Juramentado: Fanatic or Freedom Fighter?

Juramentado is a Spanish term for "someone who has taken the oath." During the Spanish Period, it became popular as a derogatory term for Muslim warriors in Mindanao who made a vow to fight to death.

From the point of view of the Spaniards, the juramentados were fanatics used by their religious leaders to terrorize non-Muslims and foreigners. The usual description by Europeans gave the impression that the juramentados were maladjusted and descriptive individuals, who could not pay off their debts and thus swore to kill as many Christians as possible, or who turned fanatic to atone for their crimes.

Some accounts, however, point to their heroism in the Filipino fight for freedom. For example, in Datu Uto's campaign against the Spanish conquest, the juramentados were military assets. In 1874, forty of them fell upon the Spanish force that invaded Bakat. Another juramentado defended the mausoleum of the Nauyan ruling family when the Spaniards tried to raze it in 1886. Another group attacked Cotabato and Tamontaka, burning barracks and Jesuit houses.

A juramentado must first undergo rigorous training under a pandita or religious leader. He begins with fasting, prayers, courses in the forest, and then listens to the lengthy sermons on the joys of Paradise after death in the name of Allah. As one historian said, the juramentados' "movements toward their sure death were movements in the direction of Paradise; the more Christians they killed, the closer they came to fulfillment."

Tagalog Expressions: Linguistic Zoo

Animals are often used as points of comparison in expressing ideas and emotions or describing characters and events. Many of these Tagalog expressions are still used as of today. They call a treacherous fellow ahas (snake), a talkative guy loro (parrot), a slowpoke pagong (turtle), and a very thin and sickly person butiki (house lizard).

They also have idioms that begin with parang like and are followed by th ename of an animal. Parang ipis (like a cockroach) refers to a very shy and soft spoken person. Parang linta (like a leech) is a userer. Parang elepante (like an elephant) means a big and heavy person. Parang aso (like a dog) is someone who is servile.

Some expressions are colorful, like parang natuka ng ahas (as if bitten by a snake) which means stunned or speechless. Parang aso't pusa (like cats and dogs) is and idiom for persons, especially brothers or sisters, who always quarrel. Parang kinahig ng manok (as if scribbled by a chicken) is used to describe terrible hand-writing. Parang patay na lukan (like a dead clam) is someone who is very silent-either because he is timid or insensitive.

Filipino Superhero Origins: Aliguyon and Bantugan

Aliguyon is the hero of the Ifugao Hudhud, he was invincible in battle, could catch spears in the air, and fought many combats to win his wife Bugan. One episode tells of his duel with Pumbakhayon, a warrior of equal strength from the village of Daligdigan. They fought again for another one and a half years, until a compromise was reached. After sharing some wine, Aliguyon took home Bugan, Pumbakhayon's sister, to marry, while Pumbakhayon married Aliguyon's sister, Aginaya

Bantugan, hero of the Maranaw Darangen, Bantugan was the brother of the chief of Bembaran. He owned a magic sheild, was protected by tonongs or divine spirits, and was capable of rising the dead. Once, Bembaran was attacked because his enemies had heard that he had died.

Bantugan's soul was recovered and returned to him in time for him to immediately ride his magic shield and wipe out his enemies. Soon he got tired and fell into the water. A crocodile delivered him into the hands of his enemies. But he regained his strength, commanded a ship which moved without oars,and won the battle.

Filipino Superheroes of Long Ago

Long before Superman, Batman and Captain America, ancient Filipinos told tales of love and adventure about native superheroes who fought monsters, won over formidable armies, rode the wind, traveled on flying shields, and led the earliest communities in the islands.

Songs on the exploits of these superheroes were sung during festivities and proper occasions, and are termed folk epics or ethno-epics. Most often, ethno-epics were named after superheroes, except for some which carry traditional titles. like the Kalinga Ulalim, the Sulod Hinilawod, the Maranaw Darangen, or the Bikol Ibalon.

Stories about ancient superheroes have sometimes been describe as "old time history" because they can be used to study the lives and beliefs of the people who produced them. They have also been describe as "lost", because they were soon forgotten by Filipinos who came under the heavy influence of Spanish colonization. Thus, many tales of Filipino superheroes can only be heard in the in the hinterlands of Northern Mindanao.

Some Filipino Superheroes of long ago are listed below:

• Aliguyon
• Tuwaang
• Lam-ang
• Bantugan

Tausug Translation of Wisdom

To the Tausug masaalla is a Tausug transaltion for an Arabic proverb. Some are pittuwa, or advice about life. Proverbs are part of daman or symbolic speech, which includes riddles and courtship dialogues.

Some proverbs follow:

In lasa iban ud di hikaitapuk.
Love and a cough cannot be hidden.

In ulang matutug nada sin sug.
A sleeping crab will be carried by the current.

Wayruun asu bang way kayu.
There is no smoke where there is no fire.

Atay nagduruwaruwa wayruun kasungan niya.
One who cannot decide will have no future.

Away mangaku daug salugay bubi
Never admit defeat as long as you live.

Visayan Love Songs

If the Tagalogs have the kundiman for their romantic folk song, the Visayans have the visayan love songs called balitao or balitaw. Traditionally, the balitaw in Cebuano is a song in which a man and a woman engage in debate while they dance to the music of a subing (a native flute) or a sista (a guitar made out of coconut shell), until one wins. The debate tackles any idea but usually centers on love and courtship. Thus, the common notion outside Cebu id that the balitaw is a love song.

The balitaw is a popular form of entertainment at any social gathering. One popular folk song, "Rosas Pandan", describes a precious heritage of the Cebuanos;

Balitaw day akong puhunan
Maoy kabilin sa akong ginikanan
Nga garbo sa atong kabunturan

Balitaw is my only asset
An inheritance ffrom my ancestors,
A most ancient song
That is the pride of our hills.

In Hiligaynon, folk songs are sometimes called balitaw. The most popular are the very sentimental "Walang Angay" and the lullaby "Ili Ili Tulog Anay". Hiligaynon has also a unique folk song called composo. It is a ballad with soft melody and tells of violent loves and incidents.

T'boli Tribe Orthodontics

For the T'boli tribe, pearly white teeth make human beings no better than animals. To enhance their appearance, T'boli women grind and blacken their teeth. Men do the same to gain power over animals.

Their practice is called tamblang. It consists of two steps. First, the nibik, when the teeth are filled into regular shapes. Then, silob or olit, when the teeth are blackened with sap of a tree. Sometimes, women cover their teeth with gold as a sign of affluence. Only datus and their kin can have gold teeth. T'boli tribe claims this custom from the Muslims.

The Bolo Punch Boxer

On New Year's Day 1981, a legendary Filipino boxer died in the Kaiser Hospital, San Diego California. He was Ceferino Garcia, former world middleweight boxing champion and inventor of the devastating "bolo punch."

Garcia's strange swing first attracted the attention of boxing aficionados when he used it to knock out Fred Apostoli in the seventh round at the Madison Square Garden on October 2, 1939. That evening he won the New York version of the middleweight crown even if a rival organization, the National Boxing Association, recognized Al Hostak as the champion.

Garcia was born in t he Visayas in 1912. He supposedly developed the bolo punch because of his experience in wielding a bolo knife as a boy working in a sugarcane fields. The punch is a combination of uppercut and half-hook. It was imitated by other fighters, including boxing greats Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard.

Garcia's lifetime boxing mark was 81-26-9. Of his wins, fifty seven came about through knockouts. He was the fourth Filipino boxer to win a world title and was the twenty-fourth New York middleweight champion.

Philippine Legends - Malakas at Maganda

A bluebird called tigmamamukin perched on a bamboo cane after several days of flying. He was so hungry and so tired. when he saw a tiny lizard on the bamboo cane several times.

The tiny lizard got away but the bamboo cane cracked open. Out came a man and a woman named Malakas at Maganda. They both had brown skin and supple bodies. Malakas had strong arms and agile feet. Maganda was equally strong and industrious. They were the first couple of the Tagalogs.