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Lets move on to Bilaan.

The Bilaan are one of the indigenous peoples of Southern Mindanao in the Philippines. The name of this
indigenous group comes from the words bila which means house, and the suffix -an meaning
people. In short, Bilaan means people living in the house.

The legends and myths of the Bilaan are told in the form of tales and narrative songs. One of the most
popular Bilaan Creation Myths has been recorded by Mabel Cook Cole. This is the original cover of the
book where the myth belongs to.

This mythology is well known among the Bilaan and it tells the creation of the Earth and the people living
in it, and it also tells a story of Melu, the Supreme Being and creator.

Melu was characterized as large and has a pure gold teeth and a pure white skin. Melu lived above the
clouds. He made the Earth and two people to live in it. The people were made from his dead skin.

Tau Tana lived below the Earth. Hes the one who made the noses of the people and placed it on them
upside down which causes the people to nearly drown when the rain came.

Melu saved the lives of the people by turning their noses the other side up, like the noses of the people
today.

The two people were unhappy because they were all alone on Earth; Melu made them some companions
and in this way there came to be great many people on Earth.

Melu is also characterized here as the most powerful of the spirits and the one to whom the people resort
in times of danger.

Of golden hue and white of Divine Light, such is the description of the creator deity Melu. His house was
the cloudssignifier for the higher dimensions. He occupied all the space above clearly projects our
Almighty God.

So, theres another popular story in Bilaan and it is a folk tale entitled The Monkey and the Turtle. The
original version was written and illustrated by Jose Rizal. This folk tale served as a wakeup call to
Filipinos because during the Spanish control, Filipinos were being mistreated by Spaniards in our country.
Its main purpose is to expose the mistreatment of Filipinos in the hands of the Spaniards. The Spanish
people were cunning, powerful and very influential, which symbolizes the monkey in the story. The
poorly treated Filipinos symbolize the turtle in the story.

On 1916, Mabel Cook Cole, an American writer wrote a more detailed version of the tale. And this
became popular in the Davao Region.

Mabel Cook Cole added more characters in the folk tale like the other monkeys, the deer, the tabtuko, and
the red-tailed lizard. All of the characters had a connection with the turtle.
The first monkey tricked the turtle by getting the turtles pig and eating all of his bananas, the turtle then
killed the monkey. The other monkeys tried to catch and kill the turtle, the monkeys threw the turtle in the
river not knowing that the turtle could swim. The deer helped the monkeys by putting a stopper on his
anus and drawing water from the river but the tabtuko constantly pecked on the stopper. The deer failed in
removing the water so the monkeys were drowned while trying to catch the turtle. Then the turtle went
out of the water and he met a red-tailed lizard. He wanted to have a tail as red as the lizards, the lizard
told him that he only had to climb a tree and jump from it. The turtle climbed the tree but he slipped
leading him to his death.

Monkeys were characterized as a fake, liar and greedy while the turtle has a strong will; hes palaban and
smart, and kind of envious. The deer portrays a friend whos ready to lend a hand and the takbuko was
annoying, vain, and also smart. Lastly, the lizard was characterized as innocent and sincere.

The themes of the story are:

"The weak but the cunning can be a lot stronger than the powerful. One shouldn't be daunted by the
apparent strength of a stronger foe, and instead, use ones intellect and unity."

Be contented. Dont be greedy. Treasure your friends.

Revenge will never solve anything, Karma will.

Hard times will always reveal true friends.

Lets move on to Maranao. Maranao is derived from the word ranao which means lake. Maranao is
the largest of the ethno linguistic group in the Philippines.

Darangen is the epic of the Maranao. It is an epic composed of several narratives whose verses are
chanted by the onor (singer). Its about the lives and times of the royal families in ancient mythical
Maranao kingdom; Bumbaran is the most important of these kingdoms. It has about 25 known episodes
with many variations.

The first episode Paganay Kiyandato o Diwata Ndaw Gibon (The first ruler, Diwata Ndaw Gibon) of
the epic Darangen recounts the family tree of the epic heroes.