Myths and Legends of Pinatubo and Arayat
The oral traditions involving the mountains Pinatubo and Arayat are quite vast, and I want to
give an outline of some of these along with a bit of analysis. However, given that many of the
works that might discuss these mountains and their traditions are buried in extensive archives
that are not well indexed, this will be an on-going process.
The earliest explicit mention of name "Arayat" and its main deity "Sinukuan" that I have been
able to uncover is the travel diary of Gemelli Careri in 1696:
In Pampanga, and right on the mountain called Bondo [Bondoc], or Kalaya [Alaya], being a
league and a half high (which was previously under the rule of Sinoquan and Mingan) are
plantains, betels, and other fruits. They say they may eat these fruits on the spot, but if anyone
carries them down they either fall down dead, or become lame. Perhaps the Devil (by God's
permission) causes such strange accidents, to keep those people in paganism; but the Indians
themselves also play their part for they are famous sorcerers and are said often to convert
themselves into crocodiles, wild boars, and other forms.
The Bondo and Kalaya come from "Bondok Alaya" or "Mount Alaya," the original name of
Arayat. Sinoquan is obviously Apung Sinukuan, who is portrayed here as a ruler of Arayat along
with Mingan, a name that in most traditions is that of Sinukuan's wife, but occasionally occurs
also as the name of one of his daughters.
As for Sinukuan's opposite -- Apo na Malyari (Apung Mallari) and Mt. Pinatubo -- the earliest
reference I have found so far comes from a manuscript titled "Relation of the Zambals" by
Domingo Perez in 1680. Malyari is mentioned primarily in reference to the sacrifices made by
the Bayoc, the Sambal high priest, and Pinatubo ("Pinatuba") is noted for its rock slides during
the rainy season (Blair and Robertson 1903).
These accounts are rather brief and do not provide detailed information. For example, no
connection is made between the god Malyari and Pinatubo.
Modern ethnography
We begin to learn more about the myths and legends of these mountains when a renaissance in
learning about indigenous culture occurred among the leaders of the Propaganda Movement and
the Philippine Revolution starting around the 1880s. These studies intensified after American
colonization among both American and Filipino scholars.
During this time, we learn that Sinukuan was also known by other names: Aldo "Sun," and
Apolaqui "Lord Male," or possibly "Lord Grandfather." The myths suggest that knowledge of
Sinukuan was more widely spread than the areas of Pampanga and nearby Zambales.
For example, Apolaqui was also known throughout most of Luzon where he is variously called
Apolaki, Apolake, etc., often in myths that resemble that of the battle of the Sun and Moon, or
Aldo and Bulan, that is associated with Arayat and Pinatubo.
Diego Aduarte in 1640 mentions Apolaqui as a war god in Pangasinan.
The Bolinao Manuscript mentions the Sambal priestess Bolindauan in 1684 who has
Apolaqui as her Anito (personal deity).
Dean Fansler in 1921 writes of a legend told to him by Leopoldo Layug of Guagua that
tells of the battle between the brother Apolaqui, the Sun, and his sister, Mayari (Malyari),
the Moon.
F. Landa Jocano, much later in 1969 relates a similar tale to that mentioned by Fansler
among the Tagalogs involving Apolake and Mayari, who again are the personifications of
the Sun and Moon.
In 1918, A. L. Kroeber records that Apolaki is considered a mountain monster in Bikol,
the southernmost part of Luzon, and that the term is also used as a name for God among
Christians in Pangasinan and Ilocos, the northern areas of Luzon.
From these examples, we can see that the myths of Apolaqui and Mayari were linked with the
spirits of the Sun and Moon. A similar legend from Pampanga tells of the supreme deity
Mangetchay (Mangatai) who is said to live in the Sun while his wife dwells in the Moon, and his
daughter lived on Venus, the Morning Star (Eugenio 1993, 64).
Where these myths of the Sun and Moon are not explicitly linked with Arayat and Pinatubo
respectively, we can still surmise the connection. For example, the goddess Malyari, the
personification of the Moon, has a name that relates to the local Pinatubo Ayta and Sambal
people. "Malyari" is also a native Kapampangan word that Bergano derives from the word yari
"cosa acabada, perfeccionada ['something finished, perfected']" and gives three alternate forms:
malyari, milyari and malalyari.
That Malyari is the deity of Pinatubo is agreed upon by the Ayta, Sambal and Kapampangans.
The Pinatubo Ayta call this deity Apo Namalyari (Apo na Malyari) or Apo Pinatubo (Schebesta
1959).
Naturally, the Sun would be located to the east of Pinatubo in Bondoc Alaya, which literally
means "Mountain of the East."
The crater lake of Pinatubo with Arayat rising up above the clouds about 26 miles to the east.
Source: http://tonetcarlo.wordpress.com/2008/01/12/mount-pinatubo-zambales/
Geological connection of Pinatubo and Arayat
Mythology gives Arayat and the Zambales mountain range a common origin as noted by
Cornélis De Witt Willcox writing in 1912:
According to the native legend, this mountain [Arayat] used to form part of the Zambales range.
It became, however, by reason of its quarrelsome disposition, so objectionable to its neighbors of
this range, that they finally resolved no longer to endure its cantankerousness and accordingly
banished it to its present position in the plain of Central Luzon, where it would have no
neighbors to annoy, and where it has stood ever since, rising solitary from the surrounding plain.
The idea of Arayat belonging at one time, before separating, to another (unnamed) mountain
range is also mentioned in the story that Don Pedro Serrano heard from an octogenarian
informant in 1889. It was from these and similar legends that the likely latter ideas of Arayat
separating from Candaba or Tapang, Nueva Ecija. That the Zambales origin tale was the original
one is too obvious from the actual geology of Arayat.
According to the leading theory, Arayat is a back arc of the same mountain range that includes
the Zambales Mountains. And this fact would be fairly obvious to keen observers as a note by
Richard von Drasche in 1876 demonstrates:
If one were to draw a line from Monte Pinatubo to the isolated mountain of Arayat in the plain,
one would notice that all the rivers north of this line flow in a northeasterly direction, while all
those south of it flow in a southeasterly direction toward Rio Grande de la Pampanga. This
circumstance may be observed particularly plainly from the top of the Arayat, where I first
noticed this slope of the plain in both directions, increasing toward Monte Pinatubo. East of
Monte Arayat this circumstance disappears entirely.
The connection between the two mountains was alluded to in the idea of a cloud bridge
mentioned in Luther Parker's Sinukuan tales published in 1929. This cloud bridge was likely the
origin of other bridges that are said to have been built from Arayat to Dayat, Candaba, Makiling
and elsewhere. These bridges likely arose from the perception of a ridge, alluded to above,
existing between Pinatubo and Arayat -- a formation that probably also gave birth to the latter
legends of a tunnel connection between Arayat, Makiling and Banahaw mountains.
Between Heaven and Earth
The axis mundi is where sky, earth and underworld meet. That this term applied to both Pinatubo
and Arayat is evident by the deities that inhabited these mountains. Malyari, the Moon on
Pinatubo, and Sinukuan, the Sun on Arayat.
Sinukuan had among his children Munag Sumalâ, the Dawn, and Ugtu, the Noontime. Among
Malyari's children is Sisilim, the Setting of the Sun. In one version (Eugenio 1983, 180), the
daughters of Sinukuan are known as the Three Marias (Tres Marias), which is a name given to
the three stars of Orion's Belt. Furthermore, Tala, the planet Venus and the Morning Star, is said
to descend either from Sinukuan (Apolaqui) and the Moon (Mayari), or from the marriage of
Munag Sumalâ and Manalastas, the Rooster, the son of Malyari.
Not only do these deities live on the two sacred mountains, but they are expressly said in
multiple accounts to live within the mountains, i.e., in the Underworld. The golden palace of
Sinukuan within Arayat, for example, is featured in many of the legends of this region.
Sinukuan's palace, according to the accounts, could generally only be accessed by mortals
through magical intervention.
In a myth found among the fisherfolk in Masantol, the creator deity Mangatia or Mangetchay,
whose name means "net weaver," created the sky as a great net with the stars as the holes or
"eyes." After finishing this cosmic net, Mangatia dropped the sewing needle to the Earth and the
former became either Mt. Arayat, or Batung Maputi (White Rock). The latter is a massive white
rock formation near the peak of Arayat, where many legends say the magical entrance to
Sinukuan's subterranean palace is located.
I mentioned earlier in this blog, that the Kapampangans apparently had two geographical centers
-- one in the North in Upper Pampanga, and one in the South in Lower Pampanga, where the
trading seaports were located. The northern center was located between Pinatubo and Arayat
with the latter mountain indicating the direction of the East, and the mouth of the Pampanga
River, the direction of the South. From the cosmic perspective, this area between the two great
luminaries -- Sun and Moon -- was the center of the world.
Battle between the Sun and Moon
The fighting between Malyari and Sinukuan is also a conflict between the Sun and Moon. The
most common form of this myth takes the form of a widespread theme that extends beyond the
Philippines. R. Rahmann in his work "Quarrels and Enmity between the Sun and the Moon: A
Contribution to the Mythologies of the Philippines, India, and the Malay Peninsula," traces this
theme from Southeast Asia to India.
The quarrel between the two orbs is usually started due to the intense heat of the Sun, often
together with his progeny. After the battle, the Moon, which was once as bright or brighter than
Sun, takes on a subordinate position. In many cases, this theme is combined together with the
motif of a cataclysm of fire-rain or fire-water on the earth. There is also, especially in the
Philippines, an accompanying land-forming theme with new formations caused by the huge
boulders hurled by the combatants.
The motifs of great heat, fire, water, flying stones, and the new land formations in connection
with the mountains is easy to interpret as volcanic activity -- an indication of the geographical
origin of these myths.
Many of the accounts of the battle between Malyari and Sinukuan do not actually mention
Pinatubo by name. Often "Mount Zambales" or a more vague reference to the Zambales
mountains is mentioned instead. H. Otley Beyer recorded many of these in his unpublished
Philippine Folklore, Social Customs and Beliefs Vol. IX (Pampanga), a collection of papers
written by his students during the early 20th century. In many cases, the accounts are clearly
mixed with other folk material. For example, the tale of Sinukuan's friends including Carguin
Cargon and Supla Supling are taken from the Spanish legend of Lucifer's Ear.
Here are some of the stories of the battle between Sinukuan and his opponent from Zambales.
Sinukuan battles with the young prince, the son of Storm God of the Sambal mountains
after the latter comes courting Maya, the youngest and favorite daughter of Sinukuan.
(Parker 1929)
According to Alfredo Nicdao in 1916, Mt. Zambales was a great single mountain in
former times inhabited by a friend of Suku (Sinukuan) who came one day to ask for the
hand of one of Suku's daughter's in marriage. This angered Suku and the two engaged in
a stone throwing battle that broke Zambales into a mountain range and flattened the top
of Arayat. (Beyer, undated)
Dominador G. David in 1917 tells of a giant in Zambales mountain who challenged and
defeated the king of Arayat. The latter was killed and his son Sinukuan took his place,
and later he eventually married the daughter of the lord of Zambales. (Beyer, undated)
In 1915, Beyer recorded a myth of the Ayta living in Zambales that sounds very much like a
volcanic eruption of Pinatubo, but mentions neither Malyari or Sinukuan. Instead, the battle is
between Algao, which may be northern name for the Sun (related to Aldo), and Bacobaco, a
great sea turtle. This Bacobaco may be related to the legend of the Baconaua, usually described
as a sea serpent or whale. However, Baconaua has a sister that is a great sea turtle according to
most accounts. Baconaua was not the Moon but the great serpent that was said to swallow the
Moon during an eclipse.
Now, in the Ayta account Algao and Bacobaco have a great battle in which the latter eventually
bores into the top of Pinatubo creating a great crater and emitting great flames, huge rocks, mud,
ashes, smoke and deafening noise in the process. According to the legend, Bacobaco continued
to dwell in the mountain and when he comes out "woe be to us."
Ayta from the Zambales region.
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/josearmando/1804253902/
The body of myths surrounding Malyari and Sinukuan clearly show their dual opposition to one
another. Generally speaking, Sinukuan is depicted as male although a few accounts portray him
as female. Malyari seems to be portrayed more as female, at least if all the myths of the region
are taken into account, but sometimes also has a male identity. Despite their periodic enmity,
Sinukuan is often said to be married to Malyari's daughter, or vice a versa, and their children also
court and marry one another.
Here is a general breakdown of the dual aspects of these deities and their respective mountains.
Pinatubo/Malyari
The western direction, south, female, mother, wife, daughter, hidden, gregarious, wide, sea,
creation, beginning, birth, water, storm, bird
Arayat/Sinukuan
The eastern direction, north, male, father, husband, son, prominent, solitary, tall, land,
destruction, ending, death, fire, earthquake, serpent/dragon
The belief in a future eruption of Mt. Pinatubo is mentioned above in the account of Algao and
Bacobaco, and also in an earlier post on the myth of the battle of Aldau and Bulan. Damiana
Eugenio, in her 1993 work (p. 179), relates traditions of a future return of Sinukuan:
Many barrio folks still say that some time in the future Sinukuan may come out again. Mt.
Arayat used to be the home of the Colorums who waited for Sinukuan to come out of his cave
and to find a new paradise on earth for them.
A colorum is a messianic group -- the name coming from a local corruption of Latin et saecula
saeculorum "world without end."
Rituals and Practices
The peoples in the regions around Arayat and Pinatubo considered these mountains sacred and
they had various ritual and practices concerning the mountains that are known to an extent.
Animism -- certain trees, stones, caves, streams, etc., were thought to harbor special
spirits called Anito. Aduarte in 1640, for example, mentions a sacred speaking stone
among the Sambals. Certain black rocks were considered to be remnants of Sinukuan's
great bridge before it was demolished.
Every valley, river, rock, outcrop, or tree in Pinatubo had a significance in Aeta lore.
(Elder and Wong 1996:280)
Careri states that fruit and other products of Arayat should only be eaten while on the
mountain. It was taboo to carry them to the lowlands. According to Serrano, one should
first ask permission before taking any fruit of the mountain:
Apo dinan mo ku pu, ke pung mangan darening tanaman mo "Lord, please grant this to
me which I would like to eat from your fruit trees."
One should not commit acts of greed on the mountain like excessive logging (Dominador
G. David, Pampangan Folklore Stories, 1917) or gold mining (Manuel Carreon,
Pampangan Legends, 1917). One should not even have greed in one's heart in case you
should come upon Sinukuan or his daughters, who often test people in this regard.
The bathing pool of Sinukuan on Arayat was considered a place of healing where the sick
could come and bathe to free themselves of illness.
Both Pinatubo and Arayat, or their deities are believed to control the weather, especially
when angry. Prayers are made to these mountains/deities for help during inclement
weather. Hiromu Shimizu relates an incident in which Pan Bangay, a Pinatubo Ayta,
made an offering to appease Apo Pinatubo. The pair had come close to the mountain and
it suddenly became dark and started raining. Pan Bangay lit a straw from Shimizu's hat
and uttered the following appeal:
Pakida-ep mo Apo Pinatubo, agmo kay kik oranan
Apo Pinatubo, kapapa-ingalo ya kik nabaha
ang! (Grandfather Pinatubo, please smell the
smoke. Don't expose us to the rain, have pity
for we will get wet!)
When Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991, the Ayta held a manganito seance in which they said
that they were informed that Apo Namalyari was angry due to modern commercial
encroachment on Pinatubo. They conducted the talbeng ritual to appease Pinatubo and to
ask Apo Namalyari to bring back the forest.
Be kind to animals, insects, plants, etc., on Arayat and do not even point at them
unnecessarily for fear of angering Sinukuan. (Eugenio 1993:180)
Batung Maputi, the White Rock of Arayat. Legendary location of Sinukuan's palace.
Source: Ronnie Muring, http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3274534
Recurring themes
One way of reconstructing the original motifs and themes of the local legends is to ascertain
which ones are found independently from at least a few sources. In practice though, it is often
easy to discern when outside myths and legends are mixed into those of local origin.
Here are some of the recurring themes and motifs involving Pinatubo and Arayat:
Power of mountains/deities to control weather, earthquakes
Deities of mountains involved in creation of land formations
Excessive logging, mining angers mountain deities
Deities live inside their respective mountains. Sinukuan has a underground palace of gold
or bronze.
Sinukuan's daughters, usually three in number, like to interact with humans trading gold
for pig's feed (darac "rice husks")
Sinukuan was very rich with gold and generous giving away gold and magical items.
Malyari is associated with Moon and Sinukuan with Sun. Many of their children are also
associated with the heavenly bodies or locations in the sky where the Sun sets, crosses the
zenith, etc.
Sinukuan and Malyari are associated with a bridge to each other's mountain or to some
other mountain or area.
Marital and courtship relations existed between the gods of Pinatubo and Arayat.
However, they also engage in land-altering battles.
Both mountains have many taboos and restrictions against desecration. The sacred
mountains are meant to remain in a natural and unspoiled state as much as possible.
Anything that originates on the mountains is sacred.
The White Rock (Batung Maputi) is the location of the entrace to Sinukuan's palace.
A future eruption from Pinatubo was expected.
There is the myth recorded by Beyer, and also a warning before the last eruption that
Ayta elders gave their children that Apo Pinatubo Namalyari would awake and throw
stones if they did not behave. (Rodolfo 1995:88)
Rainforest in southern Zambales
Source: http://keishastech.blogspot.com/2008/01/exploring-rainforest-in-subic.html
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