Juliana Tan

May 19, 2008     

        One mythical tale from the Philippines tells of the time when the Deities, or Gods, existed beside ordinary human beings and how the daughter of two of these Deities changed all that. The old Legend of Mariang Makiling has been retold by Gaudencio V. Aquino in his book titled, Philippine Myths and Legends. This tale, the author managed to express clues about the culture of the Philippines. He described that during those times, it was an everyday thing when Deities mingle with ordinary people on Earth. The natives communicated with their Gods face to face, even sitting with them under a tree side by side. It is indeed no surprise that Filipinos are very connected with their religion and treat their Gods as if they are family. One character who was an amiable presence in this legend was Maria, the daughter of the two Deities. She was a fairy, who had the perfect heart and was careful about her appearance. Women back then dressed in silk clothing, decorated with flowers and stripes. Filipino women tend to make themselves look presentable in public as this has always been the custom. In the Philippines, respect has always been one of the traditional values. In the story, young men would bow their heads to women. That is their gesture of reverence and to return that, the women would act shy and modest. This was what happened when Maria met Gat Dula, the ruler of the nearby Kingdom of Bay. Gat Dula soon started to court Maria in order to follow the traditional principle of the Philippines’ main religion, Roman Catholic. However, this sparked up anger from Maria’s parents because Gods and mortals are not supposed to fall in love. This anger of theirs rendered the restriction given to Maria to never enter the mortal world again. This was how Gods and people became separated. There was no dialogue written in this retelling of the legend, but words were depicted deeply with gestures. When Maria and Gat Dula met, the small movements they made were enough to communicate their feelings. Filipinos are typically very jovial, expressive, and dramatic people. It is their habit to use their body, instead of just speaking words directly. Words indeed prove less effective than actions for during those days, wars between neighboring kingdoms are common. This happened when Lakan Bunto, the ruler of a nearby territory, raided Gat Dula’s kingdom. It is true that throughout Philippine history, rivalries between kingdoms and chieftains were always major events. There was no national unity, or nationalism, in the country and this could have caused foreigner colonization of the Philippines by the Spaniards and the Americans. On the other hand, Gat Dula managed to prevent Lakan Bunto from colonizing his territory. However, he fell ill due to his yearning for the absent Maria and eventually die. Maria pleaded the God to give her Gat Dula’s soul and this shows how Filipinos believe that when a person who has lived a life of goodness dies, they can go to heaven. To spread the kindness inside of her, Maria, who inherited everything from her parents when they passed away, provided an abundant of fruits for the natives in the forests. She also granted wild animals such as carabaos; an evidence to prove that this story is from the Philippines since carabaos are the country’s national animal. Her last name Makiling happens to be the namesake of a mountain in the Philippines, called Mt. Makiling. One can then picture mountainous terrains as the setting of this story. Maria gave all necessary provisions to the people and yet, they never thanked her for it. As one of the punishments for their mistreatment towards her, she would make heavy rain fall whenever anyone misbehaves. This heavy rain is now known as the monsoons that the Philippines has annually. The moral of this story is simple. Appreciate people for what they give or else their patience will reach its limit, as in the case of the Legend of Mariang Makiling.