The Legend of Isla Gigantes in Carles, Iloilo*
The Legend of Isla Gigantes
in Carles, Iloilo*
In a place called Punta
Bulakawe in the town of Carles,
there was a childless couple
who endlessly asked for a child.
They were blessed with a son
who grew up too fast.
Too fast he grew that he can
no longer enter thier house when he was one
and all men were only as
tall as his knees.
The giant child grew up and
spent his adolescence in a mountain
known as the Beheya Hill.
Everytime this giant walked,
the surroundings shook.
Each of his step meant
earthquake for everyone.
This made everyone fear him.
Because of his steps, he was
called Higante Tay-og --
literally means Giant Quake.
Higante Tay-og decided to
remain in Beheya Hill
which he could access by two
or three steps only.
To entertain himself, he
learned to smoke cigars.
Each time he exhale smoke
from his cigar, the surroundings dim.
When he accidentally inhaled
the smoke, he coughed;
the folks feared it like
thunder that shook the surroundings.
This caused everyone to fear
for upcoming calamities.
Higante Tay-og got no human
friends and made friends with wild animals.
One day, a boat docked at
the foot of his home.
He spied and saw that inside
the boat were an old woman and a beautiful lady.
The lady has a long hair and
a slender body.
And judging from her dress,
she came from an unknown foreign land.
From what he heard, she was
named Prinsesa Maganda
which literally means
Princess Beautiful,
and the old woman was her
grandmother.
They stayed in a shanty left
by a folk when Higante Tay-og lived in the hill.
When the giant first saw the
lady, he felt something beautifully strange towards her.
The next day, he caught
fishes and left them in front of the shanty.
He did this everyday and
sometimes, he left raised animals too.
He did this until the
grandmother and Prinsesa Maganda learned of his kindness.
The townfolks were at awe
when they learned that Higante Tay-og
and Prinsesa Maganda became
sweethearts.
They were set to be married
on full moon.
Higante Tay-og was very busy
preparing for his wedding.
He gathered Burot, a plant
found in the forest.
He also gathered kalabasa or
squash, gabi, kabugaw or pomelo, suha or calamansi, canya and tubo or
sugarcane.
He prepared the Tulunan-an,
a giant claypot, of his mother.
He also gathered cogon and
anahaw to be used to build their house
and kept them in a nigo, a
native round and flat container.
He also prepared a Binangon
or a bolo and looked for a pair of giant shoes
and a little pair for the
princess.
He gathered these all on top
of the Beheya Hill.
On the day before their
wedding, a sailboat carrying pirates came.
At this time, Higante Tay-og
was still busy preparing for his wedding,
When the pirates docked,
they went to the shanty and grabbed the princess away.
The townfolks stopped the
pirates with their bamboo poles and bows
as well as sharp branches
and rocks inorder to rescue the princess but to no success.
In this chaos, Higante
Tay-og came.
When one pirate sensed that
they were in danger,
he planted an arrow in the
heart of the lady.
The heavens grieved because
of the death of the princess.
The giant overturned the
sailboat and looked for the princess but it was too late.
The giant grieved and cried
and cried.
His cry was like thunder and
his tears were like falling rains.
He slowly brought the body
of the princess to his home.
With his brewing anger, he
picked up the wedding gifts and threw them one by one to the seas.
He grabbed the small shoe
first and threw it on the left
and this became the island
of Sapatos Diutay, literally means small shoe.
Next, he grabbed the giant
shoe and threw it beside the small shoe
and this became the island
of Sapatos Daku, literally means big shoe.
He grabbed the bunch of
cogon and he forcefully threw it away
so that it landed so far and
this was later known as the island of Sicogon.
He grabbed the giant claypot
filled with burot, kabugaw, kalabasa and gabi,
and farway, he threw them
away so that the contents later became the island of Naburot,
Island of Kabugaw, Isla de
Kalabasa and the claypot as Island of Tulunan-an.
The giant looked for the
nigo filled with the leaves of anahaw and canya
which he threw upwards when
he saw them so that they emerged
as Island of Manigo-nigo
just near Punta Bulakawe and the leaves became Island of Island of
Cana.
When he had nothing more to
grab, the giant kissed the lady and let her float to the skies.
Because he could not accept
what happened, the giant drew the binangon on his waist
and he hacked himself into
two and when he lost grip of the binangon,
it bacame the Island of
Balbagon.
The giant's halved body fell
down just near each other
and they were later known as
Higante Norte and Higante Sur.
After a long time, the body
of the princess floating in the skies fell down
and landed on the head of
Higante Norte and became the Island of Higantuna.
And then, the sailboat of
the pirates was brought to Higante Sur and became the live rocks.
Because the live rocks take
the shape of a ship, it was called by the folks as "Bapor-bapor"
or literally "ship-like."
And they say that in these live rocks, there can be found a
mysterious cave filled with haunting stories.
*Told in verse by Gerlie M.
Uy
Based on a history of the
island of Carles
courtesy of HRMO and
Christie Ann Gelvezon
of LGU, Carles, Iloilo
*Photo by Roderick Espinosa of PALI
tulum-an, i presume, means a pot where you "tu-om" the food. "tu-om" is a method of cooking where you wrap the raw food in banana leaves and cook them either inside a pot or over an open fire. during the japanese occupation, the evacuees "tu-om" their food on an open fire because they left most of their cooking utensils behind when they escaped from the japanese armed forces. in cabatuan, iloilo, they call their fiesta the "tinu-om" festival. this is their way of promoting the tinu-om" dish where sliced pieces of native chicken in a bowl of water are mixed with katumbal, tanglad, asin, etc, and then wrapped in banana leaves and tied on top to keep all the water and ingredients inside the banana leaves. the "pack" is then placed in a "tulom-an" and steamed until cooked. it is served as a banana leaf-wrapped packet on a bowl and opened in front of the diners. the preparation is similar to how we cook tinola but the "tinu-om" soup has the distinct flavor of banana leaves. this banana leaf has become the landmark of cabatuan. you can find a giant banana leaf (concrete) in front of the cabatuan plaza. this structure also doubles as a waiting shed. the best tinu-om in cabatuan are in "talabahan" and in a carinderia (i forgot the name) at the public market.
ReplyDeleteI am familiar with the tu-om sir. I am happy that my mother was beside me when I was doing the verse. Tulunan-an may be another synonym of the claypot and it is the word in my source. Isn't it amazing that from time to time we can hear words that are almost lost in our daily conversation?... :)
DeleteThanks for the insight sir Butch, and for the tips too.
DeleteWhat Filipino customs, traditions, values, and historical accounts does the story convey?
ReplyDelete