Our Epic Chanter of Lapuyan Zamboanga del Sur Apo Sigbe Mamadod
Madam Sigbe Mamadod, an old woman chanter of Gambatutu, the epic of Lapuyan, recalled during one of our sessions that Thimuay Imbing had told her this story.Sigbe was about seven years old, said Dr. Imbing, when Datu Lumok Imbing celebrated a buklog four years past his last richest buklog. Since the datu was the richest man in his tribe, he could afford to hire the most powerful balians to celebrate it.Well, as the buklog was being performed, the binalay a decoration made of leaves taken from the distant hills and found in conspicuous places during religious rites
began to bend and turn hard like stone.The tips of the leaves, Sigbe told Thimuay Mangura Imbing, when he was old enough to understand, broke off and fell all over onto the bamboo-strip floor. By and by, like darkness fell and covered
Datu Lumok‘s house likea shroud. And yet, it was the middle of the day, and beyond it, not too far from the village
—
would you believe it?
—
was bright and sunny.And then the balians , they noticed ... these most powerful priests, grew weaker and weaker, until they were almost lying on the floor, helpless and child-like. Now, there's the belief that if the giant Mati would over power the balians , the thimuay had to cut off the balians he ads, yes, decapitate them. If he did not do this, everyone there in the datu‘s house and his village would beturned to stones.Thus, with great hesitation, for he had only love for his people and the balain, Thimuay Lumok drew his bolo long knife and, waving it feverishly, began dancing on the bamboo-stripped floor of his house, while meantime praying to the diwatas gods and the supreme being Gulay that the giant Mati would go away, not exert his full vengeance on his tribe if they had some howerred in the performance of the ritual. So that he wouldn't have to behead the balians, so faithful and true to him all these years. Tears began to flow down his face, and his lips trembled with remorse. Datu Lumok‘s grief must have reached Mati‘s heart, and struck it deep.For about the time it takes to cook two cookings of boiled rice, the shadowswiftly vanished and the sun, they said, shone very bright that it illuminated the house as well as the village once again.Ah, Mati is an ugly giant and loves to tease the Subanons. He loves to play pranks on them there in Lapuyan. Indeed, it was Mati the giant whoturnedpeople into stones, there somewhere in Zamboanga del Sur, when he
became angry with those wrongly performing the ritual buklog
, as they showed no respect and were mouthing bad words during the ritual dance andsacrifice. The Guardian Giant Mati Gumampa, Guardian Giant of the West Coast of Lapuyan Doctor Imbing paused and pointed over toward the window. He said,quite far from his house, some 100 meters west of the hanging bridge of Lapuyan, is a stone cave in a Sitio small village of Balerek. It is called Bato Gumanpa, and has an opening people fear to crawl into, since the top might cave in and they may not have a way to get out and maybe forever trapped inside it.One giant who lives there is the guardian giant called Gumanpa,and who looks like a hunter.Gumanpa guards the west coast of Lapuyan. Guardian Giant Gumampa By: "Antonio Enriquez