The Geographies of Signos

Unearthing the tragedies of Hacienda Luisita

Massacre through Kwentong Bayan
Transgress media texts
Geographic Praxis
Throwntogetherness
Tikbalang is one of the most popularly
known demons of Philippine horror. They are
usually describe as tall half-horse, half-human
creatures in Philippine literature. In cinema and
television they are commonly represented as
the abjected, monstrous, and mad
characters. Despite these multitude of
contested and rhizomatic views on Tikbalang,
surprisingly there are only a few scholars
who examine these narratives as vestiges
of the prevailing social condition.

Problem Statement
I would like to study about the case of a
Tikbalang who appeared the night before the
Hacienda Luisita Massacre, which according
to some of the locals materialized on their street.
This stories served to them as a “signos” of an
imminent misfortune. This made me wonder
why do they narrate these stories and incorporate
tales of myths and legends. Is it possible that
there is a spatial multiplicity between
signos, tragedy, folklore, and
conception of the world? Are they trying
to communicate an untellable and or
unspeakable narratives of the social injustices in
agriculture, and land reform in the Philippine
society?

Problem Statement
 Research Objectives
1. To examine the concept of signos and how the
locals perceive them.
2. To understand trahedya from its historical
context up to the moment before the massacre.
3. To examine kwentong bayan as vestiges of
social realities.
4. To understand how this narratives could
contributes to the formation and unification of
conception of the world
5. To document this account as a contribution to
folklore studies and folk geography in the
Philippines.
 Research Questions
1. What are the “pangitain” and “kutob” during the
materialization of the entity?
2. What are the histories and the current state of
land reforms in the Philippines?
3. What are the conditions that contributed to the
tragedy of Hacienda Luisita massacre?
4. Who are those who saw and didn’t see the
tikbalang?
5. How did they interpret the appearance of the
tikbalang?
6. How and why did the tikbalang story become a
kwentong bayan?
7. How do they make meaning base from this folktale
in relation to their everyday life and their struggle
for emancipation?
Conceptual Framework

LIVED
Space
 Literature Review
1. Signos
1. As a defense mechanism of guilt ( Freudian
Psychoanalysis).
2. Relations to being empathetic and (positive)
schizotophy.
3. Embodied Action

2. Trahedya
1. Critical histories of land reform in the Philippines
2. Case of Hacienda Luisita
3. Struggles, social movements and human-rights violations
4. Global-Local capital accumulation
 Literature Review
3. Kwentong Bayan
1. Narratives and the social science research
2. Histories and contemporary theories on folklore
studies
3. Folk narratives in the Philippines.
4. Unspeakable, Untellabe and Unimaginable

4. Conception of the World by

Gramsci
Study Area
Currently
owned by the
Cojuanco-
Aquino family
Known as
one of the
most
controversial
landholdings
in the history
of Philippine
agrarian
reform.
Methodology
Objectives Data Needed Data Sources Methods/Instrume
nts
Signos Narratives of Tikbalang the narrative FGD
night before the Hacienda
Luisita Massacre
Trahedya Narratives During the Hacienda Narrative and Interview and
Luisita Massacre archival archival research
research
Kwentong Bayan Their own interpretation of the narrative FGD and or
Tikbalang-Massacre narrative interview

Conception of the How do they make meaning of Narrative and FGD and or
World this narrative for their everyday my interview
life interpretation
Participant
Observation
Primary Methods
Participants Those who saw and did not saw the Tikbalang.

Recruiting Participants Members of AMBALA

Sampling Snowball Sampling

Length of Time/Venue March 26-31

Contact in the Field Kerima Tariman and Ka Pong

1. Possible psychological
harm to those who will
relive the tragic
moments.
2. Possible exclusion of
those who are not
members of AMBALA.
3. Possible disparity
between male and
female respondents.

Ethical Issues
Positionality
Kerima Tarima of UMA
Ka Pong of AMBALA
Contacts