Philippine History: The Code of Kalantiaw

1. Ye shall not kill, neither shall ye steal nor shall ye hurt the aged, lest ye incur the danger of death. All those who this order shall infringe shall be tied to a stone and drowned in a river or in boiling water.
2. Ye shall punctually meet your debt with your headman. He who fulfils not, for the first time shall be lashed a hundredfold, and If the obligation is great, his hand shall be dipped threefold in boiling water. On conviction, he shall be flogged to deatth.
3. Obey ye: no one shall have wives that are too young, nor shall they be more than what he can take care of, nor spend much luxury. He who fulfils not, obeys not, shall be condemned to swim three hours and, for the second time, shall be scourged with spines to death.
4. Observe and obey ye: Let not the peace of the graves be disturbed; due respect must be accorded them on passing by caves and trees where they are. He who observes not shall die by bites of ants or shall be flogged with spines till death.
5. Obey ye: Exchange in food must be carried out faithfully. He who complies not shall be lashed for an hour. He who repeats the act shall, for a day be exposed to the ants.
6. Ye shall revere respectable places, trees of known value, and other sites. He shall pay a month's work, in gold or money, whoever fails to do this; and if twice committed, he shall be declared a slave.
7. They shall die who kill trees of venerable aspect; who at night shoot with arrows the aged men and the women; he who enters the house of the headman without permission; he who kills a fish or shark or striped crocodile.
8. They shall be slaves for a given time who steal away the women of the headmen; he who possesses dogs that bite the headmen; he who burns another man's sown field
9. They shall be slaves for a given time, who sing in their night errands, kill manual birds, tear documents belonging to the headmen; who are evil-minded liars; who play with the dead.
10. It shall be the obligation of every mother to show her daughter secretly the things that are lacivious, and prepare them for womanhood; men shall not be cruel to their wives, nor should they punish them when they catch them in the act of adultery. He who disobeys shall be torn to pieces and thrown to the caymans.
11. They shall be burned, who by force or cunning have mocked at and eluded punishment, or who have killed two young boys, or shall try to steal the women of the old men (agurangs).
12. They shall be drowned, all slaves who assault their superiors or their lords and masters; all those who abuse their luxury; those who kill their anitos by breaking them or throwing them away.
13. They shall be exposed to the ants for half a day, who kill a black cat during the new moon or steal things belonging to the headmen.
14. They shall be slaves for life, who having beautiful daughters shall deny them to the sons of the headman, or shall hide them in bad faith.
15. Concerning their beliefs and superstitions: they shall be scourged, who eat bad meat of respected insects or herbs that are supposed to be good; who hurt or kill the young manual bird and the white monkey.
16. Their fingers shall be cut off, who break wooden or clay idols in their olangangs and places of oblation; he who breaks Tagalan's daggers for hog killing, or breaks drinking vases.
17. They shall be killed, who profane places where sacred objects of their diwatas or headmen are buried. He who gives way to the call of nature at such places shall be burned.
18. Those who do not cause these rules to be observed, if they are headmen, shall be stoned and crushed to death, and if they are old men, shall be placed in rivers to be eaten by sharks and crocodiles.

ANG MGA PINOY AT ANG MGA PAMAHIIN

   Bilang isang pinoy, hindi na iba sa atin ang paniniwala sa mga pamahiing minana pa natin sa ating mga ninuno. Ngunit totoo nga kaya ang mga pamahiing ito? Kailangan ba talaga itong paniwalaan at isabuhay? Ano ang epekto nito sa ayung pamumuhay? Ano-ano ang mga pamahiing Pilipino?

Itim na Pusa sa Daan

Pamahiin sa Itim na Pusa

   Isa sa mga pangunahing pmahiin na madalas nating marinig ay ang tungkol sa itim na pusa. Ayon sa sabi-sabi, huwag ka na daw tumuloy kung saka-sakaling may nakaharang o kaya`y tumawid na itim na pusa sa daan. Maari daw malasin ka o mgakaroon ng hindi magandang kahihinatnan ang iyong lakad. Ang pamahiing ito ay hind pinaniniwalaan ng marami. Sapagkat ang pagsunod sa pamahiing ito ay magdudulot ng malaking kaabalahan sa isang gawaing dapat natingg gampanan. Isipin na lamang na hindi tayo papasok sa trabaho o eskwela ng dahil lamang sa pusang nakaharang o tumawid sa ating daraanan. Maari itong maging katawa-tawa at hindi katanggap-tanggap para sa ilan, lalo na sa mga banyaga.

Pamahiin sa Pagwawalis

Bakit Bawal Magwalis sa Gabi

   Sa mga pamahiing ito, may ilan din namang kapani-paniwala at may lohikal at siyentipikong kapaliwanagan. Isa ditto ay ang pamahiin tunngkol sa pagwawalis tuwing gabi. Isang gawaing napakasama para sa sinaunang matatanda. Maari mawalis o maitaboy ang suerte palabas ng tahanan. Kung paka-iisipin, maaring totoo nga ito. Isipin na lamang na may isang mahalagang bagay na nahulog sa sahig at mawalis natin ito. Hindi na natin iyon makikita kung sakaling kailanganin na natin nag bagay na iyon.





Isa pang pamahiin ng mga Pilipino sa pagwawalis ay ang direksiyon ng pagtataboy ng kalat kung nagwawalis sa loob ng bahay. Sa tuwing nagwawalis, huwag itataboy ang kalat papunta sa labas ng bahay lalong lalo na sa papunta sa direksiyon ng pinto. Naitataboy daw ang suerte o biyaya kapag palabas sa bahay ang direksiyon ng pagwawalis. Dapat ang pagwawalis ay magmumula sa pinto papunta sa gitna ng sala o kwarto. Sa ganong direksiyon  ang suerte at maiipon sa gitna at magiging makapakipakinabang para sa tao at sa tahanan.

Bakit may mga Pamahiin

   Kung ang  ating mga ninuno man ay gumawa at nagpasimuno ng mga pamahiing iyan, marahil ay may malalim silang layunin o kaya`y kinatha nila ang mga ito upang gabayan tayo at ang mga susunod pang henerasyon. Kapani-paniwala man o hindi ang isang pamahiin ang mga ito ay naging isang tatak na ng pagkakakilanlan ng kulturang Pilipino.

The Tale of The Sun and The Moon From The Mandayan Tribe

Our Childrens use to ask:  Why does the sun lights the day while the moon illuminates the night? Our Filipino Muslim brothers answered the query with a tale. The sun and the moon: a tales from Mindanao

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THE SUN AND THE MOON

The Sun and the Moon`s Equinox

The Sun and the Moon were married, but the Sun was very ugly and quarrelsome. One day he became angry at the Moon and started to chase her. She ran very fast until she was some distance ahead of him, when she grew tired and he almost caught her. Ever since he has been chasing her, at times almost reaching her, and again falling far behind.

The Origin of Stars

River of Stars: View of a night sky from a Canyon

The first child of the Sun and Moon was a large star, and he was like a man. One time the Sun, becoming angry at the star, cut him up into small pieces and scattered him over the whole sky just as a woman scatters rice, and ever since there have been many stars.

Why There is Low Tide and High Tide?

A view if a shore during low tide

Another child of the Sun and Moon was a gigantic crab.  He still lives and is so powerful that every time he opens and closes his eyes there is a flash of lightning. Most of the time the crab lives in a large hole in the bottom of the sea, and when he is there we have high tide; but when he leaves the hole, the waters rush in and there is low tide. His moving about also causes great waves on the surface of the sea.

The crab is quarrelsome like his father; and he sometimes becomes so angry with his mother, the Moon, that he tries to swallow her.  When the people on earth, who are fond of the Moon, see the crab near her, they run out of doors and shout and beat on gongs until he is frightened away, and thus the Moon is saved.

And that explains why there is night and day, why there are stars and why there is low tide and high tide.