GSTF GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.4 No.

2, October 2015

Legends: Mirror of a People’s Mind

Doris Ogdoc-Gascon, DALitCom

Abstract—The legends of Cebu need to be preserved through legendary characters’ women-as-witches stereotypes and the
an ethnoliterary critical anthology in order to keep alive its women-as-dead victims; and (5) The collective Cebuano
people’s heritage and letters. Cebu is the province located at psyché reveals the traits of being judgmental, inclined to
the middle of the archipelagic Philippines. This is where the hearsays, protective of their children, superstitious, believer of
oldest city (Cebu City) and ( Colon St. ) street in the country the dead and supernatural beings’ presence among the living,
are found [1]. Furthermore, Cebu City is declared as the first fearful, ritualistic, sin conscious, and gender bias.
City of Culture by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
and has contributed to the Philippines’ recognition as the The new concepts that this study has contributed to the
ASEAN Culture Capital for 2010 and 2011[2]. The title allows field of regional studies and literary traditions are: the
the promotion of the region’s arts and culture to other generation of categories of the legends and the idea of
Southeast Asian nations [3]. This ethnoliterary research feminism’s involvement in the Cebuano psyché as reflected in
anthologizes and analyzes the representative legends of Cebu the legends.
in order to protect and uphold Cebuanos’ cultural heritage as Keywords- legends, Cebuanos, ethnography, Philippine
well as offer understanding on Cebuanos’ collective psyché. literature, Asian culture, Asian beliefs, Cebuano psyché, Asian
Specifically, it focuses on the following: (1) the profile of the Literature, ethnoliterary research, Superstitious, life after death
Cebuano tellers; (2) the legends of Cebu and their
categorization; (3) their archetypal-thematic analysis; (4) the
feminism revealed in the legendary characters, and (5) the I. INTRODUCTION
collective Cebuano psyché reflected in the legends.
The method of research used in this study is ethnoliterary Cebu has many legends that have been told orally, but
research which involves interviewing the eighty-five (85) key have not been recorded in print. These oral traditions have
informants who have retold the thirty-one (31) legends from contributed greatly to Cebuanos’ culture. As time passes
the twenty-two (22) representative regions of Cebu. This study by, these legends are at risk of loss if not preserved.
theorizes that the legends of Cebu, through their archetypes
Therefore, this research intends to save these oral literatures
and themes, signify the collective Cebuano psyché. This
research assumption is supported by the formalistic, mimetic, by making printed documents of the legends.
and feministic literary theories in the analytical approach As a result, it preserves the oral tradition of literature
toward delving into the legends focusing on their archetypal and becomes a means of preserving “life” that is handed
and thematic dimensions.
down by their ancestors. This oral lore of the pre-colonial
The results of the quantitative analysis on the profiles of Filipinos bore the marks of the community. Lore is a story
the respondents and the legends as well as the qualitative that has been told from one generation to the next about
discourse analysis are these findings: (1) The profile of the supernatural phenomena. Basically, these oral literatures of
oral literary tellers shows women as the cultural storytellers; the early Filipinos reflect the common experience of a
(2) The legends of Cebu reveal the following: (a) They can be
group of people such as farming, fishing, and hunting as
categorized into three: Living Human Beings, Mythical
Creatures ( subdivided into: human-looking creatures, well as their beliefs, practices, attitudes, emotions, ideals,
animal-looking creatures, and mysterious matter), and Dead or wisdom [4]. Through the centuries, native literatures
Souls; (b) Majority of the legendary characters with identified came to be developed as a result of the collective desire to
gender are female (71.43%), which may suggest a gender bias express the thoughts, feelings, and ideals on certain matters
with the negative portrayal of women; and (c) Nature (such as that touched the community’s interests [5]. Before, oral
trees and rivers) is the common abode of mythical creatures; literary tradition had been used to groom the conduct and
(3) The legends’ archetypes signify killer of the unborn, killer mold the moral fiber of the children of the Filipinos. These
of the children, evil force, animal’s involvement in humans, oral traditions served as “artistic capsules” in which their
strength of supernatural beings, kindness of supernatural
ancestors preserved their social beliefs and values and
beings, dead’s involvement in humans, vulnerability of
women, magic and power in humans, with the themes: the handed down to their succeeding generations [6].
protection of the young, and defenseless, the existence of other Therefore, oral traditions apparently shape the culture of a
forces-good or bad, the inevitability of life after death, and the certain people.
acquisition of powers by humans; (4) feminism is at play in the
construction of the legends, as evidenced in the reported

DOI: 10.5176/2251-2853_4.2.181

©The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access by the GSTF
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 GSTF GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.4 No.2, October 2015

Thus, the anthologizing of the different legends is a analysis of literary texts using the formalistic and mimetic
legacy to the next generations of Filipinos. They will be critical analyses for interpreting data. Ethnoliterary research
able to have a good look on the richness of the Philippine is the study of the literatures of ethno (folk or people) [9].
culture by appreciating the literature of a certain region in a In this research, a questionnaire is its main instrument in
convenient way – through reading the stories on paper. gathering data. Interviews with the respondents will also be
Insights will be developed as a result of the studying of done to supplement written instructions and clarify some
these legends. Consequently, improvement of Cebuano questions and items.
culture is at hand when there is knowledge of the existing
B. Sources of Data
oral literary traditions. They will understand themselves
more by studying the archetypes and themes that govern the There are eighty-five (85) respondents from twenty-
legends that reflect their collective psyché. two (22) representative cities and municipalities of Cebu
who have participated in answering the questionnaire for
the data of this study. The survey questionnaire includes
II. OBJECTIVES two parts. The first part is the profile of the Cebuano tellers
in terms of their gender and address. The second part
The goal of this research is to put into record the oral includes the narration of the story that has been believed to
literary traditions which are the “legends” of Cebuanos. be factual but has not been proven yet, which the informant
Moreover. this research also analyzes the psyché of the has heard or has experienced himself.
people of Cebu through archetypal-thematic categorization
C. Data-gathering Procedure
and mimetic analysis of the legends. The theme is the main
concept or idea of the legend. Themes describe the lives, Five phases are sequentially followed in the
human nature, and elements of the society. Identifying the generation of data toward completing this literary
themes allows the viewing of the people’s beliefs and ethnographic research: profiling of the Cebuano tellers (
values. The mimetic theory believes that stories are created phase one ), compilation and categorization of the legends
out of the unconscious feelings and sentiments of a group ( phase two ), archetypal-thematic analytical categorization
of people. People’s attitudes, beliefs, feelings, values, and ( phase three ), analysis on the legends’ feminism ( phase
behaviors which form a certain culture in a region, are four ), and the investigation of the collective Cebuano
expressed by stories, such as legends that have been passed psyché (phase five).
on from one person to another. These legends and stories
may root from the society’s unique mores, norms, and
traditions. IV. FINDINGS
This research assumes that the legends of Cebu,
through their archetypes and themes, signify the collective Phase One: Profiling of the Cebuano Legend Tellers.
Cebuano psyché. This is supported by the theories of Gender. There is an even distributed between male
formalism and mimesis. In literary theory, formalism refers and female in Cebu region. However, the male population
to critical approaches that analyze, interpret, or evaluate the in the region has been increasing at a faster rate compared
inherent features of a text [7]. To view art basically in terms to the female population [10]. Among the eighty-five (85)
of the universe, in terms of what is imitated, is to follow the key informants in this research, 63.53% are women. This is
mimetic theory [8]. To determine the themes of the legends, almost twice higher than the number of male informants.
formalism is employed; to analyze the archetypes to reveal This would imply that women are more of the cultural
the reality of human’s unconscious, the theory of mimesis storytellers compared to men.
is at work.
Area. Furthermore, there is not much of a difference
Particularly, it delves into the following: (1) the in the number of those residing in the urban (48.24%) and
profile of the Cebuano legend tellers; (2) the legends’ in the rural (51.76%) area. This may mean that Cebuanos,
profile and categorization; (3) their archetypal-thematic whether in the urban or in the rural area, have an oral
analysis; (4) feminism in the legends; and (4) the collective literary tradition to tell. It is also noteworthy that there is
Cebuano psyché reflected in the legends. continuous movement of people from rural to urban area,
and vice versa. Those from the far-flung places get
education and work in the city, and those retirees return to
III. LITERARY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY their provincial address. Oral literary traditions have been
passed on to people of Cebu from both urban and rural
A. Method Used areas.
This research utilizes the ethnoliterary research Table 1 shows the consolidated profile of the
method in data-gathering, the Cebuano residents as key respondents as to their gender and address (whether in
informants, the statistical analysis of the profiles of the urban or rural area).
Cebuano informants and the legends, and the discourse

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 GSTF GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.4 No.2, October 2015

TABLE 1. THE PROFILE OF THE KEY INFORMANTS OF THE LITERARY Majority of the informants report on wakwak. Ang
ETHNOGRAPHY
Wakwak ( The Witch-bird ) is vampiric-bird which is a
transformation of a woman witch whose body separates
Gender Area
from the trunk toward the head, while the rest of her body,
Total No. Of
Respondents Urban the legs remain on the ground. It targets a pregnant woman
Male Rural
Female Cebu for their prey. One informant states that the wakwak does
Cebu
not normally eye on an ordinary person; rather, the wakwak
85 31 54 41 44
Percentage: 36.47% 63.53% 48.24% 51.76%
has special liking for the fetus inside the womb of a
pregnant woman. The husband is vigilant for any sound of
a wakwak, especially noises from the roof. It is believed
Phase Two: Compilation and Categorization of the that the wakwak tags black cats with her to distract the
Legends of Cebu. husband, so that the wakwak can carry on her plan of
From the eighty-five key (85) informants who have cutting the abdomen of the pregnant woman through its
retold the legends, there are thirty-one (31) that are named wings, and finally taking out the unborn child. The unborn
and are subjected to profiling. Upon gathering the data, it is child serves as the wakwak’s food.
observed that there are common recurring elements of the According to academics and westerners, witches of
legends. They can then be categorized into three: (1) living Cebu can be rationally explained in historical and
human beings, (2) mythical creatures, and (3) dead souls. sociological terms. Some say that when the Spaniards
Table 1 presents the profile of legends under the conquered the Philippines 400 years ago and brought with
category, living human beings. them the Catholic religion, they demonized those who
refused to reject their pagan practices. Those who refused
TABLE 1. THE LIVING HUMAN BEINGS conversion to Christianity went up the mountains. This is
No. of the said root of the ungu or aswang belief. Up to the
Legendary Character Times Brief Description present, to ward off ungu or aswang, people keep garlic and
Retold sharp bronze tool s. Under their pillows, a knife or a
The witch performs rituals to gain power, Stingray tail whip is hidden, just in case, the ungu or
1. Ang Ungu/Aswang 1
6 which helps her transform into another
(Popular Female Witch)
form and kill somebody
aswang attacks [13].

The witch prowls every night to look for Magic in Cebuano society is viewed as neither good
2. Ang Ungu /Aswang 2 a pregnant woman. It transforms into a nor bad. It would depend on the channel of this power.
1
(The Male Witch) big dog and is believed to be the cause of Sorcerers (mambabarang/daut/manikpik) get power from
the death of the newly birthed twins. evil spirits to bring harm and illness. The sorcerer hexes
The witch-bird kills or eats the unborn (barangon) a person, at the request of someone or due to a
3. Ang Wakwak/ Tiktik/
fetus inside the womb of a pregnant personal vendetta. Some of them are also good with making
Manananggal
15 woman. This witch-bird is actually the poisonous concoctions (manghihilo) [14]. Sorcery is
( The Witch-bird )
witch’s transformed appearance.
common practice among early Filipinos when they resort to
4. The Shape-shifting At night, the man transforms into a chanting curses to inflict harm on their enemies. Sorcerers
1
Man creature, with horns and a tail.
perform rituals that could put other people’s lives in danger.
The ability to become a witch is believed They could cause the sores of a person’s skin, the
5. Family of Witches 2 to be inherited; so there are witches that infestation of insects inside a person’s body, pain in
are associated to their family group. someone’s body, or even death.
6. Mambabarang/Daut/
Manikpik
The sorcerer uses black magic or curse to “Anting2x” serves as a charm or a shield, in the
3 inflict harm against someone. common form of a rock or a crystal, for someone under
( The Sorcerer )
Rizal, the Philippines’ national hero, has threat. Those people with such rock cannot be harmed
“anting2x” or magic such that he will physically, such as be hit with a bullet, wounded with a
7. The Spirit of Rizal 1 never be hit by a gun’s bullet ( as what sword or a knife.
history tells); Rizal is believed to be alive
and transforms into an animal. Sorcery and the belief of a charm as a shield are two
practices brought by paganism and animism. These are
The first category, which is the legendary living strongly Hindu influences. Between the 13th and 16th
human beings, consists of stories of real people, with century, Cebu ( then Zubu or Sugbo ) was an island
certain supernatural characteristics. These characteristics inhabited by Hindus, Buddhists, animists and Muslims[15].
are associated negatively. The witches and sorcerers harm
Table 2 shows the list of mythical creatures,
others. The common description of the witch is that it
subdivided into: (a) Human-Looking Creatures; (b)
transforms into another form or are shape shifters [11], such
Animal-Looking Creatures, and (c) Mysterious Matter.
as into the common “Wakwak” (witch-bird) [12] which
enables them to have large, sharp ( like knives ) wings, or
into a black pig, a giant dog, or sea creature.

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 GSTF GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.4 No.2, October 2015

TABLE 2. MYTHICAL CREATURES unseen world or the underworld and features odd,
No. of whimsical or grotesque characters- this is the “Mythical
Legendary
Character
Times Brief Description Creatures” fall into. Mythical creatures appear out of
Retold nowhere, and people tend to fear something they cannot
Human-Looking Creatures explain. Although some mythical creatures, such as those
1. Di Ingun Natu/
Ingkantu
The supernatural being can imitate that look humans, are not harmful, still, people fear them.
11 someone’s appearance and invade a The Mythical Creatures category is further subdivided into
( The Supernatural
person’s home.
Beings) three groups. The first group is the Human-Looking
The woman in the school scares teachers Creatures ( such as the “di ingun natu” or supernatural
2. The Woman in and children because there is no record of
the School
1
her existence, and she appears without beings, white lady, other mythological ladies, and
notice. “ingkanto” or male supernatural being ). Some reports say
3. The White Lady 11
The white lady appears in the dark and that these human-looking creatures usually offer something,
inflicts illness to people who disturb her. like a food, a job, utensils, and etcetera. Those who refuse
The lady in the mountain always parties
4.The Lady in the at night and has many party stuff, such as
the offer are more likely to get some kind of an illness. The
Mountain
1
utensils, to offer the people who wish to second is the animal-looking creatures (“sigbin”, “kugita”,
borrow from her. “Agta/Kapre”, the midnight dog, snake twin, “oro the giant
This lady appears on the middle of the fish, and the crocodile in the tunnel ). These creatures are
5. Mysterious Lady
1 road at midnight, causing accidents to the commonly described as huge and are often harmful. The
on the Road
drivers passing the way.
An enchanted woman who is a chocolate last group is the mysterious matter, in which “santilmo” the
manufacturer and merchant, travels flying fireball, belongs to. This group includes any form of
6. Maria de Cacao 1 around to sell using her ship, appears to object that is deemed to possess power on its own and
certain people, especially those near the seems to have a mind of its own.
river.
7. The Quack In this study, the most commonly told tales of mythical
This quack doctor is believed to be a half
Doctor and the
“ingkanto” or supernatural being, and is creatures are the Dî ingun natù/Ingkantu (Supernatural
Lady on the
1 the “king” of the spirit world. His Being) and the White Lady.
Tartanilla ( a
daughter, the lady riding the tartanilla, is
horse-drawn
the “princess” of the spirit world. Dî ingun natù/Ingkantu (Supernatural Being) is
carriage)
Animal-Looking Creatures coined as such to mean as someone who is not like a mere
1. Sigbin
The kangaroo-like witch-pet whose human being. This is due to the fact that these supernatural
3 master is a witch, attacks the field and beings cannot be seen, but their doings provide phenomena
( Witch-pet )
helps its master in killing somebody.
that are evident yet cannot be explained by human reason.
2. Ang Kugita The monstrous octopus captures children
( The Octopus)
2
who swim in the river. They also have this “Spirit World”. The early Filipinos’
3..Agta/Kapre This is a big, hairy, dark-colored man, way of life was greatly influenced by their belief in the
( Giant Black Man 8 with yellow and glaring eyes, usually spirit world and remnants of this culture trait still persist.
at the Tree) smoking tobacco, and is residing at a tree. Numerous spirits, believed to be the shadows of ancestors,
This humongous dog ( as huge as a bull )
4. The Midnight appears at midnight and disappears when were also venerated. These were either helpful or harmful.
1 The beneficial spirits were known as anitos; the harmful
Dog he nears a tree, which is believed to be its
home. ones were known by various names in different areas.
A snake of a grandmother is believed to There were anitos who protected the fisherfolks and anitos
5. The Snake Twin 1 be her twin; every time the snake gets
hurt, she also feels the pain.
in homes [17]. There have been many kinds of supernatural
There is a merman (half-man,half-fish) beings retold by Filipinos. However, the most common
6. Ukuy
( Merman in the 1
in a river that kills two people every year, origin regarding where these supernatural beings come
so the people give offers to the river to from is that they live in trees. This belief is closely
river)
appease the merman.
connected with the practices of pre-hispanic Filipinos who
This very huge fish has its head beneath
7. Oro the cathedral, and its tail in the sea believed in supernatural beings living in the nature. During
1 the Pre-Hispanic era, the Filipinos had a religious belief in
( The Giant Fish ) nearby. It is believed that when the fish
moves, the ground quakes. nature worship [18].
This crocodile resides in the river of
8. The Crocodile in
1
Brgy. Bu-aya (which the name is derived White Lady is one of the most popular figures of
the Tunnel from), and it has a tunnel underneath the legendary Filipino oral traditions. This white lady appears
river, so the people could not locate it.
to be a supernatural being with a feminine feature and one
Mysterious Matter
10. Santilmo who has a long, white dress. Oftentimes, this lady is
This is a bouncing floating ball of fire described to have long, black hair. People say that a white
( The Flying 3
that will attack a person who has seen it.
Fireball ) lady’s face is blank or blurry. At other times, the white lady
is described to be “gwapa” or beautiful.
The category, Mythical Creatures, consists of legends
of supernatural creatures and elements, those that one does The last classification of the legends of Cebu is the
not encounter normally. According to Maramba [16], a Dead Souls. Cebuanos, and Filipinos in general, believe
category of a folktale is the fantastic which deals with the that some souls are “lost” after they die. The haunting of

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 GSTF GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.4 No.2, October 2015

dead people to living people has no fixed reason. One earth does not come from the Christian belief alone.
reason for such haunting is justified by many people as Reincarnation or the belief that a person’s soul will
those dead people who are brutally murdered and request transform to another form after the person dies is a religious
justice for their death ( such as in the legends of the ghosts faith that comes from Hindus and Buddhists. According to
of rape victims and the wounded girls ). These victims may Tuazon, in 1293 A.D., Hindu migrations came to the
haunt their perpetrators or other people who may be able to Philippines which brought new culture and religion to the
help them seek justice. For other cases of haunting of a people [19]. This new wave of culture and religion is
dead person to the living loved ones, it would indicate that expressed through the oral literary traditions of the ancient
the dead people may want to be remembered that their lives Filipinos.
do not end through a physical death. They manifest
The girl who was raped and died possessed a student
themselves to the people they once lived with to signify that
reported to have a “weak spirit” because of her not being
they are not totally detached to these people even after their
religious and not being good. It is inculcated in the psyché
corporal expiration. Table 3 shows the legends under the
of the people of Cebu that it is dangerous when one
category, Dead Souls.
neglects their religious duty.
TABLE 3. DEAD SOULS
No. of One typical case of spirit-possession is that which a
Legendary
Character
Times Brief Description person is being possessed by a person who is once dead due
Retold to a brutal murder. The reason for this possession,
1. The Haunting The dead master haunts his ex-slave by
Master
1
moving things in the house.
according to the people, is that the dead spirit who takes
2. The White Cats The dead relatives reincarnated into control over the living person seeks help in acquiring
1 justice for their death.
white cats to guide the living relative.
At a secluded area at night, a woman
3.Ghost of the Rape TABLE 4. LEGENDS ACCORDING TO GENDER, TIME OF
1 appears then disappears. The woman is
Victim APPEARANCE, PREFERRED PREY/VICTIM AND ABODE
believed to be the ghost of
In the middle of the night, the girl who Legendary Time of
Gender Preferred Prey Abode
is hanged appears, while the dog is Character Appearance
4.The Hanged Girl 1
barking (dogs are believed to see LIVING HUMAN BEINGS
spirits).
1. Ang
The spirit of a girl is seen by students. Fetus
5.The Little Girl in Ungu/Aswang 1 Night/Midnig Own Place of
1 The girl is in white and is filled with Female ( Pregnant
the restroom (Popular Female ht Residence
wounds and blood all over her body. Woman )
Witch)
A woman believed to be raped and
6. The WWII killed by Japanese soldiers during World 2. Ang Fetus
1 Night/Midnig Own Place of
Woman Victim War II has caused the series of deaths of Ungu/Aswang2 Male ( Pregnant
a certain town. ht Residence
(The Male Witch) Woman )
At around 3am, there is someone,
believed to be a ghost, typing on the 3. Ang Wakwak/
7. The Typewriting Fetus
1 traditional typewriter. It is believed to be Tiktik/ Night/Midnig Own Place of
Ghost Female ( Pregnant
the ghost of someone who used to type Manananggal ht Residence
Woman )
there. ( The Witch-bird )
A spirit of a girl who was raped
8. Raped Girl 4. The Shape- Night/Midnig No Preferred Own Place of
possesses the body of a student that Male
Possession 1 shifting Man ht Prey Residence
leaves the student harmful to self and to
others. Fetus
5. Family of Female Night/Midnig Own Place of
( Pregnant
Witches (dominantly) ht Residence
The white cats are three unusual white cats that are Woman )
believed to be the three dead relatives of the person who is 6.
alleged to have seen these three white cats in her residence. Mambabarang/Da No Particular Enemy of the Own Place of
Female
ut/Manikpik Time Sorcerer Residence
When a person dies, it is believed that the person’s soul ( The Sorcerer )
may dwell in a form of an animal. According to oral lore,
one of the most common animals that is associated with a 7. The Spirit of No Particular Own Place of
Male Not a Predator
departed person’s place of indwelling is a butterfly. This Rizal Time Residence
animal transformation of a dead person signifies that a
MYTHICAL CREATURES
person continues to live despite the termination of the life
of the person’s body. This suggests that a human being has 8. Sigbin Not No Particular Enemy of Its Forest/
a soul or a spirit in addition to the human being’s physical ( The Witch-pet ) identified Time Master Farm
component. The concept of a soul or a spirit does not Not No Particular
9. Octopus Children River
encompass the scientific logic that only involves observable identified Time
evidence to explain a certain phenomena. The idea of a soul 10. Di Ingun Natu/
or a spirit of a person relies heavily on the role of religion. Ingkantu
Not Night/Midnig No Preferred
( The Supernatural Tree
identified ht Prey
It is noteworthy that the postmodern belief in the Beings)
presence of the soul or spirit of the dead people here on

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11. The Woman in Night/Midnig (71.43%), while the rest, six (6), as male (28.57%).With the
Female Not a Predator Tree
the School ht high percentage of women stereotyped as witches, mythical
12. The White
Female
Night/Midnig
Not a Predator Tree
creatures, and lost souls, feminism is assumed to play a role
Lady ht in the creation of the oral literary traditions. This is
13.Agta/Kapre
Night/Midnig discussed further in Phase four.
( Giant Black Man Male Not a Predator Tree
ht
at the Tree) Time. Seventeen (17) or 54.8% of the legendary
14.The Lady in the Night/Midnig
characters are reported to be active at night or midnight.
Female Not a Predator Mountain One reports the typewriting ghost to work at 3:00am. In
Mountain ht
Cebu, it is believed that the “time” of these mythological
15. The Midnight Not
Dog identified
Midnight Not a Predator Tree creatures begin at 6pm, while others begin at 3:00am.
Generally, darkness brought by night fuels fear among the
16. The Snake Not No Particular House of its
Not a Predator people. Dark is mostly associated with danger or death.
Twin identified Time “twin”
17. Santilmo
Not No Particular The person who Abode. Excluding the real human beings and the dead
( The Flying Forest souls, mythical creatures have their alleged abode in trees,
identified Time sees it
Fireball )
forests, or rivers. This belief is closely connected with the
18. Ukuy People
Not No Particular practices of pre-hispanic Filipinos who believed in
( Merman in the swimming in River
identified Time supernatural beings living in the nature. During the Pre-
river) the river
19. Oro Not No Particular
Hispanic era, the Filipinos had a religious belief in Nature
( The Giant Fish ) identified Time
Not a Predator River Worship. Based on Ogdoc’s research in Samboan, Cebu,
People the people there believe in “tawhanun”, which are the
Not No Particular
20. The Crocodile
identified Time
swimming in River “earthly beings” [20]. These “tawhanun” or earthly beings
the river are believed to live in trees. . Scholars have frequently
21. Mysterious
Female
Night/Midnig
Drivers Tree commented on the paradoxical survival of animistic notions
Lady on the Road ht in a supposedly Christian society. Efforts to explain the
22. Maria de No Particular cause of the coexistence of primitive and advanced
Female Not a Predator River
Cacao Time religions are part of the contribution of sociology to the
23. The Quack understanding of the interaction between religion and
Doctor and the society [21].
Lady on the Night/Midnig
Male Not a Predator Forest
Tartanilla ( a ht Prey. Those legendary characters who attack people
horse-drawn have: unborn fetuses, children, and spiritually weak, as
carriage)
their preferred victims. Witches and witch-birds’ attack on
DEAD SOULS fetuses may imply the protectiveness to the young in the
24. The Haunting No Particular Family’s psyché of Cebuanos. Moreover, stories on mythical
Male Not a Predator
Master Time House creatures may have been told to warn children to avoid
25. The White Either No Particular Relative’s going into the river for possible accidents.
Not a Predator
Cats Male/Female Time House
Phase Three: Archetpal-thematic Analysis of the Legends
Area where
26.Ghost of the Night/Midnig
Female Not a Predator the victim The thirty-one (31) legends are then subjected to
Rape Victim ht
died.
analyses of the archetypes that they contain as innate
27.The Hanged Night/Midnig literary components of their fictional narrative constructs.
Female Not a Predator Old House
Girl ht
28.The Little Girl Night/Midnig
The ethnographic significance of these archetypes
Female Not a Predator Restroom relate to the ethnicity of meaning that they express in
in the restroom ht
Area where
legends, explaining superstitious beliefs, behavior patterns,
29. The WWII Night/Midnig People in the values, and societal idiosyncrasies distinctly of Cebuanos.
Female the victim
Woman Victim ht town
died.
Archetypes, thus, are analyzed as objects or images or
30. The Not
Typewriting Ghost identified
3am Not a Predator Classroom signifiers of a societal message that distinctly exists in a
local culture [22] in these regions of Cebu. Their signifieds,
31. Raped Girl Classroom/
Possession Female
No Particular Spiritually
where she therefore, are the realities existing in society.The varied
Time Weak archetypes in the legends are identified and analytically
died.
discussed based on their local and cultural significance.
Table 4 presents the classification of the legends Archetypes, thus, are signifiers of existing local and
according to their gender, time of appearance, preferred cultural realities of the Filipinos (the signifieds ).
prey/victim, and abode. These are synthesized in Table 5.
Gender. Twenty-one (21) legends have been identified
with gender. Fourteen (15) of them are identified as female

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 GSTF GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.4 No.2, October 2015

TABLE 5: ARCHETYPES OF THE LEGENDS supernatural beings, kindness of supernatural beings, dead’s
involvement in humans, vulnerability of women, magic and
LEGENDARY CHARACTER
power in humans.
Signifiers Signifieds
From these archetypes, themes are derived and
Ungu/Aswang 1 classified into: the protection of the young, and defenseless,
(Popular Female Witch Version) the existence of other forces-good or bad, the inevitability
Ungu/Aswang 2 Killer of the Unborn of life after death, and the acquisition of powers by
(The Male Witch) humans;
Wakwak/ Tiktik/ Manananggal Phase Four. Feminism in the Legends
(Witch-bird )
Killer of the Children The portrayal of women as witches that are the “evil
Kugita ( Octopus )
forces” of the society; as those possessing black magic; and
Family of Witches are physically and spiritually weak are reflected in the
legends of Cebu.
Shape Shifting Man
This woman-as-witch stereotype in Cebu has been
Sigbin ( The Witch-pet)
shared by other countries such as those in Europe [24]. In
Di Ingun Natu/ Ingkantu Europe, it is said to be mainly caused by the hegemony of
( The Supernatural Beings)
Christian theological and demonological speculations and
The Woman in the School treatises, which targets women, the weaker vessel, both
The White Lady physical and spiritual.
Evil Force
Agta/Kapre As Linda C. Hults clearly puts,
( Giant Black Man at the Tree)
The Midnight Dog
“The discourses and practices surrounding

Santilmo ( The Flying Fireball )

The persecution of witches were linked

Ukuy ( Merman in the river)

to men’s efforts to gain power and status,

The Crocodile in the Tunnel

which were informed, after all, by

Mysterious Lady on the Road

contemporary ideals of masculinity; the social
Animal’s Involvement in forces that came into play as witches were
The Snake Twin
Humans
accused, tried and executed were informed
Oro ( The Giant Fish ) Strength of A Supernatural
by gender at every level (the village, the
Maria de Cacao
Kindness of Supernatural local court, the state); and the psychological
The Lady in the Mountain Beings
The Quack Doctor and the Lady on the and social impact of this extraordinarily
Tartanilla ( a horse-drawn carriage)
negative female stereotype, although difficult
The Typewriting Ghost
Dead’s Involvement in to isolate, was surely enormous.”
The Haunting Master Humans
In this research, although the cultural storytellers are
The White Cats
also women, they continue the spreading of the idea of
Ghost of the Rape Victim women as evil and their vulnerability.
The Hanged Girl Renowned Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-
Vulnerability of Women
1961) proposed four main archetypes of women that are
The Little Girl in the restroom
based on the recurrent patterns of thought and action in
The WWII Woman Victim human beings. He theorized that archetypes govern a
person’s psyché. Female archetypes, are categorized into
Raped Girl Possession
four: the mother (nurturing), the virgin (pure), the witch
Mambabarang/Daut/Manikpikay (dangerous), and the queen (strong) [24]. In the legends of
( The Sorcerer) Magic and Power in
Humans Cebu, the archetype of the mother (nurturing) is revealed by
The Spirit of Riza the mythical ladies who are generous to let the common
folk borrow their belongings ( such as the Lady in the
Mountain and Maria de Cacao ). However, the most
The archetypes of the legends of Cebu signify the common female archetype in the legends is woman as the
following: killer of the unborn, killer of the children, evil witch ( dangerous ).
force, animal’s involvement in humans, strength of

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 GSTF GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS) Vol.4 No.2, October 2015

The cultural image ascribed to the woman told in Buddhist traditions, and beliefs dominated Filipino culture.
literature is her capability to poison food, to flutter on The Spanish system of inculcating Christianity plays a role
broomsticks and pitchforks, to make livestock sick and as well in the stories of witches, as these witches,
crops shrivel, to cast spells and to curse people and places. stereotyped as women, are those that reject the Christian
As Antonio has said,” History can attest to the persecution faith and are deemed as “evil”.
that these women, called witches, have endured. The kind
of ill- treatment they received from society heightened even
more since the advent of Christianity.”[25]. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Phase Five: Collective Cebuano Psyché Analysis.
The author wishes to extend her gratitude to the
The fifth phase in the ethnographic analyses of the following literature academics who have reviewed and made
legends involves a synthesis of the themes and the suggestions on this research: Dr. Angel O. Pesirla, Dr.
archetypes with the end-in-view of producing an analytical Edwin A. Pilapil, Dr. Reynaldo A. Caturza, Dr. Glen M.
collective psyché of the people of Cebu through the Pesole, and Dr. Leonora T. Dotillos.
significance of the legends. A collective unconscious,
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