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Considered the greatest of Pangasinan vernacular writers was Don Pablo Mejia, who edited the Tunong,
a vernacular news magazine, published from 1924-1935. He wrote in epic form a biography of the national heor, Bilay
tan Kalkalar nen Rizal, in metered verse in classical Pangasinan. He also wrote a brief history of the province, a grammar
for the Pangasinan language, and a Pangasinan dictionary.
After the Tunong, Maria C. Magsano founded the Silew Magazine,
a vernacular publication whose forte was literature. Later Silew were published in book form. Her most popular
work was Samban Agnabenegan, a beautiful love tale woven around a young medical practitioner. The Silew did not survived
in war years but the spirit lives on in the pages of the Pangasinan Courier.
Another vernacular literary supplement is
the Sinag of Ermin Garcia's Pioneer Herald, the first newspaper to be published in the province after the Japanese occupation.
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Oral Literature
Oral literature is alive in the cancionan, a singing joust usually between two individuals, a male
and a female. The most well-known cancionista of the thirties was Alejandro Mendoza of San Carlos, considered the Father
of the Cancionan. The usual theme of their verbal jousting was the courtship of the female by the male. In the
modern period, the cancionan has moved to the air lanes and is aired over the radio stations in Dagupan. The singing
debates had more contemporary themes which varied from one week to the other to keep the interest of the listeners.
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