THE BIKOL BERSO AND BALAGTASISMO

I came across a piece of Bikol literature published by the Cecilio Press, one of the pioneering printing outfits in the Bicol region. It is called ‘An Maromansang Buhay ni Inday asin Raha Lakatuna' (Ang Maromansang Buhay nina Inday at Raha Lakatuna). Further perusal revealed that it is a legend of some sort although the title would not give it away. Also the sample has no by-line and date of publication although the paper looked old. I acquired the retyped that it is a narrative verse printed in paragraph form. And although written in Bikol-Naga, it is a story set in Sugbu, a place we now call as Cebu.