Origin of the
First Man and
Woman
According to the
Visayans
Presenter:
Pal-ing, Jessiel C.
Sicalak and Sicavay
a story among the Pintados, who are
described as fair-skinned people whose
males decorate their whole body with
tattoos. These lived in the islands of
central Visayas (Cebu, Bohol, Leyte)
explains the origin of the islands Cebu
and Samar, the origin of concubinage, and
the origin of stealing
Characters:
Kaptan – a god who fell in love with
Maguayan
Maguayan – the goddess wife of
Kaptan
Sicalac – the first man; Sicavay’s
husband
Sicavay – first woman; Sicalac’s wife
Sibu – son of Sicalac and Sicavay;
Samar’s brother and
husband
Characters:
Pandaguan – another son of Sicalac
and Sicavay;
married to Lubluban
Lubluban – daughter of Sibu and
Samar who married
Pandaguan
Anoranor – son of Lubluban and
Pandaguan
In the olden days, there lived in the
heavens two gods, Kaptan and
Maguayan. Kaptan fell in love with
Maguayan, and they were married.
One day, Kaptan and Maguayan had a
quarrel as many couples do after the
honeymoon. In a fit of anger, Kaptan told
his wife to go away. With a heavy heart,
When the goddess was
gone, the god Kaptan
felt very lonely. He
knew that he had done
his wife wrong; he had
made an unjustifiably
hasty decision, and this
thought bothered him.
However, it was too late for him to ask to be
forgiven. He scoured the heavens, but his
efforts were in vain; Maguayan was nowhere to
be found. She had vanished like smoke into thin
So, to while away his sorrows, the repentant
god created the earth and planted bamboo in a
garden called Kahilwayan. He also planted
other plants like rice, corn, and sugarcane.
Among these plants, the
bamboo sprouted first. It grew
to be a beautiful tree with pliant
branches and feathery leaves
dancing to the rhythmic wafting
of the breeze.
Beholding the splendor of his
creation, the great Kaptan was
filled with happiness. "Ah," he
sighed, "were Maguayan here, she
would enjoy this beautiful sight
amid the sighs of the breeze and
The bamboo continued to
grow. The garden became more
beautiful each day. Then one late
afternoon, while Kaptan was
watching the bamboo leaves play in
the breeze, a thought came to him.
Before he realized what it was all
about, he was murmuring to
himself, "I will make creatures to
take care of these plants for me."
then the bamboo split into two halves.
From one stepped out the first man. To
the man, Kaptan gave the name Sikalak,
meaning "the sturdy one." And from that
time on, men
have been called si lalak or lalaki for
short.
From the other half stepped
out a woman. The god
called her Sikabay, meaning
"partner of the sturdy
one." Thenceforth, women
have been called sibabaye or
babaye for short.
Together, the two creatures tended the
garden and took care of the
plants. Meanwhile, Kaptan left for a
faraway place to look for
Maguayan. One day, when the god
had left, Sicalac asked Sicabay to
marry him. The woman, however,
refused. "Don't you know that you are
my brother?" she reproved the man
sternly.
"I know. But there are no other
people in this garden," Sicalac
argued. "And we need children to
help us take care of this wide place for
our lord and master."
The woman was unmoved. "I
know," she replied, "but you are my
brother. We were born of the same
Finally, after much argument,
they sought the advice of the
tuna fish of the sea and the
doves of the air. The fish and
doves approved of their
marriage. Still unconvinced,
Sicavay consulted the
earthquake, who also
approved of the marriage.
"It is necessary,"
the earthquake
said, "so that the
earth will be
populated."
So Sicalac and Sicavay were
married. Their first child was a boy whom
they named Sibu (Cebu). Then a daughter
came, and they named her Samar.
Sibo and Samar also had
a daughter, called
Lubluban. She married
Pandaguan, a son of the
first pair, and had a son
called Anoranor.
Pandaguan was the first to invent a net for
fishing at sea; and, the first time when he
used it, he caught a shark and brought it
on shore, thinking that it would not die.
But the shark died when brought ashore;
and Pandaguan, when he saw this, began
to mourn and weep over it—complaining
against the gods for having allowed the
shark to die, when no one had died before
that time.
It is said that the god Captan,
on hearing this, sent the flies to
ascertain who the dead one
was; but, as the flies did not
dare to go, Captan sent the
weevil, who brought back the
news of the shark’s death.
The god Captan was displeased
at these obsequies to a fish. He
and Maguayan made a
thunderbolt, with which they
killed Pandaguan; he remained
thirty days in the infernal
regions, at the end of which time
the gods took pity upon him,
brought him back to life, and
returned him to the world.
While Pandaguan was dead,
his wife Lubluban became the
concubine of a man called
Maracoyrun; and these people
say that at that time
concubinage began in the
world.
When Pandaguan returned, he did
not find his wife at home, because
she had been invited by her friend
to feast upon a pig that he had
stolen; and the natives say that this
was the first theft committed in the
Pandaguan sent his son
for Lubluban, but she
refused to go home, saying
that the dead do not return
to the world.
At this answer Pandaguan
became angry, and
returned to the infernal
regions. The people
believe that, if his wife had
obeyed his summons, and
he had not gone back at
that time, all the dead
would return to life.
Thank you for listening
