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The Filipino story “Malakas at Maganda” is a cosmogonic tale, or a creation story about the birth of the first humans. In its many regional variations, it reveals a reverence for the power of natural forces and family ties, deeply rooted gender norms and idealized national characteristics, and the continuing relevance of ancient oral traditions in contemporary expressions of Filipino identity.
With more than 7,000 islands and nearly 200 different languages, it is no surprise that the folklore of the Republic of the Philippines is richly diverse and expansive. Philippine folklore emerges not only from the numerous indigenous cultures, but from immigrant influences, such as settlers from China, Mexico, Spain, the United States, Japan, and South Korea, to name just a few. Scholars note that the geographic and historical legacies of this nation have contributed to the permeability and fluidity of storytelling traditions and the composite nature of its people and its cultures (Fansler 1965).
Before explaining the origins of the first humans, the story of Malakas and Maganda offers an explanation for how land is created. Long ago before the existence of plants, animals, and even dirt, there lived a giant bird who grew tired of flying in between the sea and sky. The bird conceived a plan to antagonize these elemental powers to incite change. The bird’s persistent shrieking led the sea to roll huge waves at the sky. To evade the water, the bird flew high and scratched the sky. In response, the sky hurled giant stones that tamped down the waves. Thus the Philippine islands were created and soon covered with abundant plant life. They finally offered the bird a place to rest. One day the bird heard a persistent knocking sound emanating from a tall bamboo reed. Curiosity piqued, the bird pecked at the bamboo. The reed split in half, revealing two beings, a male to be known as malakas (the strong one) and a female whose appearance awarded her the name maganda (the beautiful one). They became the parents of all Filipinos (Lazaro 1980).
Carlos V. Francisco, Malakas at Maganda, 1964, watercolor. This Filipino origin story tells of the creation of the land and then of the emergence of the first man and woman, destined to be mother and father of all Filipinos, from a reed. (World History Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)
Folklorists place the Malakas and Maganda story in the category of “how and why” stories (also called pourquoi or “just so” stories). This grouping of Filipino texts contains tales that explain a wide variety of natural and animal phenomena: for example, how monkeys came into existence; why cats do not like water; why dogs wag their tails and growl when first meeting each other; why certain fruit is good to eat; why bats fly at night; why certain birds have bald heads; why the crow is black; and why the sun is brighter than the moon.
Further, within this category of Filipino “how and why” folktales, one can find multiple explanations for the origin of the first human beings. The Malakas and Maganda story version related above contains key character and plot elements found in many versions. However, regional variations of this tale are numerous. Many of these regional variations contain additional characters, plot elements, and explanations for how and why other aspects of the physical world are created and organized.
In the tale “How the World Was Made,” the god Maguayan rules the water below, and the sky above is ruled by the god Captan. These two gods arrange the marriage of two of their children, the daughter Lidagat (sea) and the son Lihangin (wind). This marriage is fruitful and produces one daughter and three sons who, like their parents, are also spirit-elements: gold, copper, silver, and rock. After a period of time one of the sons becomes greedy and wishes for more power. He coerces his brothers to his side and together they attack their sky grandfather. In retaliation, Captan sends forth lightning that strikes and transforms his grandchildren. Gold is melted into the sun; copper into the moon; silver becomes the stars in the sky; and when the rock is struck, it shatters and falls to the sea becoming landforms. The two old grandfathers restore peace when Captan gives Maguayan a seed to plant on the newly created islands. This seed grows into the bamboo tree from which the first human beings emerge. These beings are named Sicalac and Sicabay (Miller 1904, 57–61). Another variation of this story elaborates on the significance of these names: “When the reed grew, it broke into two sections, which became a man and a woman. To the man they gave the name Sicalac, and that is the reason why men from that time on have been called lalake; the woman they called Sicavay (Sikauay), and thenceforth women have been called babayes” (Eugenio 1982, 36).
As demonstrated by the texts above, regional variations of the Filipino creation story can vary greatly. Still other versions differ only in the smaller details. In some versions the bird is an eagle and in others a kite. In one text the two new humans hop on board the giant bird to survey the islands for the best place to call home, while in still other versions, there is no bird at all.
In a Tinguian version of this creation story, the story continues to elaborate on the growing first family. In the tale, the children of the man and woman who emerged from the bamboo reed become so numerous and rowdy that the father chases them around the house. Their hiding places explain their future role or racial-ethnic characteristics: “It is said that those who fled to the most hidden rooms are the chiefs of these islands; those who remained nearer the outside are the timaguas; those who hid themselves within the walls are the slaves; those who hid themselves in the fireplace are the blacks; and those who fled out to the sea through the open door are the Spaniards,” who when they return, are white (Eugenio 1982, 23). In yet another version, human racial differences are explained as the result of a punishment. People are scattered across the land after one of the first sons offers divine worship to a whale he has caught in a fish trap. To teach humans to worship only the gods, he and all his future children are turned black (Eugenio 1982, 25–26).
From these selected examples, one can see a variety of angles for scholarly inquiry. Some scholars examine the role of the bird as instigator, mediator, midwife, and creator or co-creator while other folklorists note how numerous versions call attention to man and woman as two separate but equally important beings in the foundation of Philippine cultures. Others have been critical of how retellings of the creation story seem to prescribe social, ethnic, and masculine and feminine gender stereotypes. Other scholars focus on specific examples of problematic adaptations. Political historian Vicente L. Rafael describes how Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos appropriated the Malakas and Maganda myth to legitimize and popularize their authority. In addition to evoking the story in their speeches and in writing, the Marcoses commissioned several very visible art pieces depicting themselves as the mythical first man and woman, and therefore the rightful father and mother of the nation.
Found in school textbooks, popular songs, as the inspiration for paintings, wood carvings, dance performances, and as a tool in the creation of political ideologies, the Filipino story of the first man and woman is anything but simple. As more and more Filipinos work and live outside of the Philippine Islands, perhaps the most important significance of a story like Malakas and Maganda is in how it highlights the national values of strength and beauty, resilience against destructive outside forces, and the continual resurgence, adaptation, and creative growth of the islands’ natural, animal, human, and cultural resources.
Andrea Sant
See also Filipino American Folklore and Folktales; Legend of the Pineapple; Star Maiden
Further Reading
Cole, Mabel Cook. 1916. Philippine Folk Tales. Chicago: A. C. McClurg.
Docdocil, Frederick Alain. 2009. “Ancient Philippine Creation Myth: Malakas and Maganda.” BakitWhy website. July 4. http://www.bakitwhy.com/articles/ancient-philippine-creation-myth-malakas-and-maganda. Accessed June 15, 2015.
Eugenio, Damiana L. 1982. Philippine Folk Literature: An Anthology. Diliman, Quezon City: U.P. Folklorists.
Fansler, Dean S. 1965. Filipino Popular Tales. Hatboro, PA: Folklore Associates.
Lazaro, Flora. 1980. Maganda and 2 Sea Stories. Illustrated by Lee Samson. Los Angeles: National Dissemination and Assessment Center.
Miller, John Maurice. 1904. Philippine Folklore Stories. Boston: Ginn.
Rafael, Vicente L. 2000. “Patronage, Pornography and Youth: Ideology and Spectatorship during the Early Marcos Years.” White Love: And Other Events in Filipino History, 122–162. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.