A brief survey of Iloko literature from the beginnings to its present development, with a bibliography of works pertaining to the Iloko people and their language, by Leopoldo Y. Yabes.

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (Continued)

59

as unrelenting and as zealous as the Aglipayans in their attacks
against the Catholic church, and in a few cases have been more
so because, while the Aglipayans have retained many of the
forms of worship of the Catholic church such as the mass, confession, communion, and the novenario, the Protestants have
done away with most of them.
The different sects of the Protestant church have produced
a considerable volume of controversial literature in Iloko. A
great part of this literature is in the form of translations from
foreign authors. The non-controversial literature consists
principally of translations of the Bible, hymns, and manuals of
instruction for the members of the church. The American Bible
Society, through its Philippine agency, has accomplished a great
deal towards the popularization of the Scriptures among the
masses by publishing cheap editions of the Bible and its different books. Among the more important native Iloko Protestant writers are Camilo Osias, Enrique C. Sobrepefia, Isidoro
Panlasigui, Juan A. Abellera, who translated into Iloko Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Emilio C. Yadao, Benito Tovera, and
Januario Puruganan. The Christian Mission Press, the Methodist Publishing House, and the Ilocano Printing Co. publish
most of the Protestant religious books and pamphlets.
Catholic Literature:-The criticisms of the Aglipayans and
the Protestants, although not all founded in fact, have done the
Catholic church and its clergy much good because they have
made them awake to their faults. The result is that the Catholic clergy of the present century is in most respects better than
the clergy during the Spanish regime. It is more moral and
more tolerant and so inspires a deeper respect among the laity.
The criticisms against it naturally evoked spirited replies. Catholic priests like Fathers Jose Pasion, Melanio Lazo, Baltazar Advincula, and Isaias Edralin have time and again taken up the
cudgels for their church. The clergy has been aided in its campaign for enlightenment among the people by vernacular papers
like the defunct Aguzpadamag and El TiemPo Catolico, and the
Amigo del Pueblo, La Visita, and El Mensajero.
Novenas, catechisms, prayer books, and versions of the
pasi6n are very much in evidence during this century. Undoubtedly there are more copies of these devotional books in
circulation at present than at any other time in the past. Some
novenas written during the nineteenth century have gone through
as many as ten or more editions. In 1935 the Pasion ni San
Joaquin quen Sta. Ana (Passion of San Joaquin and Sta. Ana)
was printed for the fifteenth time. The pasi6n of Jesus Christ
has possibly gone through only a slightly smaller number of
editions. Jose Pasion, Melanio Lazo, Francisco V. Lazo, Balta