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Malakas and Maganda

This myth explains the origins of the first people in the Philippines. It describes how a quarrel between the sky and sea led to the formation of islands. The first man and woman, Malakas and Maganda, emerged from a split bamboo and married. Their many children eventually became the different races in the Philippines. Due to the noise of their children, Malakas beat them, causing them to flee in different directions and form the various social classes - chiefs, slaves, Negritos, freemen, and foreigners who left by sea.

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Eljie Bañez
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448 views1 page

Malakas and Maganda

This myth explains the origins of the first people in the Philippines. It describes how a quarrel between the sky and sea led to the formation of islands. The first man and woman, Malakas and Maganda, emerged from a split bamboo and married. Their many children eventually became the different races in the Philippines. Due to the noise of their children, Malakas beat them, causing them to flee in different directions and form the various social classes - chiefs, slaves, Negritos, freemen, and foreigners who left by sea.

Uploaded by

Eljie Bañez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Myth: Malakas and Maganda

When the world first began there was no land; there was only the Sea and the Sky, and
between them flew a huge, beautiful Kite (a bird similar to a hawk). One day, the bird, which
had nowhere to land and rest, grew tired of flying about, and in frustration stirred up the Sky in a
quarrel against the Sea. The Sky threw rain, thunder, and lightning that reached the Sea, who in
turn rose up and hurled waves and hurricanes that reached the Sky.

In order to restrain its fury, the Sky showered a multitude of massive boulders down upon the
Sea, which became the islands that formed the Philippines. These islands prevented the
waters from rising any more - instead causing them to flow back and forth, and thereby creating
the tides. Afterwards, the Sky then ordered the Kite to light on one of the newly-formed islands
to build her nest, and to leave the Sea and the Sky in peace.

Now at this same time the Land Breeze and the Sea Breeze were married, and they had a
child which they named Bamboo. One day, when Bamboo was floating against the sea, it
struck the feet of the Kite. Shocked, hurt, and angered that anything should strike it, the bird
furiously pecked at the bamboo until it split in half. Out of one section came a golden-bronze
colored man, named Malakas (Strong One) and from the other half came a similarly hued
woman, named Maganda (Beautiful One).

The earthquake then called on all the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea to see what should
be done with these two, and the animals decided that they should marry each other.
Together, Malakas and Maganda had many children, and from them eventually came all the
different races of people.

After a while the parents grew very tired of having so many idle and useless children around.
They wished to be rid of them, but they knew of no other place to send them off to. Time went
on and the children became even more numerous that the parents could no longer enjoy any
peace. One day, in an act of pure irritation and desperation, Malakas seized a stick and began
beating them on all sides.

This so frightened the children that they all fled in different directions; seeking some place to
hide both within and outside the house. Some of the children ran into hidden rooms in the
house, several concealed themselves within the actual walls, while others hid in the fireplace.
Some ran outside and the rest fled out to the sea.

Now it happened that those who went into the hidden rooms of the house later became the
chiefs of the islands (Maharlikas); and those who concealed themselves in the walls became
slaves (Alipins). Those who hid in the fireplace became the Negritos and the Aetas; and those
who ran outside turned into free men (Timawas). As for those who fled to the Sea; they were
gone many years, and when their children eventually came back, they had become the white
foreigners.

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