BONTOC, Mountain Province – In this jet, computer or Artificial Intelligence (AI) age where practicality takes precedence, nature spirits, ghosts and specters abound; they, the dwellers on the threshold or spiritual realm.
Many Filipinos whether in rural or urban areas still harbor a lingering belief that unbounded and unseen spirits or persons wander around, the good, the bad and the ugly ones. For the bad, many folks say they see these as evil eyes that can cast a spell of misfortune or cause mental or psychotic afflictions to the living.
Filipino folks, Christians themselves, having been baptized and believers of the Faith, nonetheless find affinity with primordial things coming from their forebears whose ways of life were old before ours were begun.
For malevolent, unseen spirits, many Philippine dialects describe them as “mangkukulam,” particularly across Tagalog speaking areas. Mangkukulam could be a man or a woman (but often woman) supposed to possess powers far beyond the capability of a normal human being which was explained as capable of inducing behavioral aberrations to those who arouse his or her ire. Tagalogs also have their “multo,” ghost.
For friendly spirits, they are considered guardian spirits, often appearing in dreams or apparition in a calm way. No wonder that even the young, educated people often say they experienced “a weird feeling,” like someone unseen was near them. Yet they felt calm and reassured. Although they had that eerie feeling that someone unseen seemed to communicate with them.
In Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) north of the Philippines, such unseen souls or ghosts are called “anito,” or “al-alya” in Ilocano and can be friendly or evil to humans. They are said by elders to be part of the unexplained phenomena particularly in the countryside and that these spirits often take a fancy to humans.
Belief in the supernatural is widespread across cultures and societies in the Philippines. In CAR, it is more profound and solemn. In Bontoc, elders explained to Daily Laborer “it centers on the human need to make sense of the natural world that surrounds tribe folks and help them better understand the nature of supernatural beliefs and their role in life of the living.”
Abe Lamsis Bangsoy, a respected community member of Tadian, Mountain Province, swears by his forebears that anitos do exist, per his experience, having encountered them numerous times. In Tadian, there are people called “menkiyab,” who are capable of seeing ghosts.
Even dogs can see spirits, Bangsoy related. One time, he was with “kakailyans” and having a “gag-ay” (chat) and he felt someone pass in front of him while their dog growled, bared his teeth and began barking while staring at an empty seat.
There was a time Bangsoy attended a birthday and a lady named Josie, told Bang soy’s wife: “Ay siya obpay aman Abe. Dapay nan amak et gone beyond ages ago.” (Good for Abe. While my father has gone beyond ages ago). Bangsoy worked in London.
“Then this lady Josie heard a voice telling her to jump out the window and she did (bless her soul in heaven),” Bangsoy revealed. Bangsoy went home weeping and talking about the incident but his words came from the spirit of his father.
Bangsoy said his father intoned,” Wada ka obpay esna London. Nabayag ay ananapek sika. Sunga daida (the ghosts), mentaytayaw da, kaya da ay umey in London.”
Bangsoy also revealed that there are stories of toddlers being able to see their grandpas or grandmas long gone from this earth.
In the Anglican Church, priests respect the culture and traditions of the Igorots that they don’t mind elders doing about the rituals particularly on occasions like weddings, baptism, etc., Bangsoy said.
Ama or lakay Laksigen, a respected elder from Talubin, Mountain Province, once said lately to Daily Laborer about anitos when both talked about the topic of unseen spirits: “What is unseen to us is not inactive but a very active and invisible population of spirits. They outnumber mortal people.”
“We are born as spirits by faith in the Almighty. Hence we perceive this unseen population. Among us are spirits of several kinds,” Laksigen explained.
“In fact, Laksigen stressed, “there is a horizon – a vanishing point – in which we cannot see and an anito is certainly one of the inhabitants of such a realm. These spirits or entities we often call upon in our rituals, social gatherings like baptism or weddings, during times of death, in our work, in our prayers and in application of tribal methods, ways and means.” These are the friendly spirits of our ancestors or forebears.
For the Benguet people, they believe unseen beings coming from the heavens and the underworld; these unseen beings capable of having power over humans.
The “Kankana-ay” and “Ibaloy” tribes aren’t far apart in their beliefs. Both show that above all gods and goddesses or “kabana,” there is the “adi-kaila” (unseen) and “men-soshchung,” or the highest above all spirits. Men-soshchung pertains to ‘Kabunyan.”
Next to Kabunyan are spirits of ancestors or “ap-apo,” or “kaapuwan,” and the “kakading” or “kedareng,” or spirits of people who have just died.
Spirits of Benguet folks long dead are called “kaapuwan,” whom the Benguets believe they live with deities and other spirits and they can travel from the sky world to earth.
Landing in the last hierarchy of spirits believed to exist by the Benguet folks is the anito or “ikalutaan.” Called underworld spirits, these ghosts abound in waters like rivers, lakes or springs, abandoned edifices and the mountains.
A clear example of these residing in such places is when a Cordilleran traveler is too thirsty and discovers a clear spring. Before drinking, the traveler says to no one in particular, “Apo, maki-inumak man ti danum,” (Grandparent, can I please drink water from your spring), the drinker referring to the unseen watcher of the spring.
Even the young folks practice this attitude towards the unseen whenever they find and drink from a mountain spring.
Laksigen expressed that the unseen world carries more truth and reality, than the physical world.
Belief in the evil eye, a glance believed to have the ability to cause injury to anyone whom it falls, is ancient and ubiquitous, persisting throughout the world even in this modern times.
Elders in Bontoc deem that malice toward and envy of prosperity and beauty are thought to be the cause. Most often accused of casting the evil eye could be childless women, old women or malformed individuals.
In Besao, Mountain Province for example, the elders spoke of “kedet,” an evil action done to an innocent person who is called “nakedtan.” And it takes another person with good intentions and possessed with the ability to commune with good ghosts or spirits to negate the kedet.
These are healers believed knowledgeable in the “art” of driving away evil spirits or counteracting the harm done by evil spirits. They also double as herb doctors and are always accessible to neighbors.
These people, having a deeper sense about unseen spirits, have been described by the old folks as “wad-ay maikatlo a mata da.” or possessed with a third eye.
Different cultures and religions have their own beliefs in the third eye. While there is no set definition for the concept, the third eye is closely explained by the elders as having the profound ability to possess perceptive, intuitive and spiritual abilities. It is compared to looking at something with an intuitive eye.
By and large, tribe folks in CAR do not forget returning to their sacred sites to gather, plead, fast and pray. For these revered places hold the tie to their super deity and ancestors their entreaty for peace and protection for their families and their community.
Dwell for instance on the mystique “manerwap” tradition or rain dance of the Bontoc folks. It is part of a larger sense of relatedness the Bontocs maintain with the world around them and, to a particular degree, how their spiritual beliefs meld with nature.
Yearly, when rains fail to descend, the “I-Bontoc” or I-fontoc” tribe folks gear up for the manerwap and only the sturdy are called upon to do this yeoman’s job, the elders related.
It is a ritual of plea before their deity and their ancestor spirits to allow the rains to fall freely and importantly, cleanse the land of foul spirits.
Ama Laksigen explained that at Bontoc “ili” or community, manerwap starts with elders gathered in the “ato” or “ator” (place for solemn ceremony) where a butchered chicken and wine are sacrificed to their god and spirits, accompanied by chanting.
As evening blankets Bontoc land, fierce-looking men garbed in G-string, armed with spears, head axes, bolos and shields mill around the ato, waiting for orders from elders to ascend Mount kalawitan, a mountain redoubt in Mountain Province.
Mount Kalawitan is the fourth highest mountain in northern Luzon at 2,714 meters above sea level.
Ordered to march, the men steer towards a pinpointed area called “fawi, usually seen as where rains commence. They converge above the popular tourist site Kadchog Terraces, in barangay Talubin. Climbing further, a chick, carried in a basket continually chirps, its chirping meant to call spirits of ancestors. The men are forbidden to eat for the duration of the long trek. Only water to drink is allowed.
Reaching a designated place considered sacred, a fire is kept going. Assured of the presence of the spirits of their ancestors, the men beat their shields and dance for hours.
An elder accompanying the hulking warrior men sings the “kapya,” or prayers and plead for rain. All fast.
They return to Bontoc the next morning, met by villagers bearing ford. The coming night, they resume dancing, beating gongs and fasting again. Elders continue praying. The second following day, the warriors gather at Chico River to bathe and cleanse themselves while playing gongs. At the same time a chicken is sacrificed in a sacred place called “papat-ay.”
Always, the warriors are on the lookout for a certain hawk, a sign that precipitation will occur. If none appears, a pig is butchered and offered to their god and the spirits. More pigs are sacrificed if rains don’t fall.
On a given day, a rest called “tengaw” is called by elders while village women steer towards the ato to distribute tobacco. At the extreme that the land suffers from parching, “layaw” is done among the warriors who beat each other violently, hoping Lumawig see their dire straits.
However, usually at the culmination of the long ritual, rains do fall. And nobody can offer a rational explanation except the Bontocs.
Since time immemorial, manerwap is one focal point of the Bontoc tribes seeking out spiritual guidance, a spiritual sense of belonging and endowing them with strength to face life’s challenges.
Their manerwap prayers are not composed. They are spiritual songs, endowed by unseen spirits on the mountains on a given time and circumstance. When the land is alive with rain, mystic events can happen, layering certain places with further spiritual significance, Laksigen explained.
Influence of Christianity has significantly altered life for Filipinos, indigenous nor not. Yet many contemporary communities like in CAR and in Mindanao have revived, or continue to practice traditional spirituality and beliefs, according to CAR elders.