Philippine Creation and Origin Myths

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There are many different creation and origin myths from the diverse cultures of the Philippines. These are some of the most well-known ones from the three different regions. 

Malakas at Maganda

A painting of a man and a woman resting within the halves of a bamboo that's been split open.

Credit: Cenon Rivera

The Tagalog creation myth is often referred to as “Malakas at Maganda” (meaning “strong and beautiful”) and is about the origin of the first man and woman.

When the world began, there was only the sea and sky. The eagle Amihan, deity of peace and wind, flew about for days on end with nowhere to rest. Amihan, in frustration, stirred up the sky and sea, which caused them to fight.

Amidst their stormy battle, the sky threw rocks at the sea, which became islands that the eagle could finally rest on. After sky and sea calmed down and the islands were made, bamboo was born.

Amihan was curious about these new bamboo shoots and began pecking at one of them, causing it to split. From one of the split halves emerged Malakas, and from the other Maganda. It’s worth noting that the words malakas and maganda are gender-neutral, and so Malakas and Maganda in the story could be either gender.

Bakunawa

This myth is about the Visayan moon-eating dragon Bakunawa, often thought to be an explanation for the lunar eclipse.

Bathala, ruler and creator of the universe, created seven moons, which shone bright and beautiful and illuminated the night.

Deep within the ocean lived a massive serpent called Bakunawa. The serpent looked upon Bathala’s creations with envy, for in his cave he was surrounded by darkness.

An illustration of a long, giant lizard in the sky, clutching the moon and opening its mouth as if about to eat it.

Credit: Eve Berthelette, Artstation

Bakunawa decided to steal one of the moons. He rose from the ocean, causing the earth to quake, and swallowed the moon whole. However, to his dismay the moon melted away in his stomach.

He stole another moon, and another, but each of them would all melt away. Soon, there was only moon one left in the sky. 

As the Bakunawa began to swallow the last moon, the world became shrouded in darkness. Humans, terrified by the darkness and of losing their last moon, shouted and banged drums and made as much noise as they could. 

“Return our moon!” they screamed.

Bakunawa was scared by the noise and retreated to his cavern in the ocean. The moon returned and lit up the night sky once more.

To prevent the last of his moons from being stolen, Bathala planted bamboo on the moon. From then on humans remained vigilant, and whenever the Bakunawa would try again to steal the moon, they would shout and make noise and scare him away. 

Tambanokano

Another myth associated with the eclipse, these two stories from Mindanao tell of a colossal crab responsible for floods and the tides.

The first variation is a tale from the Mandaya people. The great crab Tambanokano was a child of the sun and moon. He is such a powerful being that lightning flashes every time he opens and closes his eyes.

Tambanokano rests in a large hole at the bottom of ocean. When he sleeps, there is high tide. When he rises, water floods in the hole and there is low tide. As he moves about, the surface of the sea churns and causes big waves.

Sometimes, when Tambanokano is angry at his mother, the moon, he tries to eat her, causing the eclipse. It’s also said that the crab is so massive that when he rises, he blocks out the moon. Just like the Bakunawa, people scare Tambanokano away by making noise.

In this Bukidnon story, Tambanokano crawls into the sea and causes a massive flood.

A colourless drawing of a giant, angry crab, standing above an ocean and holding a crescent moon in its right claw.

Credit: Anthony Kristan dela Cruz, Wix

A wise man warns the people of his village that they must build a raft. Over the next month, the people cut down many trees and tied them together, then fastened the raft to a large pole in the ground.

Shortly after they finished building the raft, the water rose. 

Tambanokano went into the sea, and because of his gargantuan size the water flooded the land. It rose as high as even the tallest mountains. 

The people and animals were safe on the raft, and the pole kept them from drifting away. After the flood, they were the only people left on Earth.

There are many more myths in the Philippines about how the world and its wonders came to be. If you found these three myths interesting and would like to hear more, let me know in the comments!

Koda Hann is currently a student in Algonquin College’s Professional Writing Program. He loves learning about different cultures and his latest hyper-fixation is anything and everything Philippines-related (shoutout to all the Titas and Titos out there, mano po).

His dream is to be a scriptwriter for animation, and he has several ideas for compelling fantasy stories that he plans to put to screen. Two of his biggest inspirations are Avatar: The Last Airbender and How To Train Your Dragon.

He’s just a lil’ guy.