Epic journey of Tudbulul

Abstract

“The heroic journey of Tudbulul” is a portrayal of the T’boli’s cultural significance in South Cotabato through a phenomenological study. There are eight episodes in this heroic story, and the research is particularly focus on its first episode – the “Semgulang Tutul” (Tudbulul Story). The story of Tudbulul originated in the provinces of South Cotabato and Sarangani in Mindanao. It was discovered in 1985 by Virginia Buhisan and in 2001, it was explored and elaborated further by Damiana Eugenio which paved way to more references on the story. Since then the story of Tudbulul evolved to eight episodes. The phenomenological study introduced Tudbulul as a new and unfamiliar epic in Philippine literature. This research focused on the engagement of contemporary Philippine literature and art that will constitute as another learning instrument of Philippine culture. The result of this study will serve as another source of information about our heritage and will act as a reference for future researchers.