In a village of Sta. Barbara, there is a young man named Pilo. It is a habit for Pilo to bring a guitar when visiting his lover. In the road is a lush balete tree which is widely reputed and known as the dwelling of the tamawo.
One humid night, Pilo is returning home from strolling around when he thought of passing by and serenade alone in the balete tree. He is just starting to sing some lovely songs accompanied by the sounds of the guitar when Pilo felt the wind is blowing stronger. Pilo continued to sing without even fearing. In the middle of his singing the rain suddenly fell but Pilo noticed he never got wet. It was followed by a sudden appearance of a fire from the top of the balete tree and Pilo was petrified and attempted to run but it seems something is stopping him. In a blink of an eye, it came to the view of Pilo a very big house, a house he could not describe its beauty.
Pilo saw the opening of the door and in an instance he realized that he was at the porch of the house facing a very beautiful lady. They talked for a long while and the lady told him he should return the next day as long as he should avoid drinking tuba and smoking.
Pilo went home as if dreaming to what had happened to him. The next day Pilo bragged to his friends about what had happened and planned to return to the place together with his friends. They spent the whole night and early dawn serenading but what was expected did not happened. Most probably his companions were inebriated.
Long time ago when there were still fewer people, there is a couple who lives in a remote area of Santa Barbara. Their small house is located at the foothills of a mound which is far from its neighbors. Their water well is near the Balete tree which is not far from their house. The husband is working in the city and returns home early in the evening so his wife was left alone in their house.
One day, the woman thought of washing their dirty clothes. When she was about to finish her work, she saw a very beautiful ring beside the well. Instead of keeping it, the woman exposed it in the road so that if the owner returns and looks for it, he or she will immediately see it. After two days, the woman will be doing the laundry again. When she was about to go home and hang dry the clothes she saw the said ring inside her batya. The woman got nervous and hurriedly went to the well. She thought she will be accused wrongly by the owner of the ring.
However, when she was returning to the well she saw a man under the balete tree and smiling at her. Without any hesitation, the woman showed him the said ring and asked him if he was the owner. The man smilingly answered that he was the owner of the ring but he sincerely give it to the woman. The woman got scared and explained that she’s already married and has a husband. She was not forced to get the ring.
When the night falls and the husband returns home from the city. He caught and saw that she was so sick with stomachache. Since they are remotely living far away from their neighbors and town center, the woman died without giving cure or solution to her illness. In his deep resentment, the man left the place and continued with his work in the city as a garbage collector.
Many years had passed and the man continued with his work. One day when he was returning home in a narrow path he saw a small store which he had never seen before. He went to the said store and pretends to buy a cigarette. He was suddenly petrified when it was revealed to him the lady inside the store which really resembled his wife. He asked the woman in the hopes of her being a relative of his departed wife.
The woman confessed the truth that she has three child and a wife of a tamawo (fairy), who is the owner of the ring and formerly residing in the balete tree near the place where they live. When the man learned about it, he wanted to hug his wife only that cold steel bars gets in between them.
They talked intensively while the tamawo or fairy is busy trading in other countries. The woman said that if her former husband wants to be reunited with her, he should go home to the place where they used to live, gather and fill with hays the balete tree. At around 12 o'clock noon of Good Friday of Holy Week, he should light or ignite the hays with fire and the woman will jump out of it.
The man left his job and followed all the instructions of his wife. So when 12 o'clock noon of Good Friday arrived, the man lighted with fire the balete tree and suddenly his wife jumped out of it. Since then, they lived happily together. Several years had passed, however each time 12 o'clock noon of Good Friday comes they can hear three children screaming "Mommy... Mommy..."
Photo Source:
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners/2012/10/the-beautiful-wife-how-one-woman-is-crusading-to-save-christian-marriages.html
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/
