed sarsuwelas: Bituing
Marikit (Beautiful Star), 1937; Ay, Kalisud (Oh, Misery!), 1938; Giliw
Ko (My Beloved), 1939; Pakiusap (Request), 1940; Tunay na Ina (The
Real Mother), 1940; Bakya Mo Neneng (Your Wooden Clogs, Neneng),
1949; Maalaala Mo Kaya? (Can You Remember?), 1954; Waray-Waray
(Nothing), 1954; Pilipino Kustom – No Touch! (Filipino Custom, Do
Not Touch), 1955; Ang Tangi Kong Pag-ibig (My Only Love), 1955; Ikaw
Kasi (It’s Your Fault), 1955; Tingnan Natin (Let’s See), 1957; Doon Po
Sa Amin (Back Home), 1960; and The Gift of Love, 1970. As may be
expected, the character types, convoluted plots and moralistic endings
of these fi lms are also inherited from the old sarsuwelas.

Revival and Revitalization: 1970-2009

In the decades after World War II, educated Filipinos

imbibed American cultural standards through obligatory courses on
Anglo-American literature and drama at all educational levels. Not
surprisingly, these English-speaking Filipinos raised on Shakespeare,
Ibsen and Williams, paid no attention to the native theatre, which
was considered as “illegitimate” and certainly not worthy of critical
study, much less revival. Only a few schools, such as Centro Escolar
University, performed sarsuwelas like Florentino Ballecer’s Sundalong
Mantika (Sluggish Soldier) and Engracio Valmonte’s Ang Mestisa (The
Half-breed Girl) during this period, but the interest generated by these
productions was more academic than popular. The same may be said
of the revival by Rolando Tinio of Precioso Palma’s Paglipas ng Dilim
for the Ateneo de Manila University in 1969.

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 179

By the 1970s, however, a militant nationalism had risen and

launched the search for a Filipino identity both inside and outside
academe. Social scientists sought to reorient history, psychology,
anthropology, philosophy, economics and political science towards a
Filipino point of view, while students, professionals, workers, farmers
formed mass organizations which took to the streets to work for an
economy and government that would benefit the majority of Filipinos.
In the same spirit, artists, cultural workers and scholars began to see
the need for building a culture that would be pro-Filipino and pro-
people, and which would serve as a unifying force for a country that
had been fragmented by three centuries of Spanish colonization and
half a century of American “benevolent assimilation.”

As theatre scholars studied the ethnic rituals and mimetic

dances of the pre-Spanish traditions, as well as the sinakulo, komedya,
sarsuwela and drama of the Hispanized traditions, some theatre artists,
notably those of Dulaang Babaylan (founded 1973), started to revive
these plays or revitalize them with new themes, worldviews, approaches
and staging techniques. Outstanding revivals of traditional sarsuwelas
are the Zarzuela Foundation’s Walang Sugat, 1971; Bancom’s Ang Kiri
(The Flirt), 1974; and St. Paul College’s Filipinas Para Los Filipinos (The
Philippines for the Filipinos), 1982. Following the new CCP’s emphasis
on the revival and revitalization of traditional forms as an integral part
of the creation of a Filipino national theatre, the then newly-established
CCP resident company Tanghalang Pilipino restaged Dalagang Bukid,
1987; Paglipas ng Dilim, 1989; Walang Sugat, 1994; Pilipinas Circa
1907, 1992; and Sa Bunganga ng Pating, 1995. To document these
productions and encourage theatre groups to stage these sarsuwelas,
the CCP came out with a sarsuwela series which reproduced the scripts,
costume designs and minus one music of Dalagang Bukid, Paglipas ng
Dilim, and Walang Sugat.

In contemporary revivals of the traditional sarsuwela, modern

directors saw it fit to put more substance into what were considered
“naïve” or schematic stories by: (a) adding more dialogue to deepen
character and character motivations; (b) adding/rewriting/rearranging

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 180 TIONGSON

scenes to inject more “logic” and “action” into traditional plots; (c)
rearranging or adding songs, to which modern audiences could relate (for
example, Bayan Ko in the 1971 production of Walang Sugat); (d) beefing
up scenes with more period business and dances; (e) designing sets which
would be more expressive of theme and period but manageable for quick
scene changes; (f) designing costumes which would be more expressive
of character, period and mood; and (g) plotting lights to denote mood,
time of day and change of scenes (black-outs). In short, the revitalization
efforts used literary and production techniques, both traditional and
modern, to make the sarsuwela “understandable” and “palatable” to
the contemporary audience which had been Americanized for about a
century and whose sensibility was worlds apart from that of the pre-war
sarsuwela audiences. Unlike the komedya which had set characters and
conventions, the sarsuwela was fortunately more open to all kinds of
innovations in content, value system and worldview and more malleable
in terms of modification of form.

More important than the revival of old sarsuwelas was the

creation of new sarsuwelas from the 1970s to the present. Attesting to the
viability of the form in our day, these new sarsuwelas tackle a wide range
of subject matter from historical subjects to the latest contemporary
issues. PETA’s Halimaw (The Monster), 1971, by writer Isagani Cruz and
composer Lutgardo Labad, revolved around the autocratic monarchy that
has been established in the country after the Constitutional Convention
of 1971 (Cruz 1988, 1-60). U.P. Concert Chorus’s Sumpang Mahal
(Sacred Vow), 1976, by Domingo Landicho and Rey Paguio, satirized the
colonial mentality and nouveau riche arrogance of Filipino-American
balikbayans. U.P. Repertory’s Ang Bundok (The Mountain), 1977, by
Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio and Fabian Obispo, dramatized the resistance
of a Cordillera group to the take-over of their ancestral lands by foreign
mining companies (Bonifacio 1972). PETA’s Pilipinas Circa 1907, 1982,
by Nicanor Tiongson and Lutgardo Labad/Lucien Letaba/Louie Pascasio
highlighted the conflict between Filipinos and Americans in the first
decade of the American colonial regime in the economy, politics and
culture (Tiongson 1985). Frank Rivera’s Ambon, Ulan, Baha (Drizzle,
Rain, Flood), 1978 tackled the illegal practices that lead to the destruction

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 PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW 181

of the environment and the resultant floods, while his Oyayi was first
presented in 1979 in Mindanao with the theme of family-planning
(Rivera 2003 and 2004). Dulaang U.P.’s Basilia ng Malolos (Basilia of
Malolos), 2007, by Nicanor Tiongson and Joy Marfil traced the struggle
of Basilia Tantoco and the other women of Malolos in the late nineteenth
century to free themselves from both the Spanish overlords and the local
patriarchy.

Believing in the effectivity of the sarsuwela form for conveying

nationalistic themes, the National Centennial Commission sponsored
a sarsuwela contest with generous prizes to celebrate the centennial of
Philippine Independence in 1998. The first place went to Palasyo ni
Valentin (Valentin’s Palace), 1999, by Mario O’Hara which chronicled
the story of a gothic love triangle between a sarsuwela actress who was
forcibly separated from her real love, a sarsuwela musician, to become
the Spanish director’s mistress. The second prize was shared by three
sarsuwelas: Hibik at Himagsik nina Victoria Laktaw, Atbp. (Lamentation
and Revolt of Victoria Laktaw and Others) by Bienvenido Lumbera
and Lucien Letaba, focused on women characters, who were initially
victimized by the invading American soldiers during the Philippine-
American war, but were able to transcend their traumas and join the
Filipino guerillas in the mountains; Paglayang Minamahal (Cherished
Freedom) by George de Jesus III and Jesse Lucas, narrated the love story
between Mauricio, the scion of a rich family, and Alodia, a distant cousin
and childhood sweetheart, which surmounted many trials and achieved a
glorious ending amidst festivities at the opening of the Malolos Congress;
and Bayan, Isang Paa na Lamang (My Country, Just One Foot Remains)
by Melba Padilla Magay and Lucio San Pedro, presented a grandmother
in a wheelchair who narrated to the participants of the People Power
Revolution the involvement of her own parents in the revolution led
by the ill-fated Andres Bonifacio. All the winning plays were staged in
different venues in Metro Manila from 1999 to 2001.

Outside Metro Manila, new original sarsuwelas continued to

be written and staged by groups from the Ilocos, like the Paat Dramatic
Guild of Bantay and the St. Catherine Zarzuela Group of Santa Catalina;

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 182 TIONGSON

from Pangasinan like the Tamayo Stage Troupe of Santa Barbara, and
Baay Dramatic Association of Lingayen; from Iloilo, like the U.P. Visayas
Alumni Theatre Company of Miag-ao and another group of Henry
Tejero in Tigbawan. In Silay from 1986 to about the mid 1990s, an
annual sarsuwela competition was sponsored by the local government
and the Silay City Arts Foundation. Participants in these contests
were the city’s barangays which came out with original sarsuwelas
in Ilonggo, directed, performed, designed and financed by the sugar
workers themselves. Most of these sarsuwelas, like Matam-is Man Gali
ang Kalamay (Sugar is Sweet), 1992, dramatized stories drawn from
the warp and woof of the sacada’s every day life. These productions
often served as occasions for socialization as well as for individual and
communal expression.

The avid reception by audiences of the revivals of early

sarsuwelas like Walang Sugat, Paglipas ng Dilim and Dalagang Bukid
as well as of the continuing productions of new sarsuwelas like Ang
Bundok, Hibik at Himagsik nina Victoria Lactaw and Matam-is Man
Gali ang Kalamay prove beyond doubt that this dramatic genre imported
into the Philippines from Spain 130 years ago, has been thoroughly
indigenized in content and form and transformed by native artistry
and ingenuity into a major pillar of the Filipino national theatre.

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