3. The Bicol River was first mentioned in
Spanish documents in 1572. The region was
also called Los Camarines after the huts
found by the Spaniards in Camalig, Albay.
No prehistoric animal fossils have been
discovered in Bicol and the peopling of the
region remains obscure.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. POST DATA ON MANILA
O city, million-souled, thousand-streeted,
I feel your breath upon me,
The sound of your many voices,
Tread of anonymous feet.
Goodbye, Manila, emporium of bills and kisses,
And ladies with the hurrying hips
And ever-freshly painted lips
Of a mouth where nectar drips,
Good-bye, we’ll see the Mrs.
9. MANILA, CITY OF NOISE
Manila, city of noise,
All day the wheels have dinned in my ears
The cry for money, cause of all the noise,
All counters, offices, markets, bodegas, piers, movie-houses, hotels,
Repeat with variations the self-same theme,
As mosquitoes at night din in my ears the ancient cry for blood!
All the voices,
From painted lips, throats of newsboys, conductors,
Smile of salesgirls, press relations,
The Escolta Walking Corporation,
Even honeymooners intersperse money
With kisses between honey and moon!
Everything is on the auction block to the highest bidder!
Office, honor, sex, title,
Even the cat mews for Mike Cuaderno,
And for all we know too late the last time,
Our bills may not be worth the paper on which printed,
And all the vociferation which makes Manila
City nonpareil of noise,
Will give way to more.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. Folklore from bicol:
Bicol religiosity is deeply rooted. Sometimes
Christian faith is expressed through indigenous
forms, and indigenous beliefs may assume a
Christian face. Some beliefs and customs related
to farming the life cycle, talismans, and divination
survive in the consciousness of the
contemporary Bicol, even the educated.
The Bicolanos observe an annual festival in honor
of the Virgin of Penafrancia every third Sunday of
September.