The Tagalogs are known for “balagtasan” or the tradition of debating in verse. The Bikolanos, too, has a similar art and it is known as “Tigsikan”. Tigsikan is derived from “Tigsik” or the art of expressing a toast or an idea in the form similar to that of the Japanese “Haiku”.
Tigsikan is usually heard in drinking sprees (“turungaan” or “irinuman”) though this practice is not anymore common nowadays due to the invasion of “video-singko”. An example of Tigsikan goes:
Participant 1:
Tinigsik ko an Amerkano
Na amigo ni Mariano
Nag-sisid sa Santo Domingo
Kan magbutwa yaon na sa Manito.
Participant 2:
Tinigsik ko man si lolo
Siya mas maurag sa Amerkano
Nagsisid siya sa Manito
Nagbutwa na sa Rapu-rapu.
Participant 3:
Kung sa urag an lolo ko sakong tigsikon
Sa sisid siya dai pa puwedeng daogon
Kan siya nagsisid sa Sorsogon
Hanggang ngonyan dai nagbubutwa beinte ng taon.
But aside from Tigsikan, I also heard a radio program in DZRC-Legazpi a balagtasan-like exchanges of “rawit-dawits”. I was a kid then and I don’t know if it still exists. Can somebody from Legazpi verify this? I think they also called that portion “balagtasan”.
Which leads me to another point: M.I., our reader, came back and left us another piece. The title is “Sagkod Ngunian”, something like an answer to the earlier piece “Nuarin Pa” which was also a response to Nery Ronatay’s “Kung sabihon kong dae na ako namomoot“. I hope DTN can translate this again for us? 😉
Sagkod Ngunian
Sagkod ngunian
pighahalat ta ka pa man,
Dai mo sana naaraman
An sakong namamatean.
Kan ika binalikan
Iba na an saimong kaibanan
Bako na ako an saimong pig-iingatan,
Bako na ako an saimong kaipuhan,
Bako na ako an saimong pig-aapudan,
Bako na ako an kamot na saimong pigkakaputan,
Bako na ngabil ko an saimong pighahadukan,
Bako na ako an saimong pinapangaturugan,
Bako na ako an saimong namomotan.
Nagduman ako sa lain na lugar, tanganing ika malingawan
Pigpapasakitan ko lamang an sakong daghan.
Igwa man ki mga namidbidan
Pero dai ko masabotan
Ta sakong pighahanap an sakong namomotan
Sagkod ngunian.
www.biklish.com 
Man, that tigsikan sample is really amusing. It reminds me of something I heard over the jeepney radio while I was in Legazpi last August: “Udto na, naggigisa ka pa sana?” Nothing to do with tigsik, really, but the distinct Legazpeño accent stuck to me; and reading participants one to three – I imagined it said with the same playful & smug accent!
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As for the translation, I’m going to try. I hope that’s ok with the authors, though. =)
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And it’s just now that I realized I’m on the blogroll! [Blushing] Salamat, padi.
the poem was very touching.i can relate to what the poem is telling me when i read it.nice work.=]
hay.. tindi po ng ginibo mong sulatin….
naka-relate lugod ako…
pano sakod ngunian naghahalat talaga ako sa sakuyang…
padangat..hahahaha
To Jserrano
Ipaaram mo sa padangat mo na naghahalat ka.
God!Iwas blown up with this article!I’m happy i’ve learned a new word- “ngabil” meaning lips or labi. I really don’t know what the bicol of labi is.really glad, now I know!!!!!!!!!!!!:-D
“ngudoy” is another term of lips..:)
im so proud of this article..
I hope many of the filipinos will still be proud to be one…
im used to it when i was in high school in sorsogon. i have a friend whos grandfather was a good bikol linguistics, singer and recites pasyon in bikol and spanish.
we used to buy him Tuba, or the rice wine just to sing to us or tigsik, and some of it i can remeber.
“tinigsik ko ining kutsara,
kasabat sabat kan sakong dila.
alagad kun sabayan ki lada,
minaturo sakong luha.”
had a lot of these, and we used to go to magallanes, sorsogon in Ibalong, where the first spanish landed in bicol..and he sings to us the famous “Cadena de Amor”which i heard was first composed from this barangay. i think Antiado is the last name of the guy who composes it.
Thanks, Mat. Ayos ning rawit-dawit mo. Baka igwa ka pang saray-saray diyan na naka-baul feel free to share that to our readers. More power. 🙂
.yes i’m very proud too.
.and i’m proud to be filipino.!:)
..wow ang gnda nmn ng “TIGSIK”..
..ur a filipino??
..eh bk8 k ng english..??
..hehehe..”JOKE LNG”
..pilipino rin ako noh..:)
love it!
..love it tlga..!!!!
..whew kagaun tlga sn mga himuh sn bikolano anuh..???
..ako ay proud na proud na mging bikolano..
..oh tlgng bikolano ako ta ng bibikol ako..:)
😀
hahaha may mga balagtasan na nangyayare sa aquinas ang venue minsan….
maganda ang tigsik…it still exist…hahahha hindi naman yan nawawala…
go bicolanos!!! hahahha yeah..
still one of the top post! Sagkod ngunian
sagkod ngunian, pigbabasa ta ka pa man…
🙂 gayun! clap clap 🙂 sakung puso.. sagkud ngunyan nag hahalat.. pero my part din na nag sasabi.. tama na.. makukulgan ka lng ulit 🙂 haix!
Maray man ta natappuan ko ining site. Nagahanap baya ako ki mga bikol poems ta duman daa sa Legazpi ngonian an mga “younger generation” mas gusto mag Tagalog na. Kun ngata an pag-hona bago COOL an Bikol. Maray man mga nene nonoy na Bikol man guiraray an istoryahan nindo. Salamat nin marhay.
Hi Lily,
Salamat sa pagbisita. Actually, tama an obserbasyon mo. Naenot na nangyari yan sa Naga na Tagalog na an iristoryahan lalo na pag-abot sa komersiyo. Nagsunod an Legazpi. Resulta kaya ini kan duwang bagay: (1) Pag-dakul kan mga investments asin investors na taga-luwas kan Bikolandia. Kasabay na digdi siyempre an mga taga-Mindanao, kadaklan Muslim asin Maranao, na nagtitinda ki mga baratong produkto, asin (2) An pag-dakul kan mga turista bako lang foreigners kundi mga turista hale sa ibang mga probinsiya.