MALAYBALAY CITY (28 March 2026 / Bukidnon News) — The University of the Philippines Press has released this month a short fiction book by the late Higaonon writer Telesforo S. Sungkit Jr.
The book, translated into Filipino and titled Mga Bugtong ng Balagbatbat (“The Riddles of Balagbatbat”), traces the life of Walu Nalandangan—also known as Walu Talugan and more widely recognized as Melchizedek Makaindan. According to its description, the name “Walu Nalandangan” refers to the eight great houses or clans. The original version of the work was written in Cebuano.
The narrative follows key events in Walu’s life, from childhood until his death. Interwoven throughout are the social realities and enduring challenges faced by the Higaonon, one of the seven Indigenous groups in Bukidnon, alongside the Bukidnon, Talaandig, Manobo, Matigsalug, Tigwahanon, and Umayamnon peoples.
The new title was formally launched during a social event at the University of the Philippines Diliman on March 27, attended by writers, critics, and National Artists. The release forms part of a broader set of titles introduced by the UP Press.
Mga Bugtong ng Balagbatbat, a Filipino translation of Sungkit’s award-winning Cebuano novel Mga Tigmo sa Balagbatbat, brings readers once more into the author’s distinct literary world grounded in Higaonon life, memory, and imagination. The book has drawn positive responses from literary critics and is now available through UP Press and bookstores nationwide.
Sungkit, a respected Higaonon writer, passed away in 2022. His wife, Liza Sungkit, confirmed to Bukidnon News that the newly released book was his fourth.
His earlier works received national recognition, including Batbat Hi Udan, which was honored in the 10th Madrigal-Gonzales Best First Book Award; Mga Gapnod sa Kamad-an, winner of the 2007 NCCA Writers Prize of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts; and Ang Agalon sa mga Balod, which won the same award in 2011.
His novel Mga Tigmo sa Balagbatbat was also supported through the National Book Development Board Trust Fund for Writers in 2014.
Beyond fiction, Sungkit was also a poet. His poem I Higaonon has appeared in anthologies and high school textbooks. His Cebuano poems are published online under the pen name Anijun Mudan-udan. He wrote in Higaonon, Cebuano, Filipino, and English.
Bukidnon’s first published epic novel
In 2009, Sungkit launched Batbat Hi Udan (“The Story of Udan”) during the Kaamulan Festival, marking what is considered the first epic novel from Bukidnon. Written in Filipino, the work has been described as a local counterpart to The Lord of the Rings.
The novel follows Udan (Binukid for “rain”), a young man whose journey leads him to the hidden world of Lidasan beneath the Mount Kitanglad range, and his love for Ananaw (“the beloved”).
The story is set across the present-day towns of Lantapan, Sumilao, Impasugong, and Malaybalay City.
Sungkit was a graduate of agricultural engineering from University of the Philippines Los Baños.
He established a tutorial school in Laguna and drafted Batbat Hi Udan over six months in 2005. He also spent time based in Malitbog, where he wrote while managing farm work. He previously served as literary and native language editor of BukidnonNews.Net. In February 2022, Sungkit appeared as a guest lecturer in the Lecture Series on Cultural Heritage of the Bukidnon Studies Center, a unit of Bukidnon State University. (BukidnonNews.Net)