Litaw, it’s
the first time that I heard this word and it’s from a colleague of mine in this
night watch of ours. Actually I am not quite sure if my guess was right at
first, from the context of our conversation, I concluded it refers to unseen
creatures/ spirits living in our very same world.
We just
left Ecuador and bound to Korea
Our topic
for tonight was about the unseen, the other creatures living among us not in
our likeness.
It started
when he told me about the coffee tree (is
it really a tree..?), he had not seen it personally, only in a TV show ‘Ating Alamin’. He was astonished when
he first saw it, he thought that its somewhat related to a vine like that of
grapes.
We admired
the sweet aroma of freshly brewed coffee from Batangas and we conclude it’s the
best coffee in the whole world. Trivia: he doesn’t drink coffee, me on the
other hand can’t get enough of it. From the aroma of the coffee he then
mentioned about the different smell in one of their streets which only came out
at a particular season, it smelled like patis (fish sauce).
Rumor said
that, it was a poultry area before which caused the noxious smell. Some old
folks believed that there was something in it. Plenty rains and low flood could
totally cleaned the area thus vanishing the old foul smell but seasonally the
smell came out.
Then I told
him my maling-akala version. When I was a child I believed that a nice scent
from nowhere is a sign of Mama Mary’s presence. There was this time when I
smelled that lovely scent, prompted me to go out of the house to check where it
came from. To my dismay I didn’t see Mama Mary but a lovely flower blossomed
from a BITA tree. Later on I used the white juice extracted when you pick its
leave to cure the small lump above my right foot brought by playing kick using
coin.
That Bita
tree standing across the street had stories. My folks would warn not to piss on
that tree or else creatures living in it would curse me. One time, to clear the
branches which touching the line of electricity the barangay administration in coordination
with BArangay Power Association hired somebody to cut clear those unwanted branches. After doing so, the guy
got sick and according to Albularyo he did not ask permission from the
creatures living inside that tree. From then on before clearing whoever
assigned to cut asked permission first and the curse was broken.
Both of us
is neither afraid of the dark nor believed there is someone/thing in the dark
which could harm us. We believed that we should be afraid on the things/person
we see rather on things we can not see. We only see what we wanted to see, said
he. I nod in agreement.
He told me
about what happened to his wife’s sister. One time like any other first Friday
of the month they woke up early to catch a first mass in Quiapo sort of Panata which they believed, blessed them
their coveted child (they were married long before they have their child and
Gapan, Nueva Ecija is 2-3.5 hrs of driving away from Quiapo).
It’s a no
secret that for the past years that they never missed a single first Friday to
attend a mass. That day when the dawn is breaking the wife’s sister saw my
colleague’s wife in their yard area. To her curiosity she texted and inquired why
she didn’t go to Quiapo.
She replied
that currently they were in AMOSUP hospital for regular medical check up for
they had attended the mass already. The reply sent goosebumps to my colleague’s
wife sister. She advised them to take extra careful for it might mean
something. And they did (wife’s) believing that it might be a warning of harm
on their way.
Then I
rebutted him about my own encounter. I decided to go home from neighbor’s house
where we do “padpad mais” or manually removing the grain of corn from its body
using bare hands with the assistance of improvised gadget “kudkuran”- where we rubbed
the corn, the friction it caused plus the contour (spike) of the rubber usually
from old bicycle or tricycle tire separated grains from its body.
On my way
home I saw this overly huge stray dog about 15-20 meters away from where I was
standing. I rubbed my eyes to ensure that I am not hallucinating, there it was
the same overly huge dog standing still, none of us move for a minute or so.
Humming a song composed by my imagination instantly, I took the first step to
make a move, as I go nearer and nearer the dog vanished in thin air. I told no
one about that encounter until I heard from a neighbor that he saw that same
dog that night in that same place. I was the third person who saw it.
Yes it’s
true that even up to now I am still skeptical about this so-called other living
creatures’ dwelling around us but it doesn’t mean that my mind is closed about
it. I have high regards for those who were able to open their third eye, and
high respect for paranormal experts.
I still
practice this thing where you say “panabi-tabi” in respect to other creatures
when I am new to a place or whenever I am in a place where had that history. In
fact, before we formally open the “binayle” back my SK Chairperson days, I
would dedicate two songs for our unseen friend. Nobody was allowed inside the
dance floor, it’s for them.
