BIAG NI LAM-ANG

Don Juan and his wife Namongan lived in Nalbuan, now part of La Union in the northern part of
the Philippines. They had a son named Lam-ang. Before Lam-ang was born, Don Juan went to
the mountains in order to punish a group of their Igorot enemies. While he was away, his son
Lam-ang was born. It took four people to help Namongan give birth. As soon as the baby boy
popped out, he spoke and asked that he be given the name Lam-ang. He also chose his
godparents and asked where his father was.
After nine months of waiting for his father to return, Lam-ang decided he would go look for
him. Namongan thought Lam-ang was up to the challenge but she was sad to let him go. During
his exhausting journey, he decided to rest for awhile. He fell asleep and had a dream about his
father's head being stuck on a pole by the Igorot. Lam-ang was furious when he learned what had
happened to his father. He rushed to their village and killed them all, except for one whom he let
go so that he could tell other people about Lam-ang's greatness.

Upon returning to Nalbuan in triumph, he was bathed by women in the Amburayan river. All the
fish died because of the dirt and odor from Lam-ang's body.
There was a young woman named Ines Kannoyan whom Lam-ang wanted to woo. She lived in
Calanutian and he brought along his white rooster and gray dog to visit her. On the way, Lamang met his enemy Sumarang, another suitor of Ines whom he fought and readily defeated.
Lam-ang found the house of Ines surrounded by many suitors all of whom were trying to catch
her attention. He had his rooster crow, which caused a nearby house to fall. This made Ines look
out. He had his dog bark and in an instant the fallen house rose up again. The girl's parents
witnessed this and called for him. The rooster expressed the love of Lam-ang. The parents agreed
to a marriage with their daughter if Lam-ang would give them a dowry valued at double their
wealth. Lam-ang had no problem fulfilling this condition and he and Ines were married.
It was a tradition to have a newly married man swim in the river for the rarang fish.
Unfortunately, Lam-ang dove straight into the mouth of the water monster Berkakan. Ines had
Marcos get his bones, which she covered with a piece of cloth. His rooster crowed and his dog
barked and slowly the bones started to move. Back alive, Lam-ang and his wife lived happily
ever after with his white rooster and gray dog.

BULALAKAW
BIRD GOD of ILLNESS and PESTILENCE

Bulalakaw is said to be a deity who has the appearance of a gigantic, shining bird or a bird-humanoid
hybrid, as some believed he looks like a thin boy wearing a bird-like headdress or even a genderless deity
with a bird's head. Some stories describe him to be a diwata who visits the earthly plane in form of a
comet, hence the name "bulalakaw" (shooting star).
Bulalakaw is regarded more of an omen than an actual worshipped deity, although he is worshipped by
babaylans, it is usually to spare the villages of the disasters a "bulalakaw" may bring to earth. It was once
believed that whenever a comet is seen, pestilence is sure to follow. In ancient times, the people thought
that when a star "falls" it usually means a bad omen is going to befall their community, especially if the
comet "falls" on rainy, cold seasons, when sickness is rampant in the community due to lack of modern
medicine and proper hygiene and sanitation observed by ancient communities, but nonetheless ancient
Visayans believed that the bird god of illness can be appeased by performing necessary rites and rituals
are performed by the shamans or "babaylans". Some of the rituals and rites involve sacrifice of the flesh
for the bird god, in order for him to be satiated during his rare visits to earth. These sacrifices of the flesh
in ancient times include, animal sacrifices, sacrifices of young maidens or children and even drawing of
one's own blood or flesh and burning it in the community fire to satisfy the deity.

deviantart of the bird god of illnes

It was also believed that anyone who sees the "shooting star" that fell to earth would be seriously blinded
as a punishment from the god, or would suffer from an incurable illness, elders would tell the youth of the
village to not look at the direction the bulalakaw will fall unless they want to suffer a great illness. Some
babaylans would also tie this deity to war and famine, although he is mostly seen as a bringer of
pestilence, as they believe that the nights bulalakaw is seen is a sign of other disaster about to come.
Some babaylans would also burn some sacred "kamangyan" (incense) to appease the forest spirits and
drive out the illness from the tribes, prompting Bulalakaw to leave and take the sickness with him back to
Ibabawnon or Mt. Madia-as, a place that was believed to be a sacred ground for deities.
One should also take note that beliefs regarding Bulalakaw continued till the modern times, even as the
Spanish missionaries converted the people to Christianity, and tried to change the belief's of the ancient
Visayans, as the strong beliefs of this bringer of illness prevailed to this day, and until now whenever
there is a comet that darts in the night sky, the superstitious folks would warn the children not to point at
it, or bite their fingers when they do, warning them that Bulalakaw does not like to pointed at and might
punish them for this deed.
as some believed he looks like a thin boy wearing a bird-like headdress or even a genderless deity with a
bird's head. Some stories describe him to be a diwata who visits the earthly plane in form of a comet,
hence the name "bulalakaw" (shooting star).