MGA ALAMAT or myths form an important genre of folk literature.

Together
with legends and folktales, they constitute the large group of folk narratives
in prose. A myth is "a sacred narrative explaining how the world and man
came to be in their present form" ( Dundes, 1984: 1).
The readings in this collection are classified under the following headings:
The introductory text on this page was taken from Damiana Eugenio (ed). The MYTHS:
Philippine Folk Literature. Quezon City: University of the Philippine Press (1993).

The Gods and the Creation of the World:

Philippine myths show that our ancient peoples believed in one supreme god
and in a number of lesser gods and goddesses. Sometimes the name of the
god is not given, he is simply referred to as the Supreme God, great Being, or
God the Most high. Most of the time, their names were given, and these
names varied with the different tribes: Bathala for the Tagalogs,
Mangetchay for the Pampangos, Gugurang for the Bicols, Lumawig and
Kabunian for the Bontoc and Igorot, Liddum for the Ifugao, Mahal Makakaako
for the Mangyan, Laon for the Visayans, Magbabaya for the Bukidnons,
Sualla or Tullus for the tiruray, Melu for the Blaan, Makalidug for the Manobo
of the Agusan Valley, Diwata for the Bagobo, Manama for the Munuvu, the
couple-god Kadaw La Sambad and the Bulon La Mogaw for the Tiboli.
In many myths, the supreme god is the creator of the world. Sometimes
people were merely told that the god made the earth and no further details.
In some myths, the creation of the world was not the work of a supreme
being but rather the outcome of a struggle between hostile forces.

Early Conceptions of the Universe:

Stories of creation contain scattered references which indicate the early
Filipinos' conception of the universe. This universe consists of the Skyworld,
the earth or middleworld, and the underworld. Almost all the different
regional groups believe that the universe has many layers with which each
layer is inhabited by different kinds of being. Part of the early Filipinos'
concept of the universe is the belief that once upon a time the sky was low,
and many myths attest to this belief.

The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars:

Myths about the sun, the moon and the stars explain the following:
1. why the sun and the moon shine at different times of the day,
Monte, Quincy C.
BSE Eng3A

2. why the sun shines more brightly than the moon,

3. why there are spots on the face of the moon, and the sun,
4. the origin of the stars.
A central motif in many of these myths is the enmity or quarrel of the sun
and the moon.

The Great Flood

Mythology speaks of such world calamities as a great fire and a deluge that
happened a long time ago, and myths describing such calamities are
worldwide in occurrence. In the Philippines, there seems to be no myth
about great fires, but flood myths are quite common. In majority of the
myths, the flood occurs as a punishment for the people's failure to fulfill their
sacrificial obligations to the gods or to observe God's laws. Other reasons or
causes of the flood are given in the myths. A Nabaloi version blames the
flood on the negligence of the woman guarding the river. She fell asleep
and wood and thrash clogged the river and caused it to swell and overflow.

Establishment of Natural Order:

Myths try to explain many kinds of natural phenomena: why there is rain,
rainbow, thunder, lightning, earthquake, eclipse, and the like. The rain is
believed by many as the tears shed by a man longing for his vanished wife, a
Diwata (fairy) throwing out water in the sky. The rainbow is believed to be
the flower loving daughter of Bathala, who was cursed by the latter to stay
on earth forever because of her failure to attend a family council ordered by
the Bathala. Other believed that the rainbow is not a person but a road from
the sky to the earth that a man built so that his star wife and child could
visit him without any difficulty. The origin of the lightning and thunder are
stories about the marriage of a god and a mortal wife. The earthquake is
what early Filipinos believed as the movement of the body part of a great
being or by the movement of the post or being that supports the earth.
Others believed that the eclipse of the moon occurs whenever the moon is
swallowed or embraced by a monster --huge snake, lion, or gigantic
tarantula.

Origin of Man:
The creation of man in myths follows immediately after the creation of the
world. Philippine myths explain the origin of the first people on earth in
three ways: (1) man came to earth from heaven/skyworld; (2) the first man
Monte, Quincy C.
BSE Eng3A

and woman emerged fully formed from two nodes of a piece of bamboo, from
two stumps of banana plant, hatched from two eggs of a bird; and (3) they
were created by a god and his helpers out of earth or some other material.

Relationship between Gods and Men:

Myths portray some of the gods and goddesses as being in frequent and
intimate communication with the mortals on earth. This is especially true
among the tribes living in the mountains of the northern parts of the the
main Island.

Acquisition of Culture and the Origin of Fire:

After the creation of man, he has to have fire to keep his surroundings warm
and to use for his own needs. How fire was brought to man is explained in
different stories. Many believed that fire came to man as a gift from the
gods or that it was stolen from a giant as it was told in the folktale Biag ni
Lam-ang (life of Lam-ang) of the North.

Origin of the Water Features:

Like so many Philippine legends explaining the origin of rivers revolve around
the fate of lovers. Legends have also been woven around some popular
spring resorts in the country, among them Sibul Springs in San Miguel
Bulacan, Tiwi Hot Springs in Bicol, Salinas Salt Spring in Nueva Vizcaya,
Mambucal Springs in Negros Occidental, and Mabinay Spring in Negros
Oriental.
In legends explaining the origin of lakes, a common motif is the sunken city
in which a god causes a town or village to sink to punish its inhabitants for
some great sin.
Of many waterfalls in the country, a few has been immortalized in legend.
One was formed because it was dug by a genie in a futile attempt to recover
a golden crow which had fallen and which had been given to a princess by
the god of the mountain. Other lakes said to have been formed by the
inundation or flooding of what were once villages.

Origin of Land Features:

Legends about land features explain the origin of mountains and volcanoes
in general and some specific and famous volcanoes and mountains. A motif
that is found in few of these mountains are the rising from the common
grave of faithful lovers. Others come from the grave of huge animals or a
Monte, Quincy C.
BSE Eng3A

giant who lived in it pulled it out from its foundations and carried it and
moved it to a different place to show its strength.

Origin of Animals:
Animal legends present an interesting array of Philippine fauna, especially of
the smaller specie--birds, fishes, and insects. Of beasts, legends deal mostly
with monkey, rarely with cats and rats. There seem to be legends of the
origin of monkeys in every region of the Philippines. Motifs varied from one
place to another. One motif is that that those who became monkeys are
hungry children who are denied of proper food by their mothers and
stepmothers. In lowland Filipino legends, it is usually a lazy boy who is
transformed into a monkey. In these motifs, the transformation into a
monkey happened as a form of punishment for laziness and selfishness. In
some stories, irreverence in children may also change them into monkeys.
Legends about other small animals like birds vary from one place to another.
Common motif includes girl or boy cruelly treated by their parents or stepparent. They run away and become a bird, oftentimes by merely wishing to
escape the cruelty of the parent. Some birds that make peculiar noises are
also subject of legends. The owl was said to be an old woman who kept
weeping and crying for her dead son Juan to come back to her. An
interesting legend about the bat says that it is once a rat on which the wings
of a bird got stuck. He was however, rejected by both the birds and the rats,
and so in shame he hides during the daytime and flies only at night.

Origin of Plants:
Plant myths and legends abound in Philippine Folklore. They give highly
fanciful accounts of the origin of various kinds of plants, flowers, and fruits.
Among the most widely known of these are those about rice, the staple food
of the Philippines. Legends believed that rice was only known by the gods
until they gave people the detailed instruction on how to plant, have a good
harvest, and cook it. Other motifs include, lovers eloping, a child hiding and
running away, and a lover who died in behalf of his/her love.

Monte, Quincy C.
BSE Eng3A