Amaron

Amaron

Ama-Ron or Amaron is a sparsely known figure in Philippine Mythology. The story is more common in the Southern part of the island group of Luzon as a folk song.

Legend

• Like most of the male Filipino mythological heroes, he is described as an attractive well-built man and exemplifies great strength. Ama-ron's legend is unique due to the lack of having a story on how he was born which was common with Filipino epic heroes.

Popularity in recent culture

• Lack of popularity can be associated with the way Ama-ron's legend is delivered. It was a children's bedtime tale. This tradition known as hele is gradually decreasing in popularity hence the unfamiliarity of the youth.

Etymology and possible history

• The name Ama-ron is believe to have came from the Tagalog words Ama (Father) and Roon (There) therefore Ama roon (Father is there). The basic unit of settlement on 14th century Philippine is called a Barangay lead by a Datu[1]. The Datu is considered as the chief or primary father figure of the whole barangay where in he represents the strength of barangay. Ama-ron is believed to be a datu of a similar sounding name. Songs and poems could be created telling of Ama-ron to strengthen their barangay's image and stature among nearby tribes.

The accent and phonology on which Ama-ron is pronounced is more similar to that of the earliest Batangan dialect which can also be heard on folk songs of Ama-ron. The Batangan dialect, being closer to Old Tagalog than any other dialect, shows that the root of Ama-ron's mythological history is older that what people believed since Southern Tagalog and Visayan Regions were the first areas of settlements