The tamawos were the fairies of the Ilonggos. They were considered as someone who are like us. They went to the market, church and hear mass but goes out when the Holy Eucharist is raised. The only difference is that the tamawo has no balintataw (pupils) in their eyes.
Love captures and conquers anyone. Just like the ocean, it is free, vast and knows no boundary. This was the description of the life of Aling Rosing. She became the center of affection of a tamawo. She was a twenty-two year old young lady then. Around eleven o’clock then while she was gathering and picking some nipa leaves she heard someone is calling her name and she saw a man sitting near a tree. He might probably be around thirty years old. The young lady was immovable or static from where she stands and she felt sleepy and passed out. It was already afternoon when she regained consciousness. She never saw anyone but after a short while, he saw the man again. He is just staring at her, speechless. Aling Rosing went home carrying the nipa leaves. The man followed her. He suddenly disappeared when they were nearing the house of Aling Rosing.
After two months, one night Aling Rosing accompanied her mother to the shores to fulfill some necessities. Aling Rosing saw a lot of people – men and women but her mother saw nothing. They pulled Aling Rosing towards the stairs of the palace like house in Roca Encantada. The tamawos were talking to each other but she could not understand their language. The man she saw before was also present here but he is not talking. The young man remained speechless at that point. Aling Rosing was followed by her mother in Roca Encantada and the tamawos instantly disappeared like bubbles.
Aling Rosing turns twenty-four years old at that time. The very round full moon is exploding with golden brilliance. She thought of going to the shores. All of a sudden, a mysterious young man came out of her sight that seems like keeping a feeling of affection to her. He holds her by the hands. Aling Rosing seems lost. Together they crossed the shores from Roca Encantada until Barrio Navalas. Then the tamawo or fairy disappeared again.
On this bizarre event, Aling Rosing’s father ordered her to drink some tuba or local palm wine to drive away the tamawo and abandon her. The tuba or palm wine was believed to be the drink hated by the tamawos or fairies. Since Aling Rosing started to drink tuba or palm wine, the tamawo suitor never ever appeared to her again.
There is a tree of Salay or Salai (Boswellia serrata) in Santa Barbara. The Americans were then building and laying the tracks or railway of a train that will reach Capiz province. They reached and came to the place where the tree of Salay stands. Due to unknown and unexplained cause, a lot of the workers died while building the railway in this place. Shortly after, the chief contractor dreamed of a beautiful lady who told him to discontinue their work and the cutting off the tree of Salay. The said tree of Salay is a hindrance to the construction of the rail track. The American said he is ready to buy the site and land. The mysterious lady responded that even all the wealth and riches of America could not compensate the value of the land. She further added that they have a lot of ships in that area. She warned the chief engineer that all of his workers will die if he continued with his plan on Salay tree. On this omen, the engineer decided to change the route of the railway. Since then, no one of his workers had died.
Photo Source:
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/all-the-leaves-brown/article4088976.ece
Lolo Jose is living in Barrio Tacay, a barrio of Buenavista. One night which was a full moon then, when he thought of strolling in the nearby river. In his strolling, he passed by a barn or warehouse which was filled by sacks of lime. When he was nearing it, he saw something like an ember or a pyre from the roof. When he looked up at it, he saw a very tall and very dark man sitting on it smoking a tobacco. It has a huge head and very dark skinned. Due to extreme fear, Lolo Jose was petrified and cannot move from where he stand. He instantly had goosebumps and hair raising fearing he might get killed. He attempted to shout but no sound came out of his mouth. He passed out and when he regained his consciousness the kapre was gone. He went home hurriedly and told his wife and children his experience.
Photo Source:
https://www.bagoh2.deviantart.com
Is it true kapre exists?
In a barrio in Tigbauan there are still a lot of people who remembers Lolo (Grandpa) Tisyo to what happened to him when he was still a young man. This is what he told:
One evening, he arrived gasping for breath and his facial expression appears visibly shaken and terrified. He was asked why he was acting that way. Everyone were surprised when he said he saw a kapre. He was going home that night when he saw that the sampaloc tree seems like a smoldering ember. He came closer a little bit and was surprised when all of a sudden an object he thought was an ember fell. Due to his surprise and wonder, he enlightened it with his flashlight. He was surprised to see a very big foot of a human and when he looked up he realized a giant man was in front of him sitting while smoking a tobacco under the Sampaloc tree. “Kapreeee,” he shouted and he scampered away. Since then he never wanders around at night.
Photo Source:
http://warriorsofmyth.wikia.com/wiki/File:Kapre-g5f3d-9j6.jpg
Mantiw has a resemblance with the Kapre.
Long time ago, there is a young man a musician or guitarist who likes to serenade while playing the guitar even if it’s in the depth of the night or midnight. He was told by his parents not to spend the midnight or deepest nights serenading (from the root word “harana”) because he might encounter the wandering mantiw and bring him to the farthest. But these pieces of advice of his parents was received with cold shoulders.
One night at around 11 o’clock he sat down at the stairs of the house of his suitor while plucking the strings of his guitar. A very tall man (seems like a giant) came close to him, carried him and put him sitting on his broad shoulders. In the great shock of the young man he hold his guitar tight and with all strength he played the guitar until his fear and nervousness is gone. The guitar which is near the ear of the mantiw (giant) created much noise. The mantiw thought what kind of man he is carrying. The mantiw got scared and put the one he carried on his shoulder at the top of a buri. When the morning comes, the parents of the young man were surprised and looked for him because he never returned home. A lot of people were looking for him.
When the fear of the young man is gone, he asked for help. Two long stairs were used for him to go down. He learned his lessons well. Since then he doesn’t went out and return home late at night in serenading.
*Mantiw is an ogre
Photo Source:
http://flashfictionworld.blogspot.com/
It was a full moon then, the siblings Lourdes, Sinang, Miting and Dadong were happily playing at the porch of their house when all of a sudden, a tiktik passed by. Since Lourdes is the youngest and the naughtiest among the siblings suddenly shouts, “Give us some pieces of something for skewers!” After that, they run inside the house. Lourdes was reprimanded by their mother. After sometime, the tiktik came back and dropped something in the porch. The mother went out to check what the dropped object is. Her eyes went bigger in surprise when it appeared to her a piece of liver of a human!
According to the stories of the elders, there is a woman living in the town. One day, while the woman is planting some vegetables a big bird came close to her suddenly. She whacked the big bird with a bolo or a sharp bladed weapon but unfortunately, it was not hit and unharmed. After this, she was wrestled by the big bird. The powerless woman can’t do anything because the big bird is so strong and powerful that she could not even move or shout. After a few days, the woman was found dead. Her stomach was cut open wrecked and her liver is gone. The big bird was actually an aswang.
Photo Source:
https://www.anthonyfrancisco.com
