The Ibálong, is a 60-stanza fragment of a folk epic from the Bicol region of the Philippines, based on the Indian Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharta. The epic is said to have been narrated in verse form by a native poet called Kadunung. The Ibalong portrays deeds in heroic proportions, centering on warrior-heroes named, among others, Baltog, Handyong, and Bantong. They came from Boltavara, settling and ruling Bikolandia and its inhabitants. The epic is set in the land of Aslon and Ibalong.
The central figure in the epic is Handyong. He came to Bicol with his followers after Baltog, and came to be the most famous of the tawong-lipod. He cleared the land of predatory monsters, inspired inventions, reintroduced agriculture, built tree-houses where anitosor idols were kept called moog, and set up a code of laws, establishing a golden age in his day. He is also known to have built the first boat and developed rice cultivation in flooded areas.
Oryol is a demi-goddess in Bicolano myths, she is mentioned as a serpent in the Ibalong epic. Believed to be the daughter of the deity Asuang, Oryol possesses inhuman beauty and prowess when it comes to seduction. Aside from being beautiful in stories, it is told that she has a beautiful voice that could lure anyone (both men and women, even animals). Half of her body is a serpent. It is believed that the Naga and the Magindara obey her every command for she is a demigoddess.
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